What Is Liberal Learning? Essay

The basis of a liberal education by today’s definition is a way for a person to become educated in many aspects of different fields, and it provides a way for the student to always keep learning. With so much knowledge to obtain in multiple subjects, it is possible that someone could study their entire life and only scratch the surface of all the knowledge

There is not just one study of “liberal arts,” but a broad variety of options and fields, from history to creative writing to philosophy. The entire point of a liberal arts education is to provide a wide knowledge base of education that develops skills needed for almost any career. Communication, analysis, and debate coexist in every field imaginable, from science to social studies, but liberal arts degrees create true polymaths. Those well-versed in many subjects can cross-apply their knowledge to form creative solutions to problems plaguing the Earth. With a world criss-crossed by party lines, tribal lines, and ideological lines, someone has to understand all the sides in order to rejoin the divisions. There is a broad variety of opportunities to mend these tears, from diplomacy to nonprofit activism, from cultural studies to linguistics. All that matters is a willingness to be open and

Liberal arts and sciences differ in that it’s designed to understand human relationships to the social, cultural, and natural environment. In chapter three of the book, Zakaria hits on three of the ideas of a liberal education. To begin, he talks of the importance of learning how to think which is a critical skill in any field of higher education that a student pursues. His belief is that while a liberal education teaches one how to think, it does more so by teaching one how to write. Zakaria values “writing clearly, clearly and reasonably to be an invaluable skill.” The second advantage of a liberal education is that it teaches students how to speak. Zakaria believes that the ability to speak is just as important as writing clearly and with reason. He states this by saying “whether for public or private communication, the ability to articulate your thoughts clearly will prove to be a tremendous strength.” The third and possibly most influential strength of a liberal education is how it teaches students how to learn. Not only does it help students gain knowledge from studying but it helps students acquire knowledge on their own, for personal gain. Zakaria state that a liberal education helped him “how to read a book fast, search for new sources to find data, take notes and understand lectures.” These three values are continually stated in many articles or liberal education by both Zakaria and other professors who have wrote similar articles about a liberal

In the article The Liberal Arts Are Not Elitist written by Martha Nussbaum it was said that “Education is not just for citizenship. It prepares people for employment and for lives of rich significance.” That to me is what the goal of a liberal education is, to provide a basic knowledge in multiple areas of content such as: math, reading, writing, history, and science, with addition to preparing a person for global citizenship and to live a fulfilling life. To be a global citizen, means that the person needs to be aware of what is going on in the world around them, to contribute to society, understands how the world works, takes responsibility for their own actions and to be self-sufficient. I strongly believe to receive a true liberal

In William Cronon’s Only Connect, Cronon discusses what it means to be liberally educated and why it is a good thing. Cronon explains that he believes that liberal education helps human talent grow, therefore it states that he believes the main goals of getting a liberal education is freedom and growth.

I agree with the author because he makes some good points in the article stating that, "The disruptive potential of a liberal education is not so much that it has no practical use but that the end result for those who engage in its rigor is unpredictable". Which means that people can take this matter into three own hands and build something that can help the world in the future. As an example one of my classmates stated that people are using the liberal arts to help design something to help us win a war. Also I think the author has a point about how we should let the children learn what they want to learn and not always

Most of all, having what Ben Franklin calls, an “intense and broad-ranging curiosity” (114), provides benefits in that one will more likely be willing to pursue a liberal education, even if it is through MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), and in doing so, will enlarge and broaden their vision, which will ultimately be an important factor in living an altruistic life. Without experiencing a liberal education, it will be difficult to completely appreciate its value to not only oneself, but to society at

In James V, Schall’s A Students Guide to Liberal Learning, he addresses the idea and importance of an authentic liberal arts education. Schall inquires about books and scholars of which centralize around the idea of a liberal education and of which has shaped our society. Schall examines the works of several authors who are in his opinion the guides to learning, and his essay serves as a fundamental building block for the creation of a “Personal Library”.

In the Article “Only Connect” by William Cronon, he defines what he considers to be a liberally educated person, as well particular standard of being a liberally educated person. Cronon discusses the values that a liberal education is built on. Cronon goes on to describe the origin of the word liberal which derives from the Latin word liberalis, meaning “of or relating to the liberal arts”. Cronon also states that freedom and growth are one of the two main principles in a liberal education. One of the most intriguing questions he brought up is when he asked whether schools should require certain courses such as History, Writing, etc. He questioned whether some of these courses truly help people who are enrolled in colleges

First and foremost there needs to be an established understanding of what liberal arts are. In the article “Why Choose Liberal Arts?” Mark William Roche explains that liberal arts were originally intended for free men, those who weren’t being educated for the sole purpose of gaining a livelihood, but rather for the sake of being educated and included things like grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, music and astronomy. He then goes on to clarify the meaning of liberal arts today as “a general education that is a broad grounding in the diverse disciplines.” Furthermore, in his article, “The Liberal Arts Bubble” John Agresto writes that today liberal arts are still called liberal not

A strong definition of Liberal Education is an education that shapes a student to be a great contributor to society. To be a great member to society, one must be important on a local level at minimum, and you must have a positive influence on society. To get to this point, one must be able to think logically, as this is the most valuable skill due to its wide applicability. Logical thinking allows one to problem solve, which is necessary in many different situations, both professional and personal. Logical thought also allows the application of knowledge to real life situations. Knowledge that is not used when it could be is a waste of knowledge. A vast ocean of knowledge is also a crucial part of

According to the University of Charleston mission, it states that each student is deemed to espouse levels of productive work, enlightened living, and community involvement. Thus, in the end, the students need to be equipped with apt professional knowledge, and ethical measures when in the line of duty. For my major (pre-pharmacy biology), it is significant to abreast with the skills in dealing with different phenomena. It will therefore be useful when interacting with different living things by the Pre-pharmacy biology practitioners, which is an efficient tool that will enable them to have appropriate and approved methods when handling these biological components. Looking at the ethical measures, it ensures that the professionals keep up with

Further immersed in this controversy, the word liberal in liberal arts has been embraced by both ends of the political spectrum, and can scarcely be uttered without turning the conversation into a verbal duel between conservative reformists on one side, and liberal traditionalist on the other. However clear we present the term, the thrust and parry continues as the nation's leading academia and political activists attempt to separate liberal education from an education that indoctrinates students in the values of political liberalism (Horowitz, In Defense, 3).

The value a liberal education has for me is almost immeasurable. I say this because I come from an immigrant family and will be the first to have completed college. Since I was a child my family always stressed how important a

Some have recently argued that a liberal education, as opposed to a vocational education, is a waste of time, money and effort because so much of these are spent on the pursuit of knowledge not at all relevant to the chosen major. As Bob Newman of Paradigm Media states, "We all know that career colleges and trade schools get a bad rep in the education industry. For many, they’re viewed as the “other option” or Plan B. What surprises me about these stereotypes is that the data available shows that career/trade school grads can make way more in the long run than students with a Bachelors or even Masters degree.” The common consensus is that college is a mere ticket to the corporate world of high pay, early retirement jobs. If this is