Humanities And Liberal Arts Essay

In “Preparing for a Career”, Derek Bok, president of Harvard Law School and author, argues how universities, more specifically liberal arts colleges, should include training for a certain occupation with regular college classes to better prepare a student for the real world after college. Considering that Bok has earned his degrees at some of the most well-known universities like Stanford University and Harvard, he has a better understanding at what students are missing and what they need to be successful. However, on the other hand, not many professors and students see or agree with Bok’s point of view. They do not agree that students need the vocational training during their years in a liberal arts college, even though students need both; an education that helps them become critical thinkers and skilled communicators as well as skilled workers in a certain career. So why not help students with their career along with their regular core courses?

From the outside, it is hard to see why I would want to earn a liberal arts degree. Time and time again, the lifetime earnings of workers who studied in the liberal arts are outpaced by their peers who worked in engineering. These “hard sciences” of math and engineering are lauded as the “right choice” for future success by ambitious parents and counselors, while liberal arts degrees are the butt of jokes. However, for me, a liberal arts degree means a lot more than just making money. It means a global vision and universality across disciplines, as well as many future opportunities to change the world radically.

Divergent and analytical thinking are vital skills. Humanities and Liberal Arts majors encourage critical thinking, and a broad knowledge of diverse topics. For example, English majors work well with analysis, grammar, and writing. Those skills can be applied to politics, law and business. Liberal Arts and Humanities majors learn to form strong opinions, evaluate, reflect, and problem solve because they are given opportunity to experiment, create, and collaborate with others. The Liberal Arts and Humanities can also be a great foundation for students who are determined to become leaders. Students will acquire all sorts of abilities that are necessary for leadership success like critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and communication skills. These majors teach students how to think critically, and this is a key skill needed in all disciplines. A Liberal Arts degree does not equal total ignorance of how a computer or the economy works, nor does it mean that those students are missing out on critical knowledge. As a matter of fact, they have very important skills to offer. All the STEM in the world is useless without context. People need the ability to interpret data and incorporate humanity. It is important to have all aspects of education, STEM, liberal arts, and humanities. While STEM degrees may appear more translatable into a paycheck six months from now, some of the most successful people I have known were Liberal Arts majors. If you ask any employers what skills they would like to see in recent graduates, its communication skills, the ability to write well, and the ability to work well in groups. Liberal arts focused on reading, language and writing are equally important to society as STEM subjects are. Liberal Arts and Humanities graduates may not go on to jobs that are as profitable as engineering of physical science careers, but they fill jobs that are important to a

Sanford Ungar still believes in the liberal arts. He writes this essay with hopes that the reader will begin to understand why he believes this, and maybe choose a liberal arts path for themselves. A degree in the liberal arts may include, but are not limited to, majors in fields such as social sciences, philosophy, history, English, French, and humanities. Ungar is aware of the many misperceptions as he calls them, of society today when it comes to earning a

In his essay, The New Liberal Arts, Sanford Ungar addresses common misperceptions related to a liberal arts education. He speaks to their usefulness, the employment opportunities after graduation, their value despite the cost of tuition, and other misconceptions. His overall message is, despite the recent emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math degrees, as well as technical or vocational training, liberal arts degrees are still important and are a valid option to consider when deciding on your educational future. While his essay could easily apply to anyone with these misperceptions, it appears to be targeted directly towards students in high school or early college who are trying to decided on the direction of their education

Sanford J. Ungar’s article “The New Liberal Arts” identifies multiple misperceptions there are about earning a liberal arts degree, showing the inaccuracy in each.

There are many benefits to getting a Liberal Arts degree in today’s economic market. It is a message to your employer that you are willing to take on new information, and learn more then what is necessary to succeed. It shows initiative and the ability to expand your horizons beyond yourself. In a Liberal Arts education there is more purpose then just learning the career field of choice. It is a program that teaches critical thinking and self-thought. It teaches the student how to learn and teach themselves, to achieve more than just memorization of facts.

