BY KALI MCKAY (BA ‘06, MA ‘10)
“Looking back, I can see how my choices evolved over the five years it took me to complete my degree,” reflects Nakama. “I started in management, considered education and finally ended up with a BA in French with a heavy concentration of math, statistics and computer science courses. As a result, I am a well-rounded, global citizen, agile enough to take on new opportunities as they present themselves.” Advocating for liberal education, which emphasizes a breadth of knowledge and develops intellectual skills, comes naturally to Nakama who says that his own world view and interests don’t fit neatly into any one subject. His university experience reflects these divergent and yet complimentary interests. “The U of L enabled me to explore my interests and make connections between disciplines and with faculty, staff and other students that I rely on to this day,” says Nakama, who has put his degree to use in a variety of fields ranging from broadcasting to technical recruitment since graduating from the U of L 14 years ago. Indeed, a liberal education implies breadth and depth: broad knowledge in a range of disciplines, focused by more concentrated work in one. Liberal education degrees, which aim to prepare the next generation of well-rounded and responsible citizens, are not the new kids on the block – they’ve been around since 400 BC and represent a classical approach to university education. While liberal education is common at universities across North America, it has a special context at the U of L. Forty-five years ago, a forward-thinking group of citizens believed that southern Alberta merited its own university. Over the course of four days in the fall of 1967, 20 delegates and a trio of invited resource guests charted the course of the fledgling University of Lethbridge at the Waterton Conference, producing a statement of philosophy that is reflected in the academic program of the University today.
The principles of liberal education were deemed essential to what the University of Lethbridge would become and would serve as the foundation for inspired teaching, a personalized supportive learning environment, and student engagement in learning, creative activities and research. “The University of Lethbridge is not located in a large metropolitan area as are the other two universities in this province,” writes former acting president Dr. Russel J. Leskiw (LLD ’93), in a document dating back to early 1967. “There is some reason to believe, therefore, that if the University of Lethbridge is to succeed, and in fact survive, it must become an institution that is unique. It must somehow be an institution that differs from the two older ones in this province.” That the University’s founders were so prescient in their thinking is testament to the visionaries that were at the table. They understood the importance of setting the U of L apart and saw liberal education as central to that mission. The U of L’s statement of philosophy, originating from the Waterton Conference and printed in every University Calendar since 1967, says it best: “The University of Lethbridge endeavours to cultivate humane values; it seeks to foster intellectual growth, social development, aesthetic sensitivity, personal ethics and physical well-being; it seeks to cultivate the transcendental dimension of the scholar’s personality. Its primary aims are to foster the spirit of free inquiry and the critical interpretation of ideas.” For 45 years, this statement has provided the foundation for how the U of L delivers its programming. However, since the original statement of philosophy was written there has been little discussion on the subject of liberal education or what it means for the University and its students. “Liberal education has historically been very important to us,” says Dr. Andrew Hakin, U of L provost and vicepresident (academic), who is leading the charge around a re-evaluation of liberal education at the U of L. “The question we need to ask today is, does it still have that importance to us as an institution?” In the last 45 years, there have been enormous advances in technology, demographics, funding
P HOTO B Y R O B O L S ON P HOTO G RAP H Y
Aaron Nakama (BA ’98) has encountered a few false impressions when explaining how the Bachelor of Arts in French he completed at the University of Lethbridge prepared him for a position as senior technical recruitment manager for Knowledgetech, a boutique IT Services company in Vancouver, B.C.
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