On March 13th Rev. Renaldo McKenzie spoke at a College to Students in the General Studies Department at Jamaica Theological Seminary on The Power and Value of General Studies. He shared his journey, highlighting how interdisciplinary studies have made me into a world citizen.

Good morning students, faculty, and friends.

Life, if we are honest about it, is really about people—people and how people relate to one another.
Yet life is also something else: it is what you make of it… or what you allow others to make of it for you.

That realization did not come to me overnight.
It came through experience, travel, struggle, and most importantly through the kind of thinking that General Studies encourages.

Today I want to share my journey with you, and through that journey show you why General Studies is one of the most valuable foundations you can have for life.

1. My Journey Began in Jamaica

I came to Jamaica Theological Seminary with one clear goal: I wanted to become a pastor.

Theology was my focus. Ministry was my dream.

But at some point I asked myself an important question:

What if life changes?
What if the path I planned for myself does not unfold exactly the way I expect?

Life is unpredictable. It has twists, turns, and surprises.

So I decided to broaden my preparation. I pursued counselling alongside theology.

At the time, it seemed like a small decision.

In hindsight, it was one of the most important decisions of my life.

Because it opened my mind to something powerful:
the world cannot be understood through a single discipline.

2. What General Studies Really Is

General Studies is often misunderstood.

Some people think it is vague or unfocused.

But the truth is the opposite.

General Studies is the art of thinking across disciplines.

It is part of what we call the liberal arts tradition—a tradition that values philosophy, history, religion, ethics, psychology, and the humanities.

And why does this matter?

Because the real world is not divided into neat academic boxes.

The problems we face today—poverty, inequality, climate change, politics, culture, religion—are interconnected problems.

To understand them requires interdisciplinary thinking.

General Studies teaches you to:

• think broadly
• analyze complex problems
• understand different perspectives
• connect ideas across fields

It prepares you not just for a job, but for life in a complex world.

3. How General Studies Opened Doors in My Career

Because I studied theology and counselling, I developed skills that allowed me to move into several different roles.

In Jamaica I worked with the National Youth Service as a counselling officer.

Later I became involved in youth development and mentoring, working with programs like JAMVAT and ministries that focused on empowering young people.

These roles required more than theology.

They required understanding:

• human behavior
• psychology
• social systems
• culture
• leadership

General Studies had already given me the intellectual flexibility to move across those spaces.

Later I lived and worked in Cayman, and eventually migrated to the United States.

Every new place introduced new cultures, new ideas, and new challenges.

But because my education trained me to think broadly, I was able to navigate those worlds.

4. Becoming a World Citizen

General Studies helped me become something important in the modern world:

a world citizen.

When you move between countries—Jamaica, Cayman, the United States—you quickly learn that people are different, yet also deeply similar.

You learn to appreciate diversity.

You learn to listen.

You learn to see the world from perspectives beyond your own.

That perspective later allowed me to work in many different fields:

• ministry
• youth development
• banking
• social services
• public health
• media and publishing

Today I run a media company, host a podcast, write books, and work in public health management.

That versatility is not accidental.

It is the fruit of interdisciplinary thinking.

5. Discovering the World Through Education

My intellectual journey continued in the United States.

I eventually studied Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution.

Interestingly, I never planned to go there.

A friend convinced me to apply.

I told him, “I will never get into an Ivy League school.”

But he said something that changed my mind.

He said:
“You are a thinker. You are a writer. You belong in that environment.”

I applied, wrote an essay, and the university responded with a challenge.

They said: come to the school provisionally, earn all A’s for six months, and get recommendations from professors.

I accepted the challenge.

And that experience expanded my intellectual horizons even further.

Today I continue that journey through doctoral work exploring civilizations, culture, and power structures in the world.

6. Seeing the World More Clearly

One of the most powerful things General Studies does is teach you to question assumptions.

For example, many of us have grown up hearing subtle messages about identity and value.

Ideas such as:

“Nothing Black is good.”

These ideas are not accidental.

They are products of history, power, and ideology.

Through interdisciplinary thinking—through history, philosophy, sociology, and cultural studies—you begin to see how such narratives were constructed.

And once you see them, you can challenge them.

Education becomes a tool of liberation.

General Studies allows us to break free from what I call parochial thinking—narrow thinking confined by limited perspectives.

Instead, it encourages expansive thinking.

7. Why This Matters Today

The world is changing faster than ever.

Think about how humanity has evolved:

Once we walked everywhere.
Then we rode horses.
Then we drove cars.
Then we flew airplanes.

Now we are developing self-driving cars and artificial intelligence.

Innovation happens when people think across disciplines.

Science interacts with philosophy.
Technology intersects with ethics.
Economics overlaps with politics and culture.

The future belongs to those who can connect ideas, not just memorize information.

8. The Human Purpose of Education

At its heart, General Studies is about the human condition.

It explores:

• ethics
• values
• culture
• belief
• identity

Religion asks moral questions.
Philosophy explores meaning.
Psychology studies the mind.
Science advances human knowledge.

Together, these disciplines help us understand what it means to be human.

That is why the humanities remain so important.

They remind us that progress must always be guided by ethics and human dignity.

9. Rising Above Life’s Limitations

As immigrants, as people from small nations like Jamaica, we sometimes feel that the world is structured against us.

But education—especially broad, interdisciplinary education—helps us navigate those systems.

It teaches us how power works.

It teaches us how systems function.

It helps us recognize opportunities.

And it equips us to rise above limitations.

10. Final Thought

So when people ask about the value of General Studies, I say this:

General Studies does not simply prepare you for a career.

It prepares you for life.

It teaches you to think broadly.
To see the world clearly.
To appreciate people and cultures.
To challenge injustice.
And to imagine solutions for tomorrow’s problems.

Because ultimately, life is still about people.

And when we understand people, we understand the world.

Thank you.

Rev. Renaldo C. McKenzie is Author of “Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance”, and Author of the Upcoming Book: “Neoliberal Globalization Reconsidered, Unfair Competition and the Death of Nations”.

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