Humanities dean: Liberal arts is not what it was previously thought to be

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Picking a liberal arts major once meant following a dream, being misunderstood, and consigning oneself to a life of poverty. But John R. Rosenberg, dean of the College of Humanities, gave a forum speech Wednesday about liberal arts being a necessary part of a well-rounded education.

Rosenberg spoke about the original intent of a liberal arts education and the increasing awareness of and value placed on liberal arts degrees. He especially emphasized the need for students to understand the importance of liberal arts, and for liberal arts majors to be able to further that understanding.

“The most critical learning outcome for a liberal arts student is to … learn to be articulate about why you have chosen a liberal arts major and to be able to describe to others who are not of the liberal arts just why that major matters and how it prepares you for the world of work,” Rosenberg said.

John Rosenberg, dean of the College of Humanities, spoke Wednesday on the role of liberal arts in a well-rounded education.

[media-credit id=79 align=”alignleft” width=”269″][/media-credit]Rosenberg explained the importance of liberal arts.

“Men are born free, they are not born wise,” he said, quoting a statement by faculty of the University of Chicago as they assembled their general education program. “The purpose of a liberal education in a democracy is to make free men wise.”

Rosenberg expanded on this statement, giving depth to the idea of liberal education providing wisdom to make a democracy function.

“Somehow freedom and democracy and moral living are connected with an acquired wisdom,” Rosenberg said. “Something that we are not born with, but that we must learn through hard work and discipline, and somehow the liberal arts are tied up in that process of acquiring the knowledge and the skills that we need to be free in a democratic society and to live a moral life.”

He explained the etymology of the words “liberal arts,” going to ancient Greek and Roman society.

“Historically, it was the kind of education available to free citizens of Greece and Rome, as opposed to the education that was available to slaves, or nonfree people,” he said.

He acknowledged that such information may make liberal arts students quick to assert superiority of a liberal education.

“It’s very clear as we study  the literature of this period that Greek philosophers and the Romans who followed them understood these two terms not as oppositional but crafts and knowledge,” Rosenberg said. “Knowing about and knowing how, were two sides of the very same coin.”

 

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