Image Credit: Dead Poets Society – Apple TV (CA)
Going to a college that seems to be dominated by the STEM fields, I have gotten my fair share of questions about choosing a major in the liberal arts: why do you enjoy writing so much, what do you do with a degree like that, will you be able to pay the rent, they hire people with those degrees, and … wait, what is philosophy again?
The answers are as follows: I don’t always because it’s both fun and annoying, you get a job, hopefully, yes they definitely do, and philosophy is the study of a lot of big questions and literally means love (or lover) of wisdom (like the science of knowing and being).
So, having answered your questions, you should join me and become a liberal arts major.
What? Still not convinced?
Well then, let me try a little bit harder.
In my experience with modern culture, a lot of people are unfamiliar with what the liberal arts actually are. Many people just have a stereotype of a literature class in which everyone just says their own opinion and nothing gets learned because it’s all just subjective anyways. But I can assure you this is not the case. There is a lot more to the liberal arts then most people think.
So, what are the liberal arts.
According to Merriam Webster, the liberal arts are “college or university studies (such as language, philosophy, literature, and abstract science) intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop general intellectual capacities (such as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills”¹.
Princeton University describes their liberal arts program as having the following effects: “By exploring issues, ideas and methods across the humanities and the arts, and the natural and social sciences, you will learn to read critically, write cogently and think broadly. These skills will elevate your conversations in the classroom and strengthen your social and cultural analysis; they will cultivate the tools necessary to allow you to navigate the world’s most complex issues”².
So, in general, the liberal arts describe a wide range of disciplines meant to be the foundation of a liberal education which developed from the academy and university system in Europe and was transferred to the Americas. In this way, it is not supposed to teach specific skills, but rather how to think critically, solve problems creatively, and in general prepare a person for even further specialization in life.
(Just as a note liberal does not mean politically liberal, simply that it enables someone to be a free and engaged citizen)
In this way, rather than being the antithesis of fields in STEM or business, it is rather supposed to act as a supplement these and make study and specialization more frugal and simple.
What is the point of this blog then? Am I trying to make everyone a liberal arts major?
No. Though that would be cool, not everyone should be a liberal arts major.
What I am instead advocating for is the valuing of such an education. This includes keeping and even expanding Gen Ed requirements and ensuring that high schools keep requirements rather than specializing so quickly.
I will argue for the value of a liberal arts education on a few different points:
- A liberal arts degree supplements all higher education
- A liberal arts degree is readily applicable in the work field
- A liberal arts degree provides necessary diversity of study
- Liberal arts Gen Ed. requirements are beneficial for all majors (even STEM)
By the end of this blog, I hope that you at least value the idea of a liberal education more and understand why it’s important to have diversity and foundation for subject learning.
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite movies, Dead Poets Society, “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”³.
Works Cited
¹Liberal arts Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster
²What Does Liberal Arts Mean? | Princeton Admission
³Schulman, Tom. Dead Poets Society. Harvest Moon, 2000.