Teaching on Innovation in the Liberal Arts

• José Vergara, Associate Professor of Russian 
• Selby Hearth, Associate Professor of Geology 

• Jamie Taylor, Professor of Literatures in English 
• Joel Schlosser, Professor of Political Science 
• Monique Scott, Associate Professor of Art History and Africana Studies and Director of Museum Studies Program 
• Maurice Rippel, Visiting Instructor of Education and Haverford College alumni  
• Sanam Sheriff, Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Bryn Mawr College alumni 

• Delineate the scope of “innovation” in the liberal arts context 
• Draft a survey for students, faculty, staff, and alumni 
• Establish the framework for the literature review 

• Hannah Cosgrove, Class of 2025, Geology major, Spanish minor 
• Madeleine Kruckemeyer, Class of 2026, double-major in Physics and Linguistics 
• Juliana Vair, Class of 2026, double-major in Mathematics and Comparative Literature (French & German) 
• Pearle Bromley, Class of 2028, intended major in Classical and Near Eastern Archeology 

Developed in coordination with David Consiglio, Bryn Mawr Director of Assessment, Learning Spaces, and Special Projects 

Distributed in early February and accompanied by tabling at Campus Center.

Goals of the survey:  

• Identify how Bryn Mawr currently excels at helping students develop the skills they need to innovate 
• Identify how Bryn Mawr could improve at helping students develop the skills they need to innovate 

Core questions:  

• What are the skills that allow people to innovate? 
• How do people develop those skills? 
• How can colleges support the development of those skills, either in or out of the classroom? 
• How are cultures of innovation developed?

Kate Blinn, Subject Librarian for Social Sciences and Data Librarian, is helping guide the student researchers toward scholarship in these questions.

These have only just started. By “informal interviews,” we mean talking with people, taking notes, and integrating their perspectives into our committee’s thinking. Deeper interviews to follow. 

We’ve started contacting colleagues at other institutions to get a sense of what “innovation,” broadly understood, is taking place elsewhere. Although our focus is on liberal arts colleges, we’ve solicited ideas from various colleges and universities (Ivies, state schools), as we feel that we might still gain inspiration or knowledge from the centers, spaces, and initiatives there that we can potentially bring back to and modify at Bryn Mawr. More to come.