At long last, the revised curriculum of the Department of Political Science that has been locked up in an uphill battle finally saw light of day when the Faculty Senate of the University of Liberia last week approved the revised curriculum, with three areas of concentrations: (1) International Relations, (2) Comparative Politics and (3) Liberian Government and Politics.
There are a vast number of bachelor’s degree courses to be choose from.
Predicated upon the immense contributions from the faculty and staffs of the Department of Political Science under the Chairmanship of Assistant Professor Richmond S. Anderson, the chairpersons and coordinators of the academic departments of once Liberia College now Professor Amos Claudius Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities last Friday celebrated the remarkable achievement of the college under the dynamic leadership of Prof. Dr. Josephus Moses Gray.
The colorful occasion celebrating the achievement of the Department of Political Science to introduce the teaching of Liberian constitution in the revised curriculum was held in the Dean’s office in Fendall on Friday, 13 May 2022. Besides the teaching of the Liberian constitution, the department introduces Liberian Government and Politics as a new bachelor’s degree grating program.
The college is now named in Honor of a renowned Liberian educator and political scientist, Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer, as an embodiment of the marvelous contribution accorded the University of Liberia, particularly Liberia College.
The goal of the college was threefold: first, to produce a higher education that sought to good governance democracy; second, to deem education a social good of intellectual empowerment and service to the community and, third, to make critical thinking and intellectual ideas more accessible, more available, to the larger society.
Also, between 2021-2022 academic year, the college has done the reviewed and revision of the curricula of six academic departments and units, and was successful to establish Criminology Unit as the newly academic unit in the college and three non-degree granting programs.
The merger reflects the current dynamic across the world as higher education institutions (HEIs) recognized the fact that the world is changing very rapidly and increasingly, affecting every sector of society, and that some HEIs have undertaken reform measures, including more specifically merger actions to complement one another to meet students’ needs, and foster more efficient operations and academic excellence. In the wisdoms of the chairs and entity faculty, the decision to merge the various departments with related disciplines was a good idea on ground that some colleges and universities around the world have undertaken reform measures including merging of academic departments as a way to maximize scare resources and advance effective coordination of activities within and among academic departments.
The six departments are (1) Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work, Liberian Studies and Criminology (2) Department of Political Science, History, Philosophy & Religious Studies, (3) Department of Geography & Population Studies (4) Department of English and Language Studies (5) Department of Physical Education, ROTC, and Art & Crafts (6) Department of Communication and Media Studies.
The degree granting departments include ( 1)English and Literature, (2) Communication and Media Studies (3) French Studies (4) Geography (5) History (6) Institutes of Population Studies(Demography), (7) Political Science, (8) Sociology and Anthropology (9) Social Work and (10) Philosophy and Religious Studies. The non-degree granting departments (1) Physical Education and Sports (2) Liberia Languages (3) Arts and Crafts (4) ROTC (5) Social Science.
S Meanwhile, the Department of Mass Communication is now called Department of Communication and Media Studies. The college has been praised for merging the 16 academic departments into six departments.
In his welcome statement, the Dean of the college, Prof. Dr. Josephus M. Gray praised the chairpersons, faculty and staffs for their immense contributions towards quality teaching and learning. Dr. Gray said he has scored beyond his expectation in the short time because of dedicated and committed team at the college who continues to make him achieve the impossible and keep focus.
‘I’m grateful to everyone for the extra support you have given me from your collective efforts in order to make our prestigious college number one in the country, collectively we can achieve our dream. ‘I am highly grateful to our faculty members and professors, your lectures and critical thinking have been truly amazing and great, our students are blessed to have such a great professors as their mentors and inspirations”.
You have a great sense of mind which makes studies so great and easier for our students at the college. “I cannot do it alone, your motivation and inspirational words have made me achieve our dream for great college”.
Finally, he praised the President of the university, Prof. Dr. Julius Julokon Sarwolo Nelson for given him the needed opportunity and countless supports to serve his beloved country and contribute immensely to teaching and learning, particularly research and critical thinking.
He used the occasion to express warmest appreciation to everyone especially the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Prof. Dr. Moses Zinnah and his hardworking staffs, family members, friends and professional colleagues.
“Our goal is to inform the largest society about how Liberia College particularly the University of Liberia under the dynamic leadership of Prof. Dr. Julius J.S. Nelson, Jr. is advancing in the areas of innovation, creativities and quality teaching and learning.” He added that: I am excited by this unique opportunity to let the community of academics know who we are, for what we stand, and what we are doing. Liberia College has a rich history and tradition; it is an institution where academic excellence flourishes and a community of first-class educational system.
Acceding to Dr. Gray, the various programs and activities are clearly defined by our mission, and I remain confident of a brighter future ahead. As always, I encourage everyone to read the newsletter and send us your feedback. I am also very grateful for how the faculty and staff in the College have risen to one of the most profound challenges we’ve faced, in many generations.
Liberia College under the Deanship of Dr. Gray, has instituted a policy where the college’s family will gather together at the end of each commencement convocation to honor faculty, outstanding students, staffs and students accomplishments during the college’s annual honors. The importance of recognizing the many academic – scholastic and professional achievements of our faculty, graduates staff and students is central to our mission of imparting quality education, says Dr. Gray.
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