“The Death of Liberal Arts”, by Nancy Cook, does make a valid point that students should not only know skills that will get them a job, but the skills to analyze and dig deeper into given information. Nancy Cook talks about how Centenary College in Shreveport, La. took out liberal arts classes and added new professional programs that teach about skills that students will need to obtain a job. After understand the article, one can disagree with Centenary College’s decision in cutting the liberal arts classes and how this information relates to Fahrenheit 451. After understanding the article, “The Death of Liberal Arts” one can see that Centenary College’s decision was the wrong choice and how the text relates to Fahrenheit 451. Liberal…
In “Can a liberal arts education really make us better?” by Richard Kamber, he argues that even though a liberal arts education can make us better, it depends solely on that person’s definition of better. Now the question on everyone’s mind, “What are liberal arts?” A liberal arts education gives us a general review of humanities, arts, and sciences. Liberal arts are usually delivered in small classes, full of active participants, by “seasoned faculty.” They aim to develop our character and provide us with an immense amount of skills, which ultimately gives us more money. Though often looked down upon, liberal arts have helped shape many great people such as Socrates, Giordano Gentile, Galileo, and Martin Heidregger.…
Seven misconceptions were made by Ungar in which he responded to the topic. The first common misconception was “A liberal-arts degree is a luxury that most families can…
Mark Edmundson is a professor of English at the University of Virginia additionally, he is the author of the article “On the Uses of the Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students.” In the article, he describes how the students perk up during the evaluation of him as a teacher. The student evaluations commend him as being interesting and humerous which leads him into the rant about what he thinks of college students today. The article describes students as having “little passion and little fire” and indicates their more devoted to “consumption and entertainment.” Edmundson argues students education would be more effective if it is treated as a privilege rather than a commodity.…
In the article “In Defense of the Liberal Arts”, Lane Wallace gives an example of what someone could do if they drop out of college. It also explains why staying in college and earning a degree is important. I agree with the article and believe that staying in school will benefit the student in the long run, even if they don’t think it is important.…
“On the Uses of a Liberal Education,” was published in 1997 by Mark Edmundson. This author has published many scholarly articles on literacy and cultural criticism. He teaches English at the University of Virginia. This article explains how Universities and those who attend universities including the teachers have focus less on the education portion and focus more on a consumerist society. He explains that the students have become like customers and the teachers are willing to do anything that meets their needs.…
be conceptual or applied with a focus on skills, techniques and procedures. When selecting the…
In recent discussions of “The College Dropout Boom,” David Leonhardt made some interesting points on the works of society and it’s modern day views on education. Many of the ideas he presented were controversial to me, considering my previous perspective of social status’ having nothing to do with someone’s chances at graduating college. However, there are many ideas in which he presented that I agree with, such as the belief that obtaining a college degree doesn’t necessarily promise a well-paying job. Growing up in a household where nobody has ever earned a college degree, I can say personally that it is extremely important to have one, regardless of the immediate outcome. It’s better to be safe than sorry.…
The third misconception says liberal arts are irrelevant for low-income and first-generation college students. Ungar says,” Its ignorant to think just because a student is first generation don’t mean they can’t receive the same education.” The fourth misconception says that a student should focus on the stem fields because “that’s where all the action is” (192). Ungar argues this by saying that sometime the liberal arts take part in the broadcast parts of sciences and…
Cooper also advocated for educating adults because she planed to make them literate and through literacy they could move from unskilled labour into skilled labour positions, which would improve their social advancement in society. Cooper’s ideas were closely tied to Du Bois’ ideas of a liberal arts education because she believed that a liberal arts education was a tool for self-improvement and social change among the Black community. Cooper believed that when adults pursued a liberal arts education they had potential to undermine the oppressive white power structure in the Jim Crow South and it was possible that they would be able to rupture the dominant ideas and promote an alternative system of ideas and values. Cooper believed that a liberal…
Combining the educational system will also allow students to become a well-rounded person; also, with the change in time, the students will not have to go back to school to acquire other skills. Bok states that the “vocational majors have an easier time than liberal arts graduates in finding an initial job in business and tend to advance faster and earn more money during their first 10 years of work” (38). However, he then argues that “after 10 years the pictures become more complicated” (Bok 40). He also states that “liberal art teachers do a better job in fostering skills such as communication skills, human relations, creativity, and “big-picture thinking” matter more” (Bok 40). In a world where students are more career oriented, no one can say that liberal education is not important because as Bok states, “companies seem destined to witness faster changes, more frequent career shifts, increasingly diverse workforces, and expanding global operations, all of which favor a broad liberal arts education” (40). This is an explanation that with time, technology is getting more advanced and both the vocational school skill as well as the liberal art skills are needed for students to become a more rounded…
William Butler Yeats is accredited with once saying “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” It seems this idiom no longer rings true; today’s preferred education encompasses the regurgitation of technical jargon in the hopes of finding a job. People now deem Liberal Arts degree worthless; it’s too expensive and impractical in today’s job market. The sciences and career colleges are where the jobs lie. In the battle over higher education, through his iconoclastic article “The New Liberal Arts,” Sanford J. Ungar stands as a lone crusader against an onslaught of “misperceptions.” I for one agree with and applaud his effort, although he could use some additional…
Liberal Education’s main purpose in not only to train someone for a specific position, but also to create or develop skills that can be utilized in any profession. However, I believe that the liberal arts are under pressure and in danger in today’s society. The threat that is overwhelming Liberal Education is cuts in programs and funding in private and public schools.…
Today in America many people question whether or not college is truly worth the stress, time, and cost it throws on an individual. With these “burdens” comes alienation from the outside world with little fun and fulfilling experiences. Some people even say that many college students have zero creativity, and are proud of it. This idea of self-growth and freedom along with a diverting experience, while going through college, is something that Rick Perlstein himself has had the opportunity to do. Unfortunately, Perlstein experienced this in his days, and has come to realization that, “College as America used to understand it, is coming to an end” (Perlstein). With this article being published in the liberal magazine, New York Times, many people, mostly ones who have gone through college, completely disagreed with his opinion. One of those insulted people being Liz Addison. Addison’s claim argues that college is yes, much different, but in a positive way, especially in the community colleges. All together in her one sided- argument, she includes several rhetorical devices to persuade, inform, and emotionally prove her claim. These devices being ethos, and pathos, gives her a strong foundation and effective argument to the liberal audience she is writing her article to.…
Mark Edmundson’s essay, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education,” was published in Harper’s magazine in the fall of 1997. Edmundson begins the article by giving us a glimpse into his own experiences teaching. He speaks on how, he dreads evaluation day at the end of each term, he feels he is being reviewed more on his entertaining ability and less on if the student felt changed by his course. Near the end of the article, Edmundson states, “My overall point is this: It’s not that a left-wing professional coup has taken over the university. It’s that at American universities, left-liberal politics have collided with the ethos of consumerism. The consumer ethos is winning.” (pg. 48) This article is about how the younger generation has been raised with…