Section 1
In the intro to the article it started off by comparing the decline of Liberal Arts to endangered animals. The comparison was made in 1963 which to me seemed odd because it was 57 years ago and people still attend Liberal Arts schools even if they are declining. They then proceed to talk about the original ideas of what the Liberal arts were and when they were these ideas were created and how they influence us today. One of the more interesting topics they talked about in section one was why the Liberal Arts have been struggling to get students. More and more students are pursuing careers that involve business and technology because it’s easier to find a career right after undergraduate school. To me this would make sense, the article talks about how the Liberal Arts haven’t really changed and has problems with these newer jobs. One quote that stuck out to me in the article was, “ Free minds are flexible minds”. I thought this fit not with just the Liberal Arts but what all of school should be. It reminded me of the video we watched in week one, learning should be free flowing and positive and this quote felt like that.
Section 2
The beginning of section two started off by explaining what people traditionally think about the Liberal Arts and explaining why we need it. When I initially read this section of the article I thought there would be a connection to the Liberal arts and Politics but the clearer connection they provide is citizenship. They talk about how the Liberal arts affect you as a citizen and how benign active in a community can better you. The article, “ These three forms of citizenship interrelate in subtle as well as obvious ways, and they are only the most visible bands on a spectrum of possible communal engagement.” They finish it up with explaining that a liberal art isn’t about developing professional or entrepreneurial skills but can promote them.
Section 3
Section three begins by talking about what critical thinking is and explains that it is the intellectual engine of a functional democracy. However the article shifts towards a researcher Lisa Tsui who said, “ Critical thinking is a complex skill, any attempt to offer a full and definitive definition of it would be futile”. Found this intriguing because I keep thinking back to the theme that learning and educating doesn’t stop much like critical thinking. There isn’t a definitive answer of what it is that allows for growth and change. The article continues to talk about the assimilation of facts and development of critical minds and how they are an equal part of a liberal education.
Section 4
In section four of the article it begins with the progression of a college level student toward a more sophisticated reasoning and isn’t just analytical thinking. They continued by saying, “It is also reflected in certain organizing concepts that transcend the various disciplines and unify the liberal arts curriculum”. The than proceed to talk about how the STEM disciplines are important to economic productivity but so the entire rainbow of human knowledge and the ability to think critically. Different nations are starting to embrace the Liberal arts tht american education has done to improve recently after a span of time without much change.
Hand Book
The student hand book was very helpful and was able to show me what I can prepare myself for the next few years and also showing me different directions I can take. It was also interesting to read about the directions I can take with liberal arts, the way they described it was pretty simple and easy for students to understand whereas the article went into very key details about what it is and how it benefits us. They also gave a very simple version of what critical thinking is compared to how they talked about it in the article. I was able to learn and understand both but they way they talked about critical thinking was much different.
