Academic Convocat ion address by Libby Christensen Rayburn at Universi ty of Puget Sound May15,2004 Thank you, Bill Barry for your kind introduction. Thank you also to fami ly, friends, and faculty for allowing us all to be here today. While the convocation ceremony will highlight the di iverse accom plishments of the students of the University of Puget Sound, I would like to use my time to highlight and to acknowledge an accomplishment shared by all ups graduates, this being the ability to dance with the world Now, before i loose credit with those i don t know and those who know me and know my style of dance, I must clarify my definition of the ability to dance. You see when I say dancing, I do not mean with grace, physical coordination or anything that requires balancing on two feet. So, to those lacking in any or all of these skills, myself included, you need not worry, because the danc in of which I speak is strictly the dancing of the mind. In particular, my definition of dancing is the minds' abi lity to move with and adapt to a world of multiple disciplines, complex thoughts, and changing systems. I believe that the goals of a liberal arts education, mainly, to provide a diverse academic background, to instill the ability to expect the unexpected, to embrace change, to learn from surprises, and to adapt and to act in coordination wi th the shifting events of the world are analogous to the tasks of finding a beat, harmonizing the best with the music, and choreographing movements required of a dance prior to his/her entrance onto a stage Similarly, the me taphor of dancing enables us to document the progression of a students academic development over the course of their undergraduate education As freshman, the students to day started their dance lesson with a study of rhythm and beat. Through the beginning level course required of underclassmen, students are introduced to a plethora of academic theories, which operate as the foundation, or rhythm, of our academic training. For instance, as freshmen science students are taught to recognize the cons tant and steady beat of the law of thermodynamics, politics and social science students are exposed to the circular and repetitive beat of Karl Marx s conflict theory, and art students are taught the to paint synthesizing and combining multiple colors through the beat of Color theor In conjunction wi th learning the beat s of academics, the Uni versity of Puget Sound furthers its student s dance lesson by creating an academic environmentAcademic Convocation Address by Libby Christensen Rayburn at University of Puget Sound May 15, 2004 Thank you, Bill Barry for your kind introduction. Thank you also to family, friends, and faculty for allowing us all to be here today. While the convocation ceremony will highlight the diverse accomplishments of the students of the University of Puget Sound, I would like to use my time to highlight and to acknowledge an accomplishment shared by all UPS graduates, this being the ability to dance with the world. Now, before I loose credit with those I don't know and those who know me and know my style of dance, I must clarify my definition of the ability to dance. You see when I say dancing, I do not mean with grace, physical coordination, or anything that requires balancing on two feet. So, to those lacking in any or all of these skills, myself included, you need not worry, because the dancing of which I speak is strictly the dancing of the mind. In particular, my definition of dancing is the minds' ability to move with and adapt to a world of multiple disciplines, complex thoughts, and changing systems. I believe that the goals of a liberal arts education, mainly, to provide a diverse academic background, to instill the ability to expect the unexpected, to embrace change, to learn from surprises, and to adapt and to act in coordination with the shifting events of the world are analogous to the tasks of finding a beat, harmonizing the best with the music, and choreographing movements required of a dance prior to his/her entrance onto a stage. Similarly, the metaphor of dancing enables us to document the progression of a student's academic development over the course of their undergraduate education. As freshman, the students to day started their dance lesson with a study of rhythm and beat. Through the beginning level course required of underclassmen, students are introduced to a plethora of academic theories, which operate as the foundation, or rhythm, of our academic training. For instance, as freshmen, science students are taught to recognize the constant and steady beat of the law of thermodynamics, politics and social science students are exposed to the circular and repetitive beat of Karl Marx's conflict theory, and art students are taught the to paint synthesizing and combining multiple colors through the beat of Color Theory. In conjunction with learning the beats of academics, the University of Puget Sound furthers its student's dance lesson by creating an academic environment