When asked what the most important benefit of a liberal arts education is, Dr. Ed Bell firmly claims, “It allows one to develop a broader outlook on life and to foster a sense of empathy with others.”
Dr. Bell, a professor in the Division of Sociology and Family studies at Brescia, with a BA from the University of Victoria, an MA from the University of Alberta, and a PhD from McGill, puts his beliefs in the values of a liberal arts education into action every day in the classroom.
He admits to liking people who struggle against all odds to do what is right. He names Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela as personal favourites. Both saved humanity from calamity, but in different ways. He also counts his mother among his personal heroes. The oldest of nine children who helped her parents to raise her siblings, she went on to have five children of her own, and died at a young age.
Dr. Bell’s main concern for education today is the increase in tuition fees for university students. He believes there should be greater public investment in education to bring the fees down, because it’s becoming difficult for people in lower income categories to get a good education.
At Brescia he values his students whom he describes as having tremendous energy, discipline, and enthusiasm. His greatest sense of achievement comes from knowing that as a professor he may have helped some students develop a sense of wonder about the world, and has given them the tools to explore it.