I WAS TRAINED in liberal arts educational models. I have been teaching these principles for more than 20 years in Oregon and California, including in the Bay Area. I want to be clear that this does not mean everyone must be taught to be a “liberal” in the current political sense of the term.
It simply means learning how to draw insights from across and between fields of study in ways that can help us think critically and creatively, and design better solutions to big challenges. It means gaining the ability to think about what makes a good person, a good life, or a good community, as well as how to secure and succeed within one’s job.
What does this look like in practice?
At my previous institution, Oregon State University, I offered an award-winning course within Marine Studies, housed in the liberal arts. We learned about the fishing industry on the Oregon coast and marine ecology but focused on understanding tribal relationships with the ocean and coast. I partnered with colleagues at Hatfield Marine Science Center and co-designed my class with a tribal council member from the Confederated Tribes of Siletz.
We helped students interested in ocean-related careers gain insight into tribal-ocean relationships including a promising sea otter reintroduction project, the Elakha Alliance.
Elakha Alliance is preparing to restore sea otters to a coastline from which they have been absent for more than a century. Such a bold venture requires interdisciplinary thinking, diverse ethical considerations, and integrated practices. Consider that the Siletz consider sea otters as their relatives and point to traditional stories about their ancestors intermarrying sea otters. Otter fur features prominently in traditional regalia.
Disrupted ecosystem
Sea otters are also a keystone species, meaning they are vital players in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Eliminated from the Oregon coast by the global fur trade, sea otters have not been present to feed on their primary food, sea urchins. Sea urchins feast on kelp, which is the forest for much coastal sea life. Sea otter absence left the immense job of eating urchins to sea stars.
When a disease struck sea stars in 2014, the already unbalanced ecosystem allowed sea urchin populations to explode. The coastline quickly became barren of those essential kelp forests and the system moved closer to total environmental collapse.
One small thing — loss of one species, initiated generations ago — today requires extensive engagement with law, biology, ecology, history, communication, marine economies, tribal sovereignty, and more.
Oregon tried sea otter reintroduction once before, in 1970. Without adequate interdisciplinary insight, the Game Commission transplanted 93 Alaskan sea otters. That number quickly dropped to 23. Within a decade none of the transplants or offspring remained.
We must double down on a robust liberal arts education that offers students comprehensive and holistic learning and doesn’t just prepare them for technical-centered careers that will likely be eliminated by AI.
We know solving coastal health may depend on bringing back sea otters, and it requires broad thinking and collaboration. The Siletz Tribe is a key partner today. The Elakha Alliance’s project is building slowly in order to account for and benefit from all the knowledge we lacked in the 1970s.
Using liberal arts principles, they are crossing artificial lines to benefit from broad perspectives and generate solutions. To succeed, they need to account for environmental law, engage in public outreach, generate partnerships, truly listen to tribal interests and leverage tribal knowledge, and work to sustain or enhance the local seafood industry’s economic interests.
Liberal arts education isn’t a luxury
If we want universities to remain epicenters of innovation, governors, state legislators, and university leadership must avoid treating liberal arts education as luxury. They must actively and publicly help faculty increase engagement with the humanities and arts. And we must teach parents and prospective college students to see the value in integrative education for their lives, our society, and future careers.
Despite current federal pressure, our public colleges should never be pressed toward becoming technical-vocational sites. Right now, influential politicians, social pundits, and too many educational policies are redirecting higher education toward something akin to professional training.
We must double down on a robust liberal arts education that offers students comprehensive and holistic learning and doesn’t just prepare them for technical-centered careers that will likely be eliminated by AI.
To be sure, technical training is useful for many things. An education for broad scale creativity and innovation is not one of them.
We must actively protect and even enhance our liberal arts educational models, principles, and practices.
About the author
Natchee Blu Barnd is an Associate Professor in History of Art and Architecture at UC Santa Barbara, and Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project. Dr. Barnd grew up and began his academic career in the Bay Area.