Students

The Liberal Arts program at Bishop's has taught me respect for many different cultural and scientific pursuits. More importantly, however, it has taught me the value and practice of learning, as well as incorporating new knowledge into a continually maturing attitude towards life. The experience of the Liberal Arts degree at Bishop's has affected my life far beyond the classroom, beginning with regular attendance at theatre and music performances around campus, and eventually finding its way into conversations with my best friends that last late into the night.

After spending several years in the professional theatre world where the creative process exercises physical impulses, I was looking to challenge my intellectual cravings, to hone my writing skills, to cultivate my thinking into articulate expression. Bishop's was one of very few universities in the country that offered an interdisciplinary degree, one that essentially encourages you to integrate art, history, religion, philosophy, and sociology, basically all humanities. My professors were all highly educated, passionate and challenging teachers who were continually accessible both in class and during office hours. Coupled with the small classes I felt I was experiencing the highest form of education - one that valued my individual contributions while inspiring me to think carefully. Many people questioned my Liberal Arts pursuit, wondering, "What can you do with a degree like that?" My answer, "Anything you want to do." I am living proof of that. At present I teach theatre in the Creative Arts program at the CEGEP level and was offered (over other applicants) to teach an integral course to the program - a history of Western Art within a socio-historical context - specifically because of my Liberal Arts degree. Not only have my employment opportunities broadened based on my BU studies but also my creativity as an artist - I'm currently working on a one-woman show aiming to tour across Canada. My time at Bishop's remains one of the most rewarding periods in my life.