Arts and humanities to gain more emphasis across fields of study

The arts and humanities don’t get enough attention on the IU campus, according to the provost’s draft of the strategic plan.

Objective four of the “Undergraduate Life” section outlines the provost’s ideas on how to go about undertaking such a project.

The outline includes the creation of an arts and humanities center, expanded course offerings aimed at international students and the integration of arts and humanities resources such as the IU Cinema, IU Art Museum and other performance venues and galleries into courses across campus.

“Anything that works to integrate the arts and humanities for all students would, in my mind, be exactly what is needed for a complete university education,” said John Lucaites, associate dean for arts and humanities and undergraduate education in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Lucaites said he thinks the best way to understand the value of the arts and humanities is to imagine college without them.

“We would not be at a university at all but rather some sort of technical school,” he said.

He said even though they are sometimes addressed in other studies, values and skills like understanding, imagination, empathy and judgment are most at home in the arts and humanities.

Provost Lauren Robel said no one has yet taken charge of the objective to make students passionate advocates of the arts and humanities.

“There will be a window into this for any student,” she said.

She said there are plans in the works involving the 100th anniversary of World War I next year.

Another important part of creating an increased emphasis on the arts and humanities is the creation of an arts and humanities center on campus, Robel said, and she pointed out that many universities already have these facilities in place.

Lucaites said the creation of such a center was key to pursuing this objective in the strategic plan.

“We need a space — both conceptual and physical — where students and faculty can find the opportunities and resources for interaction and engagement, for experimentation and innovation,” he said.

Provost Robel likened the initiative as a whole to the Themester program organized by the College of Arts and Sciences.

“It’s almost like Themester on steroids,” she said.

The College describes Themester as “an initiative to engage the collective knowledge and creativity of the faculty and to involve undergraduate students in the exploration of ideas across the disciplines,” on its website.

The plan also asks that the arts and humanities at IU become “robustly public-facing,” or, in other words, that the arts and humanities become programs associated with IU.

“The arts and humanities provide a key component to the education of the complete citizen,” Lucaites said. “Or, if you want to think in terms of the history of the liberal arts, the complete ‘human.’”