I was a bit distressed to read Courtney Pellet’s editorial, “Theory Useless in the Job Force”. I can only conclude that we members of the Medaille College faculty could do a better job of articulating the place and importance of theory.

There is no substitute for hands-on learning and instruction that “shadows” the skills that are needed in the work force, especially at the entry level. However, an education, if it is to be truly that, cannot just be about “how to do”. It also needs to provide possible insights and perspectives concerning “what to do and why to do (or not to do)”.

This fact has been continually impressed upon the Communication Department’s faculty by members of the department’s advisory board. While it is true that some of the board’s members consider the value of Communication Theory, the Humanities and the Social Sciences as being “b.s.”, the majority of the members have strongly affirmed the value of theory and general knowledge, especially as it applies to the likelihood of promotion. Statements such as “I need people I can promote” and “I can teach a person to run a board, if I have to, but I can’t teach the ability to read, write, and think” have been the norm.

In fact, many of the most successful media figures, especially those who have jobs on-air or in print journalism, have not had “media” degrees but, rather, degrees in one or other of the Liberal Arts and Sciences. For these people the deficiencies that they may have had, early on, in hands-on skills were more than compensated for by the knowledge and the potential perspectives and insights that a liberal education can provide.

I suspect that internships, however valuable they can be, may not be the best basis for judging what the value of “theory” might be. This value most likely will be more apparent in what is often called “the real world” when a person is called upon to make decisions that might have serious consequences for himself/herself and others. This kind of responsibility is about as “real world” as it is possible to be. It very often forces a person to call upon and critique everything that he/she knows, believes, and stands for. The bases for such decisions are, to a great degree, the provinces of “theory”, the Humanities, and the Social Sciences.

Even more important, an education must do more than prepare a person for the work force. It must also be preparation for life as an educated citizen and leader. In the roles that such a life can and should involve there is no substitute for the knowledge, skills, and judgment that are the business of theory and a liberal education. These roles, too, are crucial in and to “the real world.”

We members of Medaille College’s faculty are very aware of the sacrifices that our students are making. In part to justify these sacrifices we are committed to providing our students with the best and most comprehensive theoretical and practical preparation for “the real world” that we can.

~Dr. John Schedel