Associate Professor Margaret Russett discusses literary theory 'al fresco' with students in her English class.
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The Undergraduate Mission
College Prepares Students for Lifetime of Learning
Freshmen entering USC College are like adventurers discovering a hidden
treasure chest. The treasure? A philosophy that encourages them to dig
deep to expand their minds and futures, backed by a choice of 80 majors
and 50 minors and an array of programs designed to enrich the
undergraduate experience.
Dean Joseph Aoun sees this philosophy as one firmly grounded in the
role and mission of the university: “As our mission statement says, we
are ‘committed to the creation, preservation and communication of
fundamental knowledge in all its forms. College faculty endeavor to
awaken in each student an appreciation for critical thinking, and a
profound understanding of the problems and aspirations of human
societies, past and present, as well as a lifelong passion for learning
and a commitment to the betterment of society.’”
The College’s teaching philosophy also reflects the changing realities
of the job market. Today’s students will likely engage in multiple
careers, some that haven’t yet been invented — or even imagined.
“We aren’t just preparing our students for their first job, but rather
for a lifetime of learning,” said Peter Starr, professor of French and
comparative literature and dean for undergraduate programs in the
College.
That shift required some real changes in the College’s approach to
education. The College represents the foundation of the university’s
liberal arts education from which all undergraduates launch their
collegiate careers and the majority graduate. Over the past decade, the
College has led the revision of the general education curriculum,
expanded and created programs based on experiential learning, and
strongly encouraged students to pursue both a major and a minor.
The College has expanded student choice with the introduction of
innovative, interdisciplinary majors, such as health and humanity and
neurosciences, and minors such as critical approaches to leadership,
American popular culture, global communication, and forensics and
criminality.
“We urge our students to explore the full range of academic work in the
College, to choose majors and minors from fundamentally different areas
of inquiry — art history and geography, for instance, or East Asian
languages and physics. Pursuing breadth with depth allows USC College
students to develop the methodological sophistication and inventiveness
that will allow them to create forms of knowledge none of us can yet
imagine,” said Starr.
To further inspire them toward that end and help attract the nation’s
finest students to USC College, Starr recently instituted a College
Honors Society. The Society joins a range of programs meant to
encourage students to pursue academic excellence, integrating existing
honors programs such as Thematic Option and Freshman Science Honors
with departmental honors curricula.
As word has gotten out about the rising quality of an education at USC
College, enrollment and average SAT scores have spiraled up. In 2005,
more than 16,500 students applied for 1,200 slots. The class of 2009
has an average SAT score of 1372 and an average GPA of 4.08.
The enlightened undergraduate experience has elevated the entire
university into the ranks of just 16 national “Leadership Institutions”
designated by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, a
recognition based on USC’s “visionary campus-wide innovations in
undergraduate education.”
The ways students take advantage of College offerings differs from person to person.
Kenneth Basin, an international relations major who minors in natural
science and critical approaches to leadership, wanted a deeper
understanding of international security issues. A Gold Family
Scholarship enabled him to spend a semester studying at King’s College
in London, living and learning with students from around the world. The
College offers more than 40 study abroad programs on six continents for
students to gain firsthand knowledge of other lands, cultures and
traditions.
His classmate, psychobiology major Yizhou Du spent the summer studying
gene expression in brain cells with University Professor Caleb Finch, a
leading expert on aging. They are searching for ways to protect the
brain from Alzheimer’s disease.
Additional funding has led to more undergraduates engaging in original
research than ever before, said Michael Quick, professor of biological
sciences and the College’s dean of research.
Religion and biology student Anita Nageswaran, who volunteered at a
local foster care agency, is one of more than 2,000 USC students who
have enriched their education through service learning programs offered
by the College Joint Educational Project (JEP). The same programs
enable USC and its partners to enhance the quality of life in the
neighborhood.
“USC College believes that community-based service learning should
benefit not only the community, but also our students who participate
in it,” said Aoun. “Many colleges promote community-based learning as
part of the standard curriculum. At USC, we are famous for it.”
“We give students every opportunity to acquire useful skills and to
develop a sense of responsibility to their communities and to each
other,” Starr said. “We expose them to ideas, perspectives and cultures
other than their own, which helps them grow into resourceful, fully
engaged citizens of our 21st century world.”
That’s something anyone would treasure.
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