Kim cited Former College President John Kemeny when explaining his own vision for the College that it endow students with "the moral motivation to solve the problems of society" and "also add the know-how to devise and implement practical solutions." Kim responded to those who would "interpret this vision as emphasizing the practical disciplines" by adding that studying literature, philosophy or dance are "supremely practical activities," because they contribute to understanding and experiences that are "central to building a more just world."
According to Kim, the Dartmouth experience ought to help students both to understand humanity's needs and to apply their learning to service. He emphasized Dartmouth's responsibility to "unite, as never before, learning with action, passion with practicality" to address the challenges of poverty, disease and social injustice. And he adds, "just to dream is not enough. You must deliver on the dream where previous generations have fallen short."
For Kim, practicality can be measured by an activity's contribution to the cause of improving human society.
By making the value of an activity a function of the amount of positive societal change that it effects, Kim has successfully navigated the apparent conflict between the arts and sciences. He acknowledges that the applications of the humanities are more difficult to recognize, but argues that they are really just as valuable as the practical disciplines, because they help solve society's problems.
His understanding of practicality seems very appropriate to someone in Kim's position, and individually, he is an intensely practical person in all of the senses he outlines. His credentials as a humanitarian, scholar and physician are by all accounts impeccable, and his vision for undergraduate education seems to create more people who, like him, combine technical and academic excellence to further human progress. But is his vision for undergraduate education a one-size-fits-all approach?
I see two main problems.
First, Kim doesn't defend the arts and humanities against the so-called practical disciplines by arguing that they are no less valuable even if they are impractical. Rather, he argues that the liberal arts only seem impractical, but engineering and art history ultimately serve the same goal. Unfortunately, as long as all disciplines are expected to achieve results or serve the cause of humanity, the practical disciplines will be in a position to review and critique the impractical disciplines. The critical evaluation of objective outcomes is the domain of the sciences. If, as Kim suggests, value is a function of societal benefit, the sciences are responsible for evaluating the outcomes of the arts. This sets up a skewed power dynamic.
Second, the administration's conception of liberal arts education seems to be encoded with certain preformed notions about how students will and, indeed, should use their educations. The College cannot assume that all students share a common set of values. There are legitimate disagreements about what constitutes the good life or the ideal society, and even if all students had the same vision, they would certainly disagree about how best to pursue it.
I'm not trying to argue that the Center's formation represents any clear and present danger to the Dartmouth experience. It is important, however, to maintain a balance between the arts and sciences and the multiplication of science programs is a threat to that balance.
Furthermore, the humanities must refuse to accept scientific assessments of their value. Finally, Kim has repeatedly expressed support for liberal arts education, which is traditionally as much about discovering values as serving them.
The College should resist imposing value judgments on the courses of study it offers, especially if those judgments privilege particular sectors of the curriculum. This could help to recast the debate about the balance between the practical and impractical disciplines to explore the values that each of us brings to our Dartmouth experience and how the institution can best respond to them.
