SUNY Erie believes that a solid foundation in the liberal arts builds character, critical thinking, and imagination. Supported by a grant from the Teagle Foundation’s Cornerstone: Learning for Living initiative, our faculty created the Essential Questions Concentration. The initial composition class, EN 100, serves as a gateway for the majority of our students to three connected liberal arts courses. Beginning with this class, students on all SUNY Erie campuses will have an opportunity to read transformative texts and engage with the questions humans have always asked about themselves and the world. They develop an understanding of their own core values while becoming stronger readers, writers, and critical thinkers.
The Essential Questions Concentration fosters the consideration of the kinds of questions human beings have grappled with across history and cultures.
Is there an inherent meaning to life? How can I create meaning in my life? How should we spend our time and prioritize what is important to us? What does it mean to live a good life and have a good death? Is it important to be authentic? Is there a “true self”?
How do we define what it means to be beautiful? Is beauty useful? Is having a standard of beauty useful? Is beauty good or bad?
How do we balance freedom and responsibility? How do we balance our individuality with our communities and with society in general? What is justice? What is the best form of government? What is our relationship to the natural world? Do we have a responsibility to our traditions, our culture, or our ancestors? What is the importance of human endeavor – of work and creativity?
Jacqueline Bossman
Asst Professor
Sabrina Caine
Professor
Justin Cronise
Sr Coll Librarian
Erika Hendra
Professor
Andrew Hyzy
Professor
Nathan Naetzker
Assoc Professor