Letters at Oklahoma: A Tradition of Excellence in the Liberal Arts

Dr. Jonathan Kenigson, FRSA

The University of Oklahoma at Norman (OU) is renowned worldwide for its programs in the applied sciences: Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, Aerospace Sciences, Computing, and Mathematics.

Indeed, OU has a fine reputation in each of these fields as measured by the "objective" standards of the League Tables from the US News & World Report for 2021 and the preceding 10 years.

The undergraduates that I have sent to this university have almost universally reported a challenging formative academic experience with a great deal of flexibility in course selection and highly engaged faculty. Indeed, there is a very high bar for pedagogical excellence at OU as evidenced by published student satisfaction rankings from the US News & World Report. I desire to report upon a program that has gained greater national recognition of late: The Bachelor of Arts in Letters.

OU established this program in 1937 during the Great Depression, a time that ostensibly would lend itself to the most practical of degrees.

The same era saw the establishment of a thriving Liberal Arts tradition in the CUNY system in New York.

Rather than impeding progress in the Liberal Arts, it seems that the economic chaos of the time lent more value to the propensity for introspection furnished by interdisciplinary study. Adler's project at Chicago hails from the same era and marches to the same beat. OU's Bachelor of Arts in Letters permits a balance among languages, classical studies, Philosophy, and the social sciences. Most importantly, however, OU recognizes what few other honors programs in the country recognize: That the mathematical arts are quintessential Liberal Arts, and the Liberal Arts tradition is grossly impoverished if restricted to the Trivium alone.

Bachelor of Arts students are permitted to enroll in undergraduate research in the mathematical sciences and conduct early graduate study in any of the mathematical sciences. I can envision a Quadrivium program crafted from the Letters curriculum to include Algebra, Number Theory, Geometry, Music, Astronomy & Astrophysics, and the core seminars for the program, with undergraduate research in classical "pure" Mathematics including Euclidean Geometry. The inclusion of languages both modern and classical is obviously assumed. Mastery of Latin and Greek could be guaranteed by year two with the well-sequenced introductory courses from the Classical Language faculty. The structure of the Letters program would permit inclusion of advanced mathematics beginning in the second year. This pace of study would furnish more than enough time for a detailed undergraduate thesis.

The University of Oklahoma Letters program is rising in renown nationally. In my estimation, the Letters program could be crafted to include Philosophy as well. This modification would make the 4-year program nearly optimal among US programs for students of the Quadrivium. I firmly believe that the careful supervision and mentorship for which this program is known makes it a prime alternative to the Ivies, especially for students from the Midwest who could benefit from interstate tuition reciprocity agreements. May the program thrive and prosper.