A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Project Exploring the Adoption of Cybersecurity into Liberal Arts Computing Programs

Abstract

This project examined the adoption of cybersecurity into computing programs within liberal arts programs and whether the rate constitutes an innovative program. The research questions focused on the lived experience existing faculty members have had with the cybersecurity curriculum within liberal arts computing programs. Liberal arts general education requirements were also examined to determine whether or not cybersecurity content has extended beyond individual programs and is part of a holistically developed student. As part of this project within liberal arts institutions, computing programs did not have explicit cybersecurity programs, but dominant themes emerged from the project. The primary themes of curriculum development, cross-discipline, and flexibility were well rooted in literature. However, the most surprising and significant findings were the themes of mission and values and semantics and terminology. The project concluded that addressing cybersecurity curricular content from a definitive baseline was an incorrect question. The right question was figuring out how a program's identity tied into the institutional mission and values and then selecting the appropriate curriculum recommendations from third-party organizations that fit, ensuring the best possible outcome for students in liberal arts computing programs based on the institutional mission and values. The project’s findings also recommended developing a process for selecting and utilizing baseline curricula recommendations from organizations such as the ACM/IEEE groups in a liberal arts context.