As the world becomes more specialized it raises the question, should undergraduate institutions change their curriculum requirements to better equip students? The goal of a liberal arts education is to enlighten individuals and prepare them for the complex and diverse world by requiring the study of literature, philosophy, mathematics, and sciences. As professional careers evolve into more specialized fields the argument that a liberal education is no longer needed rises. Some educators feel that future professionals would be better primed for the future by focusing specifically on subjects that deal with their intended field. However, a liberal arts education provides benefits that go beyond the classroom. The experience of studying a

To begin, “While business education tends to prepare students to work well in teams or give presentations, it often falls short in teaching students to do in-depth research or to write critically outside of the traditional business communiqués of memos or PowerPoints.” In other words, to cut a program from humanity can affect students will of intellectual creativity. To exemplify, without the benefit of liberal arts, any possible intellectual creativity would be impractical. Reading, writing, and speaking, all provides a pathway into a world of knowledge and innovation. To further explain, reading creates self-awareness, critical thinking, curiosity, all while being incorporated into the fundamentals of the meaning of life. Writing structures one’s thoughts into a logical way of interpretation, and speaking helps the

Michael Fromm, CEO of electrical Manufacturing, says in an article on CNBC, “I find people that have a liberal arts background have a broader view of the world and will go farther in business.” Practical skills create people trained to do one thing one way and not allowing for deviance. Kelley Holland, on an article “The Case for a liberal arts education,” says, “Graduates that are right out of college, by their peak earning years, from age 56 to 60, people with liberal arts degrees earn an average of $66,185, about $2,000 more than their peers with professional or pre-professional degrees.” Critical thinkers are perfectly capable of performing practical skills, and in fact, since they have been taught to think for themselves, will now be

“Misconception No.1: A liberal arts education is a luxury that most families can no longer afford. ‘Career-education’ is what we must now focus on.” (Ungar, 2010, pp.191) As Ungar has claimed, there is a recent misconception that a liberal arts education is no longer a necessity but luxury because it doesn’t provide an instant career launching education. With so many people having to a need to spend as little money as possible, they are determined to only spend money on preparation for their future career. For this reason they go to college only to take courses that are necessary for their future. “She is in college to take vocational training. She wants to write computer code. Start a business. Get a job in television. She uses college to take vocational courses that pertain to her career interest.” (Murray, 2008, pp.228) Murray explained the story of a girl who is in college solely for preparation for her career. Because of this, she isn’t interested in a liberal arts education. If the course doesn’t directly pertain to her desired career, she prefers not to take it.

Martin Luther King Junior said, “Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.” Higher education does not exist for the sole purpose of preparing students for future jobs; it’s there in order to prepare individuals for life where they are expected to participate in their community, their government, and the lives of those around them. Liberal arts, in particular, exist for the broadening of students’ minds in order for them to be successful not only in their chosen career but also in their lives outside of it. Liberal arts lost their past popularity during the last few decades, but they shouldn’t be disregarded in favor of technical and professional degrees because they still provide students with skills that are perhaps less tangible, but no less necessary for life in modern world.

Question #1: Define classical humanism and illustrate by discussing the construction and decoration of the buildings of the Athenian acropolis. In your answer, refer specifically to the classical orders and the Parthenon’s sculptural decoration.

Liberal Arts are academic subjects such as literature, philosophy, mathematics, and social and physical sciences as distinct from professional and technical subjects. This approach to education provides students with specialized ability in a chosen major as well as builds a foundation of skills and knowledge that can be applied among many career paths and academic pursuits. Employers value the ability to solve problems, adapt to change, work across disciplines, and collaborate with others, which are distinctive tenants acquired when you pursue a major in liberal arts. Clearly, all successful careers require critical thinking, teamwork, sensitivity to cultural, demographic, economic and societal differences and political perspectives. A

Though looked down upon by many schools, Arts and Humanities play quintessential educational role in developing moral imagination. The Arts and Humanities allow individual to grow and mature into their own person and not society ideal easily manipulated tool. Arts and Humanities gifts its students with the ability to think critically and build a sense of moral imagination. Which despite the misconception, does support the cause of democratic education.