Joshua Schwartz, Trinity associate professor of engineering science, pitched his application for the newly created position of Senior Director of Pathways to Trinity faculty in Dicke Hall on Feb. 24.
Trinity fielded candidates for the new position, and whomever receives the role will act as the First-Year Experience (FYE) coordinator and additionally ensure that pathway courses accurately serve students’ needs. Schwartz is a finalist for the position and presented his assessments of the current pathways courses, as well as what he plans to change if he were to get the position.
As a STEM major in college, Schwartz said he wished he had been exposed to more liberal arts courses that “expand your mind.” He presented survey data from current students and alumni indicating that they lack quantitative reasoning skills and perspective-taking skills. In this new role, he would be able to connect different departments and address these deficits in an actionable way, he said.
Schwartz presented data from a Gallup poll showing that Americans’ value on college education has been plummeting. One of the respondents’ biggest issues, he said, was the lack of freedom to think for oneself at college. He recalled the time when he noticed this shift in Trinity’s culture.
“They [students] were nervous. They didn’t want to talk about things. They were censoring each other. They were censoring themselves. It bothered me to learn that,” Schwartz said.
Universities must address these issues by consciously maintaining the pluralistic qualities of a college education by facilitating conversations and interactions with peers in class, he said.
“We should be able to talk about what we think,” Schwartz said. “And so I tend to stand for that, and it is one of my values. It doesn’t have to come at the expense of being compassionate. It doesn’t have to come at the expense of being aware, being tactful. But I really think we need to work on that communication.”
Adding to this, Schwartz said in an interview with the Trinitonian that if he were to get the position, his main focus would be to facilitate diverse thinking and perspectives. As a professor and FYE topic coordinator for the “Why People Believe Weird Things” class, he said he learned that using imagination to be cognizant and understanding others is vital in all aspects of life. It shows that people are not as different from one another as one might think.
