Ashley Takacs | Crafting an arts curriculum

We might have passed each other in Meyerson hall. You were the one leaving the 500 person lecture on Psych, Econ or whatever it was 101. I was the girl caked in sawdust, possibly with her fingers glued together. As you snoozed to the dulcet tones of professor so-and-so, I was literally sawing wood.

Yes, I am one of the few, the forgotten, the architecture majors. I, like all art and architecture students, know that Meyerson Hall has more than just a basement. It has gallery spaces, paint studios, computer labs and a fabrication lab filled with saws, sanders and even laser cutters.

Contrary to popular belief, Meyerson was built to house more than huge introductory classes. It, along with Addams Hall, is home to the School of Design. For all of those who are unaware, Addams is the mystery building across from the bookstore with the sketchy ramp.

I wouldn't expect you to be familiar with it. After all, there isn't a single class housed in Addams that can be used toward fulfilling the general requirement or any of the seven sectors, including "Arts and Literature." And, honestly, between majors, minors and extracurriculars, who has time for electives - especially ones as time consuming as photography, drawing and ceramics?

Does anyone else find it strange that the College of Arts and Sciences doesn't actually include art? We may study art and artists, but many students don't get the thrill of gessoing their own canvas or milling steel.

While these activities may seem esoteric, they're easy skills to acquire and frankly, a nice break from the books. Even art history students are not required to take a single art-based class - while a significant portion of an architecture major's studies is dedicated to art history.

Even if you were tempted to enroll in one of these courses, it would be counted as one of your precious non-College electives. And with only four to spread between the other schools at Penn, who wants to spend six hours a week on pottery? When an elective in negotiations must be sacrificed for an elective in animation, most pragmatic students would choose the former. In the eyes of most graduate schools and future employers, finance trumps photo on the useful scale.

The fact is that Penn often dismisses the universal value of engaging in the creative process. Many Penn students might be interested to hear that our Ivy-rivals over at Princeton are required to practice fine arts as part of their "Literature and the Arts" requirement.

According to Princeton's Web site, "these courses emphasize the interplay between technical discipline and creative imagination in the production of works of art." They're not alone - many colleges have an arts requirement that can be fulfilled through music, dance, theater, painting, photography or sculpture.

While I do not condone Penn turning into Princeton, I do think that the administration should consider integrating fine arts into the requirement. I'm sure we could spare at least one of the countless overlapping social-science requirements. Some of the world's greatest scientific and analytical thinkers practiced and valued art-Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Jefferson, for example. Even Albert Einstein embraced the creative spirit, once saying, "Imagination is more important than knowledge; knowledge is limited, [but] imagination encircles the world."

Unlike in disciplines where students learn to digest information from textbooks, fine arts classes encourage students to produce new ideas. But more importantly, they challenge students to represent their ideas in new and inventive ways. At the end of the semester, many classes require students to present a portfolio of work for their instructor and classmates to critique. The critical thinking and technical rigor of this process provide students with invaluable lessons that they can apply to their other studies.

If Penn were to integrate the fine arts into its curriculum, it would benefit the students immensely. But considering the recent addition of a U.S. Diversity requirement and the lack of discussion about adding a craft-based arts requirement, I doubt it will happen soon. Until then, I encourage you to walk up the sketchy (but temporary!) plywood ramp that leads to Addams' entrance. Walk through the halls and admire the student work. Check out the gallery on the first floor. Maybe your fellow students' work will inspire you to take that ceramics class and get your hands dirty in Meyerson. Just remember - while you were learning about Schrodinger's cat in the basement, I was upstairs making something other than doodles in the margins.

Ashley Takacs is a College junior from North Tanawanda, N.Y. She is the graphics editor for The Daily Pennsylvanian. Ash Wednesday appears on Wednesdays. Her email address is takacs@dailypennsylvanian.com

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.