Providence, R.I.--Emphasizing that the point of a liberal arts education is "to enrich and liberate the student-learner," Dr. Robert P. George, J.D., a Princeton University scholar on constitutional law and a champion of human rights, delivered the principal address at Providence College's Academic Convocation on September 16.

George is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton. He also serves on the President's Council on Bioethics, UNESCO's World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

A prolific writer, he is the author of Making Men Moral: Civil Liberties and Public Morality (Oxford University Press, 1993) and In Defense of Natural Law (Oxford University Press, 1999). George received an honorary doctorate in juridical science from Providence College at its Commencement Exercises in May.

In his address, George noted, "On one side, there are those who believe that what liberal arts education offers, or should offer, is liberation from traditional social constraints and norms of morality--the beliefs, principles, and structures by which earlier generations of people had been taught to govern their conduct for the sake of personal virtue and the common good.

"Why do they regard this form of 'liberation' as desirable? It is because they believe that these traditional norms and structures are irrational--they are vestiges of superstition and phobia that impede the free development of personalities by restricting people's capacities to act on their desires," he said.

In noting a competing view, George said, "In what might be called the classical understanding of liberal-arts learning, the mission is not to liberate us to act on our desires, but rather, and precisely, to liberate us from slavery to them.

"Personal authenticity, under the classical account, consists in self-mastery--in placing reason in control of desire. According to the classic liberal-arts ideal, learning promises liberation, but it is not liberation from demanding moral ideals and social norms--it is, rather, liberation from slavery to self."

George underscored the importance of students considering all points of view, saying, "The task of the liberal arts teacher, as I envision it, is not to tell students what to think; it is to teach them to think, carefully, critically, and for themselves." 

Accinno Award presented
In addition to George's address, convocation was highlighted by the presentation of the 2008-09 Joseph R. Acccinno Faculty Teaching Award to Dr. Charles R. Toth, associate professor of biology. The award is the most prestigious teaching accolade at the College. Established in 2002, it is presented annually to a tenured faculty member who exhibits excellence in teaching, a passion and enthusiasm for learning, and genuine concern for students' academic and personal growth. Toth joined the College faculty in 2000.

The ceremony also featured the introduction of 32 new, full-time faculty members, including Sister Dianne J. Bergant, CSA, the 2009-10 Rev. Robert J. Randall Distinguished Professor in Christian Culture; the recognition of 13 recently retired faculty members; the conferring of tenure on 12 faculty members; and the conferring of professorship and associate professorship on eight faculty members.

College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. '80 delivered welcoming remarks in which he considered the viewpoints of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, and Aristotle on the roles of God, the teacher, and the student in teaching and learning.

"Aquinas concludes--and so will I--by conceding that of course God is the ultimate source of knowledge and that the mind of the student is the principal agent in learning. But he insists that the role of the teacher is a providential instrument designed to mediate the light of God and stimulate the mind of the student," said Father Shanley.    

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