With an important part of the college’s mission as academic transfer,
the general education courses offered throughout the division serve the transfer
mission well. The purpose, goals and aspirations of the division extend well beyond
adequately preparing our students for transfer, however. With our students ranging
from the sixteen-year-old Running Start student to the eighty-year-old student with
a bachelor degree, the individual student goals vary from transfer to personal enrichment
and leisure.
Our focus is delivering the highest quality of teaching and learning that can be
offered in the liberal arts. Our professional commitment is to share our love for
knowledge and wisdom with our students. Through a highly qualified and dedicated
faculty to innovative programs such as learning communities and community service
learning, the division offers students a rich learning experience, allowing students
to grow both intellectually and socially. Our hope is that students become more
actively engaged in both the college and the outside community. Through study abroad
opportunities and courses dealing with global diversity, the division offers students
many avenues to increase their global and cultural understanding.
The knowledge and thinking processes gained in social sciences and philosophy
translate into successful transition from associate to bachelor degrees. Although
preparation for one’s professional life is inclusive within the benefits of
our curriculum, the division goals far exceed that of mere job training. Over two-thirds
of one’s life takes place outside of the professional realm, and it is this aspect
of life that is firmly enhanced by social sciences and philosophy. Through the
social sciences one becomes aware of the vast capabilities as well as the limits
of humanity from studying the human condition of the past and present. This allows
us to intelligently speculate about the destiny of humanity in the future. By exposure
to scholarly research and analysis the student is forever transformed into an inquirer
whose quest is to search for the deeper, underlying meaning in the world around
us. Through such scholarly research and analysis a more appreciative, articulate
person emerges. The knowledge and skills learned are applied throughout one’s life
and the pursuit of such learning is indeed a life-long endeavor. In the division
the words of Socrates are taken seriously, "An unexamined life is not worth
living." We invite all students, from whatever background, to join in this
journey for knowledge and understanding with us.