Dive Brief:
- The debate about the validity of liberal arts degree programs has overshadowed the question of how they should adapt to fit the needs of the 21st century.
- Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry writes for The Week that liberal arts curricula should have a basis in the “Great Books” that cover foundational ideas for our society and economy, though students should also read critiques of these ideas and learn from a more diverse group of thinkers.
- While he doesn’t advocate for computer science, Gobry says liberal arts students need to learn math and statistics, and they should take classes in literature as well as history, social studies, and epistemology, or the study of what justifies belief from opinion, which he says is the most important and understudied discipline today.
Dive Insight:
The liberal arts have been under attack for years. The rising cost of college has forced families and elected officials to search for monetary return on investment from the college degree. This has created a generation preoccupied with science, technology, engineering and math — the programs that lead to the highest-paying jobs straight out of college. But many schools are holding tight to liberal arts roots, even if they evolve them for the realities of our time.
Dual degree programs have popped up across the country, allowing students to combine computer science with studies in the humanities. Stanford’s CS+X offers joint programs with history, art or the classics. The fact is, we don’t know what the economy will look like in 30 years and the broadest foundation for students will likely help them be most prepared for the twists and turns of their careers. And employers continue to demand “soft skills” that entirely technical programs don’t provide.