How (Not to) Defend Liberal Arts Colleges

Hint: The author, Robert Shoenberg in Liberal Education, suggests that we not equate a liberal education either with (a) the study of liberal arts or (b) with study at colleges traditionally associated with the liberal arts and liberal education - too confining.

"Thus an education in the liberal arts and sciences disciplines is not, by definition, a liberal education. Study exclusively in the liberal arts disciplines does not guarantee a liberal education. Indeed, many liberal arts majors are as narrowly specialized as any professional program. Conversely, many career-specific programs are insistent on liberal learning."

"I am in total agreement that a liberal education in the liberal arts, an education that is purposefully designed to develop critical and communicative powers and a sense of the complexity and diversity of the world, is the best preparation for work, for citizenship, and for a satisfying life. The article in that liberal arts college alumni magazine that got me thinking about all of this cites the director of an aerospace company who claims that, in hiring, “I’ll always go for the philosophy major. They know nothing about aerospace, but they know all about complexity—and that’s what I need.” I applaud such insight and only wish that the people this executive sends out to do his recruiting had the same understanding of the utility of a liberal education, wherever its locus in the curriculum."

Read the article here:
http://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-wi09/le-wi09_MyView.cfm