During our inaugural Fall retreat for the faculty this year, the opening theme was focused around the theme of “Future ready graduate: Skills, values and community impact.” The discussion had a strong focus on the relevance of a liberal arts education in the US and how it is relevant to the world we live in.
This issue of relevance of education and return on investment has been at the heart of a technical education vs. humanities debate, which is part of the larger debate about the value of Higher ed in today’s world. My own journey to academia and social sciences (aligned with liberal arts and interdisciplinary work) has been circuitous and begins with a very technical field.
I graduated with a bachelors in Engineering, though had a knack for writing and communications. Soon after graduating, I jumped head on, starting my own communications consulting firm and subsequently working for Ogilvy & Mather in their PR unit for a while. This led to other opportunities in other firms and eventually, I made it to the Maxwell School of Syracuse University for an MPA and MA in International Relations.
I applied for just three programs, while I was working in the Middle East, ranked #1, #2 and #3, respectively – they were Maxwell School at Syracuse Uni, Harvard Kennedy School at Columbia and the school at Columbia Uni. I got accepted to Maxwell, with a scholarship! The decision was made for me. Why did I choose to come here?
It was largely becasue at the heart of Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs lies a distinctive educational philosophy: the belief that professional training in public policy and administration is most powerful when rooted in the liberal arts. This approach, which integrates professional MPA and other technical programs with interdisciplinary social science, produces graduates who are not merely skilled technicians but engaged citizens equipped to tackle complex societal challenges. I was enrolled in a dual MPA-MA(IR) focus so needed strong foundational courses in social sciences, that Maxwel school provided.
The Maxwell School, established in 1924, was founded on the principle of teaching citizenship to all Syracuse undergraduates. This commitment to civic engagement remains central to its identity, distinguishing it from traditional professional schools. I had the most intellectually stimulating time of my adult life at Maxwell School, where I was a Graduate Assistant at the Moynihan Institute and worked with one of the foremost experts on Iran, Dr. Mehrzad Boroujerdi.
As the only graduate school whose professional programs in public administration and international affairs are fully integrated with social science departments, Maxwell offers a truly distinctive educational model. Its faculty of 170 scholars across six social science disciplines: anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, and sociology; provide students with multiple lenses through which to understand policy problems. I attended classes in many of these disciplines as the elective structures let me take classes in many disciplines, with few restrictions.
The school’s flagship Master of Public Administration program, created over 90 years ago as the nation’s first such professional program, embodies this interdisciplinary philosophy.
As I learned during my time there, the MPA program emphasizes three areas of mastery: formulating, implementing, and evaluating policy; leading organizations with diverse stakeholders; and applying rigorous evidence-based analysis. These skills, however, are not taught in isolation. Maxwell’s faculty engage in applied interdisciplinary research, bridging theoretical frameworks with practical application. This blending ensures that policy decisions are understood within their cultural, historical, and social contexts.
Practical experience in interdisciplinary learning can be seen in the Maxwell classroom. In one course, MPA students worked alongside engineering students on complex policy projects, from lead service line replacement to automated vehicle regulation. My own capstone project involved an NGO (Near East Foundation) that worked with refugees in the Middle East and focused on workforce development and job creation for them.
As an Engineer, I learned to write policy briefs, while all MPA students grappled with technical infrastructure challenges: demonstrating how policy and technical expertise must inform one another. The instructor noted that MPA students excel at articulating policy arguments and applying current events to their analysis, skills honed through exposure to multiple disciplines.
This commitment to broad-based education extends to Maxwell’s undergraduate programs, offered in partnership with the College of Arts and Sciences. As I followed the schools work post graduation, the liberal arts core is being reimagined to address contemporary challenges like climate change, social justice, and human well-being, moving from traditional disciplinary perspectives toward thematic approaches that reflect an interconnected world. As one Maxwell associate dean observed, students with narrow professional ambitions are “just like the bear who sees the other side of the mountain”; true education requires crossing disciplinary lines to bridge ideas, cultures, and languages. The University’s longstanding principle has been that “just providing liberal education or just providing professional training is not where society needs education to be”.
Some of my professors were leaders of global organizations, including Prof. Catherine Bertini, former Head of World Food Program, Prof. Walter Broadnax (one of my favorite professors),
It is a testament to this unique model of blending liberal arts education with a very technical education that made my Maxwell experience unique. This model has earned Maxwell recognition as the #1 ranked graduate school of public affairs in the nation. Its success reflects a larger truth: today’s public challenges: from environmental sustainability to national security, all demand leaders who can synthesize perspectives and adapt to evolving conditions. As I look at Maxwell School’s enduring contribution, I realize it lies in understanding that effective public service requires not just technical competence but the critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and broad understanding that only a liberal arts education can provide.
Disciplinarity is a norm in today’s academia and though specialization is needed in many respects; getting bogged down in one’s discipline while ignoring the “big picture” can produce people and graduates who are inept at understanding the world, as it is.
I try to bring this to the classroom and in the program management at Cal Lutheran and hope that you see the value of this approach.
