"Fragmentation" is the latest theme for the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts' ongoing "Moments of Change" initiative, which brings together students, faculty, staff and alumni to explore society-shaping ideas, events and movements.
Continuing through spring 2027, the year-long theme will include regular programming looking at what happens when "things that once felt connected start to break apart or feel disconnected," be it how stories are told in pieces instead of straight lines, how communities become divided, or how people navigate multiple identities, platforms and perspectives at the same time.
Past "Moments of Change" themes have explored topics including women's activism, the pivotal year 1968, sustainability and immigration. In keeping with that tradition, "Moments of Change: Fragmentation" will bring together members of the liberal arts community to examine how disconnection and change show up across language, literature, culture, technology and politics.
"Today, our long-standing institutions and shared experiences are shifting in ways that are frankly hard to absorb due to such things as globalization, political polarization and rapid technological change," said Clarence Lang, Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts. "But, by taking the time to look closely at specific examples of fragmentation, both historic and contemporary, we can strive to better understand how it influences the way we relate to one another."
Liberal Arts Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies Mark S. Morrisson, the theme committee's co-chair, said many aspects of the present moment - whether at the global, national, institutional or even the most local levels -can be described in terms of fragmentation.
"It can be difficult to imagine how we might even begin to address the destructive consequences unfolding around us every day - yet we have been here before many times," Morrisson said. "As the poet William Butler Yeats observed in the aftermath of World War I, 'Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.' Confronting a problem so vast can feel overwhelming, even impossible. But this is precisely the kind of challenge that the diverse disciplinary frameworks within the College of the Liberal Arts can equip us to face: they help us see complexity more clearly and give us the tools to repair, to heal and to build for the future. I look forward to seeing students and faculty attend as many of these featured events as possible."
The new theme will kick off with two lectures given by liberal arts faculty members Michael Kulikowski, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Classics, and Bradford Vivian, professor of communication arts and sciences.
On Feb. 25, Kulikowski will present "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Why the Western Roman Empire Fell and the Eastern Empire Survived," from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in 062 Willard Building. During the talk, Kulikowski will discuss how over the course of just a generation in the fifth century AD, the western Roman empire fragmented into multiple small kingdoms, while the Eastern empire, based in the city of Constantinople, not only survived but prospered.
On April 15, Vivian will present "Promoting Healthy Public Deliberation About Academic Freedom in a Time of Sociopolitical Fragmentation," from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in 062 Willard Building. His lecture will focus on the idea that higher education has become more of a source of polarization than civic cooperation, and how that poses a threat to the concept of academic freedom.
"Whether we look at the complexities of multilingual identities or the histories of communities marked by displacement, fragmentation reminds us that language is never neutral," said theme committee co-chair Tommaso M. Milani, head of the Department of Applied Linguistics, director of the Jewish Studies Program, and Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Applied Linguistics, Jewish Studies, African Studies, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. "It can wound and divide, but it can also connect and repair. Attending to the discourses that fracture our societies, and those that hold them together, is vital work at this historical moment of profound societal and political changes."
In addition to planning events, the college will share stories of students, faculty, staff and alumni doing work in this space, as well as related courses, student organizations and resources. Visit the theme webpage to learn more.
