1 Perspective is Never Enough

We don’t speak about it much, but we know it’s there.

Perhaps you’ve sensed the tension while strolling through the Arboretum. Or maybe you’ve overheard subtle jabs toward the opposition.

You might even know the stereotypes by now: One student lives greedily for the sole pleasure of getting ahead and joining the ranks of the “super-rich,” while the other wanders aimlessly through campus carrying a copy of Virgil’s “Aeneid” and pondering his own existence – in an elbow-patched blazer, of course.

And nothing delights either side more than perpetuating these caricatures and fueling their mutual antagonism.

I’m speaking, of course, about the epic ideological conflict between the Kelley School of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences. One praises the virtue of mutual funds and net income while the other lauds Shakespeare and Darwin. The educational philosophy of one underscores practical application while the other strives to cultivate personal enlightenment and truth-discovery. Even our University’s physical terrain seems to acknowledge the discord, positioning the Kelley fortress and the College enclaves on opposite sides of campus.

One might suggest this conflict arises from misunderstanding and insecurity. After all, why study something with a funny name like anthropology when you can make it one step closer to your first million? And students of the sciences and humanities are notoriously insecure. Maybe it’s the fact that Kelley seems to receive $15 million gifts from its alumni weekly, while Kirkwood Hall, home of the College, is practically on the brink of collapse.

But Frank Donoghue, associate professor at Ohio State University, proposes a different theory. He contends that criticism of the traditional liberal arts education “owes its power to the American public’s readiness to accept a monetary bottom line as the irrefutable measure of success of any kind.”

When one considers the vehemence with which some of America’s most successful industrialists, such as Andrew Carnegie, condemned the impracticality of a humanities-based education, Donoghue’s argument gains traction.

But must a liberal arts and business education inevitably clash? What if philosophy and finance can coexist? What if English and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand?
If you’re like me, maybe you want the sophisticated thought of a historian with the fundamental business understanding of an accountant.

A year ago, I joined the Liberal Arts and Management Program, which bridges the best of both worlds for students majoring in the College. Through a partnership with Kelley, LAMP students participate in a carefully focused curriculum involving business law, accounting, management and computer applications, as well as economics courses in the College. Small, interdisciplinary LAMP seminars examine the link between business, society and culture.  

LAMP Student Advisory Board member and sophomore Kristen Rafdal is one of about 450 students currently pursuing their certificates.

“LAMP students come from a broad spectrum of disciplines, but they all possess an explorative spirit and strong work ethic,” she said. “Our backgrounds in the sciences and humanities help us bring innovative ideas to discussions on business and management.”

The LAMP application for spring admission is due March 31, and can be found at www.indiana.edu/~lamp.

Perhaps we can all get along after all.