|
Throughout the 20th century, major advancements in knowledge have been
achieved by an almost continuous increase in the division of intellectual labor. Most
horizontal efforts at syntheses, to connect our specialties, have become separatist
ventures themselves. In the 21st century, however, I believe strongly that we will
need a wide range of interconnections among and between our academic and
administrative units. We need to create a better balance of vertical and horizontal
activities in the way we are organized.
Because we are so comprehensive in our programs and services, we must agree
upon how to fabricate some unifying interrelationships among our highly
specialized activities. One way we can do this is by emphasizing learning as our
unifying goal. Our familiar refrain is that we perform teaching, research, and
public service, and we typically view those as distinct and separate activities. In
reality, they are creatively connected as learning.
By dividing learning into three broad themes -- the learning experience, the
learning community and the learning environment -- we can begin to outline our
vision. |
