> A friend sent this to me and I thought you might enjoy it.
>
> Gr"what kind of friends do I have, anyway?"ace

Thanks for sending this Grace. I have quite a bit to say on the matter...


> "What Exactly Are the Liberal Arts?"
> (from Do Penguins Have Knees? by David Feldman)
>
> Our correspondent contacted two four-year colleges and one two-year college for the answer to this question. Despite the fact that they were liberal arts colleges, none of the officials he spoke to could answer the question. Evidently, a good liberal arts education doesn't provide you with the answer to what a liberal art is.

This is true. All the people I have talked to who work in the offices have some written down response, but they don't even know what they are talking about. Many times, I have asked my professor's to define liberal arts, and I always get some muddled answer. My opinion is that if professors can't define it, then why should the students have to have it.


> Actually, a consultation with an encyclopedia will tell you that the concept of the liberal arts, as developed in the Middle Ages, involved seven subjects: grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. Why astronomy and not biology? Why rhetoric and not art? For the answers to this question, we have to delve into the history of the liberal arts.
>
> Our expression is derived from the Latin 'artes liberalis,' 'pertaining to a free man.' Liberal arts are contrasted with the 'servile' arts, which have practical applications. As educator Tim Fitzgerald wrote 'the liberal arts were considerd "liberating," enabling the student to develop his or her potential beyond the mundane, to create, to be fully human, to (in the medieval mindset) believe.'
>
> The notion of seven ennobling arts emerged long before the Middle Ages. In Proverbs 9:1, the Bible says, 'Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.'
>
> Many people attack the modern liberal arts education, saying that little is taught that pertains to our actual lives now. Little do they know that this lack of 'relevance' is precisely what characterized the liberal arts from their inception. In ancient times, servile folks had to sully themselves with the practical matters like architecture, engineering, or law. Only the elite freemen could ascend to the lofty plateau of the contemplation of arithmetic.
>
> Today, the meaning of liberal arts is murky, indeed. Art, other hard sciences besides astronomy, foreign languages, philosophy, history, and most social sciences are often included under the umbrella of liberal arts. Just about any school that *doesn't* train you for a particular profession is called a liberal arts institution."

Ok, if I assume that this section of the book is correct, then I can see the purpose for a liberal education. I think it is great to teach people things outside of the skill or profession they are seeking.

The problem with the whole liberal arts education system is precisely that, it's a system. Many colleges, like mine for instance, use the liberal arts program as a catch all for the freshman (and a few upperclassmen) that haven't chosen a major yet. If you are 'undecided' then you can take a wide variety of classes that are considered liberal arts classes. Now, I'm not saying that there shouldn't be classes for these people. I know at one time I had no idea what I was going to do, and by taking varied classes I was able to determine what I really wanted to major in. BUT, the problem is that liberal education shouldn't be about seeing what you want to major in. I believe, as it talks about above, that liberal arts are all about gaining knowledge about other things. I think it's something meant to be pursued after you know what you are majoring in.

You see, I can't remember 80% of what I learned in the classes I took that they called liberal arts classes. I was only in them to help me make a decision. If I was truly taking them as they were meant to be, I would remember most of what I had learned, and I'd be a more knowledgeable person for it. Instead, when trying to recall it, I get flooded only with memories of whether or not I liked the teacher, not of what I learned.

I'm not sure why colleges feel the need to add a liberal arts section to the school, except for the fact that it makes them sound more 'prestigious' (to the people who don't know anything about liberal arts that is). I wish I had learned more, but when I graduate from school, and I receive a Bachelor's in System Analysis and a Liberal Arts degree, I will still be the same, not-so-well-rounded person that I am. And that, my friends, is a sad truth.

fam 'sheesh...I really went on and on about that...' ous