Most schools nowadays are more concentrated on memorizing all the facts and passing tests rather than actually learning something new and developing students’ minds. Liberal arts schools are different because they emphasis the growth of knowledge, not just for a test that determines whether “you are smart” or “you are dumb”. This is a very important asset for anthropologists, both experts and beginners, who want to study other cultures. A liberal arts education can provide a great basis for learning about other cultures because it can helps anthropologists think critically about the new community they are about to encounter for the first time.
If you study cultures under liberal arts, you can often find yourself broadening your horizons
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Liberal arts is about always learning different things and maybe even trying to fit the new knowledge into our own lives, either just as fun facts to know or as something that can change our lifestyles for the better. For the anthropologist this is very crucial to their research. They need to be able to understand the customs of the society that is under their examination and then fit in to these cultures so that they blend in and can then further understand the new knowledge about the community they have just become a part of. Once a part of that community, they then have the ability to investigate deeper than before and possibly find something no outsider to the society has ever seen before, whether it be background knowledge or new methods for doing simply rudimentary tasks, that not even the original explorers like Columbus could ever discover. Anthropologist can then decide if they want to keep this way of life they have learned as their own or leave it behind when they go back home. Either way, fitting in while they are they is extremely essential.
A liberal arts education is not often chosen in first world countries. Most people avoid the free thinking involved with this way of learning because it ends up being too much work for them to handle or they will just refuse to even try. Anthropologists are obviously not those people because without this way of thinking and going about tasks, they could not do a thorough job and without them, we would know nothing about our neighbors around the world. A liberal arts education does truly aide in thinking critically about all the cultures anthropologists
James V. Schall’s, “A Student’s Guide to Liberal Learning” wants us to understand that the nature of the universe gives us opportunities for different things. He addresses that the universe allows us to gain new knowledge in any place that we might be. In Schall’s “A Student’s Guide to Liberal Learning,” he mentions “one that is capable of altering us to intellectual riches that are almost never found in universities or in the popular culture.” From this I understood that the universe always gives opportunities to acquire and learn new knowledge. The universe allows us to learn different things. For example, things that might be facts or simply random things that are interesting.
All though “The New Liberal Arts”, Sanford J. Ungar uses seven misconceptions about liberal arts on why learning the liberal arts. And explain why is still relevant and will be for coming years. The first misperception that he advocates is that a liberal arts degree is no longer affordable. Vocational training is better alternative to liberal arts in today. In this recession it is a financially wise decision to obtain a career oriented education instead. Students may not able to find jobs in the field that they are training after graduate. Ungar argues that especially collage students find it harder to get good jobs with liberal arts degrees, which is not the case. Which is the second misperception is that graduates with liberal arts degrees
Liberal educations benefit students in the long run, long after students have paid their loans. People are able to be informed on national topic, while also being able to be self dependent. Two qualities that are essential in the modern society. I believe it is important to have such a basic understanding of education and knowledge, just like what Nussbaum agreed too in her essay. However, I also believe the curriculum should be centered around making students a better person. Institutions should try to produce good people with the right intentions instead of just focusing on testing intelligence, similar to what Cronon focused on in his essay. If we can incorporate both of these important features into our liberal education system, then and only then, will we be thriving as a society. Graduates will have a good understanding of knowledge from an array of different fields, as well as having important traits that will carry on for the rest of their
But the best argument against a liberal education is perhaps the simplest. When students go to any college, they choose a major and take classes that are related to that major. However to get to those classes they have to take courses in , reading, writing, and history. I don’t think that Zakaria realises this. By the time these students graduate, they will be able to understand all of the technical aspects of their field, as well as being able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly. All of this without a traditional Liberal
It’s strange that history, English, history has nothing to do with one’s major but it’s a requirement. Bok said “ Liberal art programs seldom take adequate account of the crucial importance of students’ careers- career that will inevitably affect what kind of persons they become, how well they balance the claims of work and family and what opportunities they have to serve others besides themselves” (345). This statement concluded liberal arts major is important, without it, students wouldn't be able to be successful in school. One wouldn't know how to think critically and analyze what one is learning without learning the basic subjects. Even before college, students are required to learn nothing but the basic subjects such as history, English, and math. Liberal arts take a big role in students’ education because it teaches one how to read, write and use critical thinking in the real world such as work, college, and real life
In the article “The New Liberal Arts,” Sanford J. Ungar presents the argument of why liberal arts schools are still competitive and useful today. The beginning of the article immediately addresses the problem that Ungar is defending, “Hard economic times inevitably bring scrutiny of all accepted ideals and institutions, and this time around liberal-arts education has been especially hit hard.” The author provides credibility through his time of being a liberal arts presidents, applies statistics about the enrollment and job security outside of liberal college, he addresses the cost factor and how a student may find compensation, and that a liberal arts college is not preparing students for success. The article “The New Liberal Arts,” addresses
Liberal arts education produces analytical thinking, and professions are looking for that as an alternative to just specializing in one subject. “Who wants to hire somebody with an irrelevant major like philosophy or French,” but in reality, everyone is finding it harder to find a job in this economy, not just liberal arts majors. He then answers the question about “being a low income, or first generation college student,” and Ungar begins to state that it is ignorant to consider that just because an individual is the first generation that they cannot be given the same kind of education as someone else who is not a first generation. Some may believe that liberal arts does not take part in the mathematical and scientific side of education, but it does in the broadest parts. Sanford Ungar has the right idea that more people should major in the liberal arts, and I definitely like how he put his essays into the “seven misconceptions.”
