‘Liberal Arts Colleges: An Overlooked Opportunity?’

David Damiano, professor of mathematics at College of the Holy Cross, coauthored an article on the opportunities, rewards and challenges of working at a liberal arts college. The article highlights key characteristics of a liberal arts education, including the importance of teaching, the research opportunities available to students and professors alike, and the opportunities for professors to teach outside of their standard curriculum.

“There is a great deal of faculty ownership of the curriculum,” the article explains of liberal arts schools, giving particular attention to the discipline of mathematics. “Faculty members are concerned about how courses and departmental activities fit together as a whole and convey the dynamic nature of mathematics. Discussions often cross departmental boundaries in pursuit of educational goals.”

The article also discusses the small classroom sizes at liberal arts institutions, the close faculty-student relationships, and how mathematics faculty and students are engaged outside the classroom through, for example, programs like the weekly Tea and Games get-together and annual Pi Mu Epsilon banquet hosted by Holy Cross’ Math and Computer Science Club.

Michele Intermont ’89, a mathematics major, also coauthored the article. She is currently an associate professor of mathematics at Kalamazoo College in Michigan.

Read the full article at Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 

This “Holy Cross in the News” item is by Jessica Kennedy.