Empathy, Entrepreneurship and the Liberal Arts

Olaf Kuhlke Associate Dean

College of Liberal Arts

Who am I and Why am I here? I am a geographer who studies mobility.

I do research on how people express attachment/detachment to/from place by way of moving (i.e. walking, rituals, migration etc.)

In my role as Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, I passionately advocate for the value and practicality of a liberal arts education

Who am I and Why am I here? I am speaking today as an advocate of the

Liberal Arts

I will not debate the origins, nature, evolution, and various ethical aspects of empathy.

I will not provide practical guides for becoming more empathic, and show you why that’s necessary

I will not address the cultivation of empathy through art, literature and other visual media

Who am I and Why am I here? I will defend the liberal arts, and show you

that they are giving students perhaps the most valuable job skills in today’s world.

I will argue for a new liberal arts that goes beyond the scope of the traditional trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music), the conveyance of “critical thinking skills”, and the examination of diversity and sustainability.

Who am I and Why am I here? I will argue for a New Liberal Arts that

combines traditional liberal arts skills with entrepreneurial and technology training

I will argue that empathy is a key skills in the training of 21st Century Liberal Arts graduates

I will show you our response to these needs at UMD – a B.A. program in Cultural Entrepreneurship that combines empathic action with entrepreneurial skills.

So what’s going on out there?

The Liberal Arts are under attack!!

The Liberal Arts are fighting back….

“This is an intensely practical utilitarian age, and men virtually worship the “money-god,” and will not cease until they are convinced that there are nobler and purer shrines at which to worship. . . . While we recognize in the bustling activity around us the necessity for practical education, we do not pander to that depraved, money-born cry, ‘Nothing but the practical!’ That education which, ignoring culture, burdens the student’s mind with tables and technical terms, simply because these may be of use to him in his business or profession, is not practical but injurious in the extreme. The education founded upon comparison of what is best in Science and Literature, giving development to mind and heart, building strong by building deep and broad, is truly practical. The student who has learned to think, not merely to memorize, who has secured permanent culture and wisdom, who has absorbed and assimilated, but has not been stuffed and gorged, is the one who will be felt, wherever he may be.”

(Hendrix College,1890-91, pp. 10-11).

How do we keep the Liberal Arts relevant?

Suggestion 1 –

By addressing the need for entrepreneurship training in the emerging cultural and

creative economies

Suggestion 2 –

By advocating that Empathy, Empathic Action are liberal art

skills that are key employment skills

A Whole New Mind“Not just logic, but also Empathy. The capacity for logical thinking is one of the things that makes us human. But in a world of ubiquitous information and advanced analytical tools, logic alone won’t do. What will distinguish those who thrive will be their ability to understand what makes their fellow woman or man tick, to forge relationships, and to care for others” (Pink 2005, 66).

Multiple Intelligences…whether I am (or you are) writing, researching, or managing, it is important to avoid stereotyping or caricaturing. I must try to understand other persons on their own terms, make an imaginative leap when necessary, seek to convey my trust in them, and try so far as possible to make common cause with them and to be worthy of their trust. This stance does not mean that I ignore my own beliefs, nor that I necessarily accept or pardon all that I encounter. (Gardner 2009, 7)

Suggestion 3 –

By creating programs/majors that combine empathic liberal arts skills

with entrepreneurship

BA in Cultural Entrepreneurship

What is Cultural Entrepreneurship?

Cultural Entrepreneurs are cultural change agents and resourceful visionaries who organize cultural, financial, social and human capital, to generate revenue from a cultural activity.  Their innovative solutions result in economically sustainable cultural enterprises that enhance livelihoods and create cultural value and wealth for both creative producers and consumers of cultural services and products.

What is Cultural Entrepreneurship?

Cultural entrepreneurs…solve problems by disrupting belief systems—using television shows like Glee to initiate viewers into the disability or GLBTQ rights frameworks or the Twitter campaign #mensaythingstome, designed to expose anonymous misogyny online.

Where are Cultural Entrepreneurship Programs currently offered?

• UK– Goldsmiths College, University of London (M.A.)

• GERMANY (B.A.)– Uni Passau (with Universidad del Salvador, ARG) (dual degree, 2+2

program)– Uni Duiburg-Essen– Uni Mannheim– Uni Giessen – Uni Kassel

• NETHERLANDS (B.A.)– Erasmus University

• USA (minors only)– Wake Forrest University – Queens College – St. Olaf (courses only, no degree program)

What will the program look like?

• B.A. degree in CLA • Classes in

– Entrepreneurship – Foreign Languages– New Liberal Arts Core

• Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship– Programming – Mentorship