Connecting Liberal Arts and Business Education:

Lessons learned from UMD's B.A. in Cultural Entrepreneurship

Olaf KuhlkeAssociate Dean

College of Liberal Arts, UMD

Mike Mullins, Instructor of German

Department of Foreign Lang. and Lit., UMD

1. Why a new degree in the Liberal Arts? 1. The status of the Liberal Arts

2. Recent reconceptualizations of the Liberal Arts

3. What is Cultural Entrepreneurship?

4. Cultural Entrepreneurship in the Liberal Arts

2. The UMD B.A. Degree in Cultural Entrepreneurship 1. The three pillars of Cultural Entrepreneurship

1. Culture

2. Language

3. Entrepreneurship

Overview

Overview

3. Situating Cultural Entrepreneurship in the Liberal Arts Curriculum

The United States and World Languages1. The four I’s and CUE

1.Discussion/Interaction

Why a new Degree in the Liberal Arts?

The Current Status of the Liberal Arts

United States:

Constant pressures from external forces

Practicality of degrees

Application of skills

Misunderstanding of liberal arts skills

“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).

Why a new Degree in the Liberal Arts?

The Current Status of the Liberal Arts

Worldwide:

Resurgence of Liberal Arts in Europe and Asia

Emphasis on the value of communication and arts skills for job search and placement

Recent Reconceptualizations of the Liberal Arts

How have the Liberal Arts responded?

By repositioning the Liberal Arts: marketing traditional skills in a modern context

By starting discussions about integration with business/entrepreneurial skills

By pointing to shifting economic trends that favor liberal arts skills

Repositioning

Integration

Shifting Economic Trends -

the emerging creative economy

and then…

Cultural Entrepreneurship appears...

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….

CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A FORM OF THEORY

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.

CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A (BUSINESS) PRACTICE

Cultural Entrepreneurship as an Academic Discipline combining theory and practice

CUE combines three intellectual traditions and practical approaches

1. Entrepreneurship: Students learn the fundamentals of business management and entrepreneurship. Content is tailored to creative sector business creation, and includes both for profit and non-profit sector

INTELLECTUAL ORIGIN: DUTCH CULTURAL ECONOMICS

Cultural Entrepreneurship as an Academic Discipline combining theory and practice

CUE combines three intellectual traditions and practical approaches

2. Cultural and Creative Competencies: Courses allow students to explore and expand their creative skills, global understanding and interdisciplinary thinking.

INTELLECTUAL ORIGIN: HOWARD GARDNER’S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

Cultural Entrepreneurship as an Academic Discipline combining theory and practice

CUE combines three intellectual traditions and practical approaches

3. Foreign Language Instruction: Critical competency for global security, diplomacy and commerce.

INTELLECTUAL ORIGIN: PAUL SIMON, THE TONGUE-TIED AMERICAN

World Languages and cultures in US

1. Paul Simon

The Tongue-Tied

American, 1988

2. Dessert or

3.Geopolitical tool for too long.

Americanization and cultural and linguistic pluralism

1. Assimilate

1. Integrate

1. Lose the rich fabric of the cultural integration and intercultural competency

Why is it so difficult putting language learning in our schools?

1. NDEA in 1957 Eisenhower

Sputnik

2. CASL Center for Advanced Language Study

@ Univ of Maryland

Critical languages

Strategic choice

Security interests

3. Great variation in K-12 and Higher Ed L2 requirements

Changing World Economy

1. Economic power axis developments

EU and BRIC nations

2. New thoughts on how to market

New intercultural and linguistic challenges

To buy is easy; but to sell is an art

3. Meeting cultures on “their” terms

L2 language and cultural competencies

4. Schipol in the Netherlands in 1980

4 I’s of Cultural Entrepreneurship

1. Interdisciplinary

2. International

3. Inspiring

4. Individualized

Ambidexterity in Curricular design

1. Cross disciplinary in thought and articulation

HIST 1027 History of Islam (Meaning)

GER 4044 Contemporary Germany 4044

( Symphony and Synthesis)

2. Embedded and Articulated

Requires 2 languages and cultures

2 semesters and 5 semesters

3. L2 Language and Culture: centrality in

curriculum

Language embedded in the curriculum design

1. Mestenhauser Lecture in 2013

Betty Leask: Prof. of Applied Linguistics from Univ of South Australia●Not just enrichment●Local, regional, national and global content●Embedded and articulated throughout

2. Functional and notional L2 language proficiency

and cultural competency ( ACTFL)

Proficiency and Competency

1. Proficiency in a language

A description of what an individual can do with a language

2. Competency in a culture

To be able to interact with people of differing cultures and socio-economic backgrounds

Business and language connection

1. Utah as an example

Information from Elaine Tarone from CARLA

35% residents speak a 2nd language

Not just missionary work but business

2. Skullcandy/Backcountry.com and 110 venture

capitalist firms

3. Public investment in Higher Education

USTAR $100 million dollars

National Public Radio

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/12/148252561/on-utahs-silicon-slopes-tech-jobs-get-a-lift

The Secret Weapon: Language Proficiency and Cultural Competency

Cultural Appropriateness and Competency

Inglorious Basterds von Quentin Tarantino

Competency in a 2nd culture can be life-saving:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDB_yCvuTlE

Conclusions on Language Integration

● Language and Culture is central to this degree● Language and Culture study must be embedded

and articulated● Language and Culture study is a key aspect of an

internationalized campus and curriculum● Opting for anything less such as global

enrichment is denying students their future

Discussion and Interaction

Questions for the audience:

Please share your experiences with interdisciplinary curriculum integration.

Rewards

Challenges

Student Demand and Response

Market Demand and Response

Discussion and Interaction

Questions for the audience:

What are your perspectives on integrating liberal arts, arts, sciences or medical education with business/entrepreneurship training?

Rewards

Challenges

Student Demand and Response

Market Demand and Response

Linkedin Groups

The Cultural Entrepreneurship Group:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Cultural-Entrepreneurship-Group-4726013?trk=my_groups-b-grp-v

Global Citizens for International Curricula:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Global-Citizens-Internationalization-Curricula-6506405?gid=6506405&goback=.gmp_6506405&trk=NUS_UNIU-ngroup

Contact