When I
earned an honest living in the classroom and
the scholarly corners of the library my
expertise was focused on the teaching of
English Renaissance Drama. My usual
schedule included at least one course in
Shakespeare’s drama—tragedies, comedies or
histories, and other classes which studied
the literature of 15th and 16th
century England. It was pretty easy to have
a view of what I did as a kind of “pure”
education—founded deeply in the liberal arts
rather than the more practical vocational
programs that frankly prepared students to
be successful in a particular job or career.
But I
learned a different view a long while back
when I was chosen to participate in a
federally sponsored discussion about the
liberal arts vs. vocational education. You
would be right to assume that as an English
Renaissance scholar I took the side of the
benefits of the liberal arts. And the
debates were long and interesting.
But the
thing I remember learning came from David
Matthews, who at the time was U. S. Secretary
of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).
That will tell you just how long ago all of
this happened—there was still a
Department of HEW in Washington. In any
case, Secretary Matthews had listened to our
debate in the closing sessions of our
meeting and did a good job of bringing a
final focus to our discussions. He had
heard my own comments about the liberal arts
and its “purity” and application to
students’ education. And I’m afraid I had
been something of a snob about how
vocational programs were somehow of less
value in the scheme of things.
Secretary
Matthews explained “If you are teaching
Shakespeare’s tragedies to a classroom full
of students who plan to be English teachers
when they leave the campus, you really are
providing vocational education. If, on the
other hand, the students studying
Shakespeare’s tragedies with you all plan to
be chemists—now you are dealing with
the liberal arts.” And Matthews was right.
Since those
early days more and more of education on a
university’s campus is focused on helping
the student in a future career or in rather
practical aspects of life. That certainly
is true here in Southwest Florida.
Registration
is now going on at Florida Gulf Coast
University, with fall classes set to begin
the week of August 23. Recent events give a
good example of how we try to interweave the
courses we teach with the practical needs of
the community we serve.
Perhaps you
noticed a recent set of local newspaper
articles dealing with mental health issues
in Charlotte County. Tragic events in our
community recently, including the alleged
murder of a child by its mother, had
prompted rather intense examination of the
problems we face in Charlotte County in
trying to deal with mental health issues and
in trying to provide the necessary treatment
and services. These are major problems and
the necessary solutions will be long term
and expensive.
But the
discussions themselves, prompted in large
part by County Commissioner Sara Devos, and
the reminders they provided made it clear
that part of the problem is education. So,
we quickly altered the course schedule for
FGCU-Charlotte’s fall semester. One of the
courses set to begin the week of August 23rd
had been “Human Growth and Development,”
which is important to those who are involved
in human services and the agencies here that
provide those services. But it was clear, I
think, that we needed right now a much more
specific course to apply to our situation.
So, we will
be offering “Issues in Mental Health” this
fall instead of “Human Growth and
Development.” This is one effort to apply
our educational offerings directly to the
community’s needs. The course in mental
health issues will help those who work in
the institutions and agencies that deal
directly with mental health treatment and
services. And it is a course that should be
of interest also to those of us who have
contact of a more general type with the
problems the county has in dealing with
mental health treatment and services. The
course will meet on the Edison-Charlotte
campus on Monday evenings from 6:00 to 8:45
p.m. The instructor is well versed in both
mental health issues in general and in the
specific elements we must deal with in
Charlotte County. She plans to make direct
reference to local situations and needs. We
will help you in getting registered and
enrolled in the course without having to
leave Charlotte County, and of course all of
the class meetings are here at home. Just
call 941-255-7414.
A course
that some might see as a companion to
“Issues in Mental Health” this semester is
“Family Law Issues.” This online course
will focus on the legal processes and issues
of the law of family relations, including
the study of separation, divorce, domestic
violence, child neglect, custody and court
procedures, etc. Our online courses provide
convenient access to study when your work or
personal schedules make it difficult to set
aside time to meet in the traditional
classroom setting. You will work with the
professor via internet, doing the assigned
work at times of the day that suit your work
schedule and other obligations.
We offer
fall courses also in business, education,
legal studies, criminal justice, writing,
public administration, personal fitness,
hospitality and tourism management, and the
health professions, including nursing. Feel
free to contact us at 255-7414 or stop by
our office at the Charlotte County Cultural
Center for more information. Again, FGCU’s
classes will begin the week of August 23.
And we have a number of online (internet
based) courses which will allow you to set
your own schedule for getting the required
work done. We look forward to seeing you
soon. 
Please click here for additional information
or if you would like to contact the
author of this article, Dr. Robert L. Burns. Thank you!
|