Now, let us define liberal arts or liberal education. According to Michael Lind, liberal arts should be understood in its original sense as “elite skills” (54). We all know that liberal arts include cour...
Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge, 14th Edition William A. Havilland; Harald E. L. Prins; Bunny McBride; Dana Walrath Published by Wadsworth, Cengage Learning (2014)
Ugbu, J., U. (1992). Understanding cultural diversity and learning. EDUC 160 Urban Education (Spring 2014, pp. 213-228)
In modern times, the importance of liberal arts is questioned. The article “Myth: A Liberal Arts Education is Becoming Irrelevant” by Carol T. Christ makes the argument that a liberal arts education provides a broader range of knowledge which is useful because it produces a critically thinking student. Obtaining a career is the main focus of college education. Knowing this, Christ emphasizes how a liberal arts education is useful when looking for employment. She refutes the conception that a liberal arts education is irrelevant in today’s society by identifying the useful qualities it provides the employers look for such as, “Flexibility, creativity, critical thinking, strong communication skills (particulary writing)” (Christ,
new color depends on the shades and hues of the colors used to create it. The
Liberal Arts and Sciences education once started in the ancient Greek as the well-known artes liberales. There were seven of them, separated in the trivium and the quadrivium. The trivium contained the core liberal arts, namely grammar, logic and rhetoric. When the Church defined the education, they extended the trivium with the quadrivium subjects arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. The Greek believed that every young man, if they could afford it, should be educated in the seven liberal arts in order to take an active part in civic life. The goal of these studies was to make a well-informed, virtuous and eloquent person. Nowadays, the artes liberales is still a renowned manner of education, but the methods have slightly changed. For instance, it is now called Liberal Arts and Sciences and it is divided in three academic cultures which together include all academic fields. These cultures are the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences. There are many colleges all over the world which offer a Liberal Arts and Sciences degree.
Now that I have grown the desire to undergo whatever endeavours that may come, on behalf of my quest, I must strive for the major that provides just that. While in my life I haven’t seen a variety of lifestyles or had realizations of who I should become, I’m fairly certain upon my future pursuits. Cultural studies seems to meet my thrill standard and provide what I'm seeking. The fast pace travels and depth of cultures around the world opens up new horizons that seem untouchable. That is unless one seeks such obstacles it may provide in the quest of deeper comprehension and thrilling adventures, like
Also, how other cultures have had a phenomenal impact on how I view everyday situations and how I draw conclusions, whether it’s about an ethnic group, my own and others or about hot topics in the news. Before this class I did not realize cultural relativism. I really was ethnocentric because I never took the time to evaluate other people’s cultures independently of my own. While I think it is normal for people to judge their peers, coworkers, etc. based on their experiences I also feel it would be beneficial for all of us to take the time to try and understand the sociological point of view of others that are not familiar to us or view things very different from us. The tools I have learned in this class seems to have made me a better listener and emphasizer because I have caught myself listening to people just to hear them and not just to respond. The change in my outlook about being intertwined in society has improved my communication skills at work and at