When we think about the liberal arts, we always associate it with the idea of excessive amounts of reading, writing and cultural understanding. I, personally, believe that it is exceedingly essential to a wholesome education yet it might be difficult for some people to fathom. The necessity of a core liberal arts education is relevant in the American system of education, however it is important to understand that such an idea is non-existent in the Eastern system of education. Therefore, it is quite essential to understand that despite the fundamental requirement of such an education, some people aren’t structured for such a system and therefore should be trained more effeffectively to overcome this change. In this blog, I’ll be exploring the various ways in which a liberal arts education is essential, how it may also be redundant and how issues arising from the lack of grasp over this kind of education may be tackled. I will also be presenting a first hand experience of a moderate difficulty that arises due to the difference in education in varying cultures and how this impacts one’s approach to learning.
Cultural stereotypes, despite being incredible offensive, are incredibly accurate and relevant, even today. One of the main issues that students from an Eastern upbringing face, is that they are not exceedingly proficient in the fields of liberal arts, since it’s a common practice to push one’s children to pursue the field of science. This came to my notice when a friend of mine, whose intended major is Econometrics, was forced into doing a core liberal arts program for two years, before moving onto courses that were actually pertaining to his skillset and interest. He would complain, that despite the obvious significance of cultural/social foundation, he was unable to fathom the expectations of his professors and the manner of presentation of his work. Here is something that may seem quite obscure to someone who is not an active participant of the culture, but the East is very science-centric. It is very safe to assume that children who are not exemplary, in the field of science, are considered to be less intelligent than those who are. Therefore, the education system is not very focused on increasing an individual’s civic sense.Despite the evolution of times and mindset, it is quite interesting to note how many Asians are inclined towards career options such as those in engineering or medicine. Despite the obvious consideration of such shortcomings in terms of ESL etc, the Western system of Education is very focused on aspects of a lifestyle that are quite foreign to the Eastern culture.
Of course, this issue has reduced hugely since before, due to the introduction of universal education systems such as IB, which focus quite adequately on matters of English and creating a global mindset. The educationtion system in the Eastern culture, despite training the students for perseverance and immense ability to push oneself, lacks in making them more aware of global issues and ways in which they can be more concerned citizens. It is also essential for the Western system of college education to create a middle ground for students who are not aware of how to approach subjects which require critical thinking and analysis, rather than logic and hard work. Since, I have been active participant of an Indian based system and IB, I am aware of just how lost I would have been if IB hadn’t been a bridge from my school life to college. Even now, it is quite difficult for me to understand certain aspects of the Liberal Arts education; never having been pressed into public speaking or doing presentations, I feel quite nervous to do. However, I believe there are many solutions to this problem and their many ways in which the Liberal Arts can be fathomable by a culture that is not very adept in understanding it. There is an obvious need for a cultural and social awareness, however it needs to be made much more universal. Thus, let me help you liber-ate yourself from your distaste for the idea of liberal studies.
Hi Sonika! I feel like this is a very interesting choice for your blog topic. Considering I’m a chemistry major and don’t always understand why I have to take so many liberal arts courses, this is probably the Civic Issues blog I need to follow. As someone who doesn’t always agree with you, I enjoyed the read. I did notice a few things however. You don’t have any sources. I believe you’re supposed to have two sources per blog entry. Also, it was a little bit difficult to follow. I think that beginning by stating the differences between cultures was a good way to start, but you mentioned that the West’s focus on the liberal arts as a core part of higher education was important. You didn’t, however, state why. Since your target audience, I’m assuming, is people who don’t understand why they have to take general education courses in the arts, I believe it is incredibly important for you to state why a liberal arts core education is important and its benefits to the one who receives it. If you have any specific examples of how it has benefited you or will benefit you in the future, I feel like that would be interesting to read considering you have the perspective of someone who has received both an Eastern and Western style education. Also, I didn’t really understand the purpose of the George Washington picture. Maybe in the future, make sure that all media can be directly tied back to something in the article. If it doesn’t tie back directly, maybe you should consider putting some kind of explanation of its purpose underneath it. The only other thing I can think of to better this article is to have a more focused introduction paragraph. I think the only reason it felt unfocused for this post is because it was the first post, so you were also trying to introduce the concept of the blog as a whole. That’s really all I can think of as for ways to improve your blog. Keep up the good work!
-Miah