Review - The Liberating Arts: Why We Need Liberal Arts Education
Reports abound about the financial and enrollment challenges of liberal art colleges. Reports also abound about universities and colleges making drastic changes with their humanities departments. Programs in history, English, foreign and classical languages, philosophy, etc. and the professors that teach them are reduced or eliminated. Some argue this is a good thing. We should focus on science, engineering, technology, and math instead. Others say, not so fast!
This engaging, thoughtful, and informative collection of brief essays about the liberal arts enters the conversation. These essays are the end result of a movement among practitioners of the liberal arts that began in the spring of 2020 with a series of video and audio conversations and interviews and the development of the website liberatingarts.org. The purpose of the website and the conversations is to push back against the notion that the Liberal Arts are no longer useful. They are, in fact, essential to creative and innovative developments in all fields as well as expanding the participants understanding of what it means to be human.
I liked many aspects of this book. I liked that the essays are all brief. They are personal and substantive. They demonstrate that differences of definition, opinions, and practices can co-exist amongst friends. I like this confession from page 3: "You'll even discover substantialy different definitions of the liberal arts themselves: a canon of great texts; a curriculum of perennial human questions; the seven classical arts of the trivium and quadrivium; a formation in virtue and wisdom rather than training in practical skills." Yet, despite the difference, the process of engaging in the Liberal Arts is worth the effort and leaves the participant forever changed.
There are many quotable lines in this book. One that encapsulates the spirit of the book is by Brandon McCoy in his essay "A History of Liberation" in the section "Aren't the Liberal Arts Elitist?" found on page 53 - 54.
"While productivity and financial security are laudable goals, they should not be the primary purpose of education. The goal of education should be to create liberated persons who seek to examine life in its fullness, to enjoy friendship with others, and to foster the health of their communities. In a modern context, the liberal arts form students to understand themselves as more than their skills or economic value to society. What was once thought of as elite education becomes a universal practice to liberate anyone who desires to pursue these virtues."
Indeed. What are we? Are we only a means of production? Is life only about the acquisition of money? If not, what else is there? The Liberal Arts help us to answer that question.
The essays are arranged around ten questions:
What are the Liberating Arts?
Aren't the Liberal Arts a Waste of Time?
Aren't the Liberal Arts Elitist?
Aren't the Liberal Arts Liberal?
Aren't the Liberal Arts Racist?
Aren't the Liberal Arts Outdated?
Aren't the Liberal Arts Out of Touch?
Aren't the Liberal Arts Degrees Unmarketable?
Aren't the Liberal Arts a Luxury?
Aren't the Liberal Arts Just for Smart People?
These essays will inevitably whet the curiosity of the reader to learn more. Not only are there good end notes to explore but the volume concludes with a nine page bibliography for further reading and study.
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