In his article “7 Major Misperceptions About the Liberal Arts” in the “Chronicle of Higher Education,” Ungar worries that the liberal-arts education is taking a lot of heat considering that it is a unique and effective approach to learning. This heat is from various stakeholders who include policy makers, news media and budget-conscious families. This according to Ungar is threatening the well being of liberal-arts education. Ungar has gone ahead to point out seven misperceptions that most people have concerning the Liberal Arts.
According to me, the liberal-arts education is really taking a brunt as Ungar has observed as the government as well as many families are considering having their students take more practical courses that have well defined job description. The number of students enrolling for the liberal-arts education field is thus dwindling at an alarming rate. This is alarming considering that the corporate sector in America requires flexible minds that can run organizations and companies. These can only be nurtured by the Liberal Arts courses.
According to Ungar, most parents claim that “A liberal-arts degree is a luxury that most families can no longer afford. “Career education” is what we now must focus on.” There is a misperception that liberal-arts degree courses are very expensive. This is compounded by the belief that there aren’t any defined careers for students completing these courses. Many people forget that a student with a degree in the Liberal Arts can fit in virtually in organization in any field. Liberal arts degree holders do not need to specialize in any particular field since they are competent in management and organization which are vital elements in any particular field. Eighty nine percent of the country’s employers actually were insisting that college students pursue a liberal-arts degree so that they can be equipped with problem solving and analytical skills rather than being just mere working machines. Notwithstanding, most corporations’ presidents are liberal-arts degree holders.
Ungar points out that people actually believe that liberal Arts education graduates are finding it harder to get jobs. Though this might be true of the liberal Arts graduates, it is also equally true of the career education programs. A recent survey on unemployment index actually reveals that most of the unemployed graduates had specializations in the STEM field courses. This discredits the notion that Liberal Arts degree holders would find it hard to secure employment.
Most people according to Ungar claim that liberal-arts degrees are irrelevant to low income families and first generation college students. They say that the students from low income families should focus more on practical courses which are considered more marketable. The liberal Arts degrees are thus considered a preserve for the wealthy students and students pursuing a second degree. This misperception is not only biased but also dangerous to a developed economy like America. This is an inculcation of class structures which is a form of discrimination and which is against the American constitution. The assertion that the Liberal Arts courses are more suited to individuals who already have a first degree is also unfounded. New and fresh minds are as good if not better to acquire the rich knowledge from the Liberal Arts.
The claim that the current time is not suited to study the liberal-arts only is weak and baseless. There never had been a wrong time to study the Liberal Arts. The field is part and and parcel of human development. It has been the core of all fields from ancient civilizations and will always remain to be the driving factor of the coming civilizations. The other fields are defined and organized by the Liberal Arts.
People also claim that it is the liberal- arts degree holders who have put the country into the trouble it is now. Liberal Arts can be blamed on political mistakes that America has encountered despite political science being a discipline in this field. Liberal Arts lay emphasis on solving problems by focusing on diverging views and cannot thus be blamed for the country’s problems. It is individuals rather than the discipline that these individuals pursue that are to be blamed for the political problems the country is currently facing.
The assertion that other countries focus on specialization and that it is only in America that the old system of liberal arts is used is false. Most of the philosophical sciences that are often left out in American high schools are included earlier on in other countries’ systems of education thus the specialization in college. Furthermore, the Chinese who supposedly are getting more specialized have been visiting the USA to study its system of education due to its success level.
Last but not least, Ungar discredits the assertion that liberal-arts colleges are irrelevant considering the down turn of the funds available for education in America. He claims that it is unwise to have individual institutions take the grunt. I fully support Ungar on this. Considering the economic capacity of America, individuals should be burdened with unrealistic college fees to pursue Liberal Arts degree courses. They should instead be incorporated in virtually all colleges as compulsory units for these institutions to produce all rounded individuals.
I tend to strongly agree with Ungar that the country despite the harsh economic condition require individuals pursuing Liberal-arts degree programs now more than ever. As Ungar reiterates, liberal-arts education mould flexible and analytical individuals rather than just mere working machines. It is these kind of individuals that are required especially in harsh condition to keep the country going with their innovations and analytical skills.
David Foster a professor at Pomona College confirms Ungar’s position that the need to have analytical and thinking graduates is of essence. He says that “ I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about teaching you how to think is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: learning how to think really means how to exercise some control over how and what you think (Wallace 202).” This assertion clearly demonstrates the importance of liberal art education in the curriculum. Liberal education is a good mechanism of teaching individuals how to think.
Barrack Obama, the current president of America, pursued a degree course in the liberal-arts field. He has more than managed to return the country into a respectable position considering the mess that the previous Bush regime had left us in. It is thus obvious that the liberal –arts education is very important to the well being of the country.
A general overview of all the arguments presented show that liberal-arts education should in fact be a compulsory field incorporated in other practical career programs. This will not only produce qualified specialists, but also specialist who will be equipped with rational minds to make wise and quick decisions whenever faced with any dilemma than just mere working human machines.
Work cited
Wallace, David Foster. Writing with Authority: Students' Roles as Writers In Cross-National
Perspective. Illinois: SIU Press, 2006. Print.
An explanation of changes made
In the first draft, I endeavored in understanding the Article by Sanford Ungar which I later summarized highlighting the main points in that particular article and condensing the first paragraph into his main idea of that particular article. I also gave my personal view regarding the issue in question.
In the second draft, I have included the points raised about the issue in the first draft, but I have gone ahead to include other sources, either supporting or discrediting Ungar’s point of view. I have tried to balance the arguments for and against liberal arts, but with a slight bias in support of liberal arts. The reader thus gets to see the opposing view point thus having an opportunity to decide which argument to support.
