How Others See a Liberal Arts Education Liberal Arts Means Liberating Ways of Thinking In their 2010 book Humanity, Diversity, and the Liberal Arts, Aaron Thompson and Joseph Cuseo claim that liberal arts education is for liberation—freedom from unexamined beliefs. The goal of this education is to cultivate “self-directed critical thinkers…with knowledge spanning many subjects.” Liberal Arts Means Well-Rounded Ways of Thinking When students learn ways of thinking from many disciplines and connect them through unique modes of inquiry, they become well-rounded, independent thinkers. It is important to apply these ideas to different contexts and scopes, understanding the local and global significance of classroom learning. Cuseo and Thompson say that, “Learning and connecting disciplines of thought in the liberal arts means a student should be able to think and solve problems • concretely, • abstractly, • linguistically, • numerically, • objectively,
• subjectively, • imaginatively, • symbolically, • systematically, • and inspirationally.”
A liberal arts education seeks to promote self-awareness and self-development in students. An educated person should develop not only an intellectual and vocational awareness, but also emotional, ethical, physical, and spiritual awareness of themselves before graduating (Cuseo, Thompson, page 10). At Evergreen, we add cultural awareness to that list as well. That is to say, it’s important to learn about yourself and develop many different kinds of intelligence in college beyond the strictly academic. (For definitions of these ways of growing, see Cuseo and Thompson or the Evergreen New Student Handbook.) Liberal Arts Means Being an Engaged Citizen In his 1998 essay, “Only Connect…” The Goals of a Liberal Arts Education, William Cronon frames the goal of education as developing the student as a whole person, who is not only an engaged and eloquent learner, but also an engaged citizen. Above all, Cronon places the ability to make connections as the most important skill of a student and citizen. He recognizes a liberal arts graduate through these qualities: • They listen and they hear. • They read and they understand. • They can talk with anyone. • They can write clearly and persuasively and movingly. • They can solve a wide variety of puzzles and problems.
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• They respect rigor not so much for its own sake but as a way of seeking truth. • They practice humility, tolerance, and self-criticism. • They understand how to get things done in the world. • They nurture and empower the people around them.
