Friday, November 21, 2014
How liberal should our "arts" be?
As discussed in class and in the post before, we are placing so much emphasis on getting a job right out of college that it would seem as if we, as a generation, are placing increasing emphasis on jumping right into your major and ignoring other types of classes. While this is not so much of a trend at Villanova, I am sure everyone can think of friends at other schools who may have had to declare a major as soon as they got in and began their courses for that major right away. We all like this idea to a degree because it eliminates many classes from our schedule that we deem to be unnecessary, but at the same token we all seem to recognize the value in a liberal arts education. While we may not always be enthralled by the idea of taking Ethics, I find this class to be more mentally stimulating than many of my other classes. To my mind many of the things we talk about really matter and I see an application for them in my everyday life. The principles of Ethics are present in all areas of life and it is important to contemplate them and understand them as best we can. Should students be required to take a set of core requirements that cover things such as philosophy and ethics? If so, would you model your ideal conception of the core requirements in a similar way to Villanova or would you change it?
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I think that students should be required to take classes like philosophy and ethics because classes like that teach you how to construct thought as well as deconstruct thought. By this, I mean that you learn how to think critically and question previous conclusions. Philosophy, specifcally, tends to focus around classical thinkers (Plato, Socrates, Machiavelli etc.) and their thoughts. By learning about these ways of thought early in your college career, the way Villanova models the core requirements, one can see concepts of philosophy and ethics reflected in any class that they take following the completion of those cores. These classes are about life and how we live it, knowledge that everyone should have.
ReplyDeletePhilosophy and ethics are extremely useful classes from Villanova's core curriculum. There have been several days where, after class, I share the conversation we had in ethics to my friends. Although, classes such as ACS and theology are not useful and do not help build a "well rounded student". This is because they are outdated and contain material that is no longer pertinent to modern society.
ReplyDeleteThe ideal core curriculum not only contains classes such as philosophy or ethics, but also classes involving the economy, the environment, and current events. To be a well rounded student, one must understand the world he/she lives in. They have to understand the world economically, socially, and environmentally to leave here with a solid education.
Today we put too much emphasis on getting a job right out of college. This emphasis forces students to commit to a major because of the post-graduation job prospects or because they don't know what else to pick so they pick something random. This closes off so many avenues of learning, because not only does it bottleneck students into a major but it makes them obsessed with only getting good grades in the classes that they take. The core is necessary and good because not only do they provide a fundamental lesson on how students should structure their arguments, but more importantly they allow for students who don't necessarily know what they want to major in, to find something that they enjoy. Or even in some cases they let students who work too hard to decompress.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that the core curriculum at Villanova is an invaluable and integral part to a liberal arts education. The idea of the core requirements is to build you as an intellectual person and not just as a specialized knowledge machine on one particular major. Ethics and philosophy offer students an opportunity to think outside of the box about issues that matter and to have fruitful discussions with fellow peers about these topics. If anything, these classes enhance a student’s writing, reading, and critical thinking abilities. Have a well-rounded education in addition to a specialized major builds an interesting, intellectual person. Often, we see our major as being the only component to our education that will make us marketable. But there are plenty of times I can think of when a class outside of my major has made me more successful. For example, I applied for a job that required a writing sample, and I used a philosophy essay I wrote last year to demonstrate my ability to analyze complex topics, compare and relate two very different thinkers, and make the material relevant to American politics. While philosophy is not my major, the skills I learned in that class can be attributed to other aspects of my career as a student.
ReplyDeleteI believe that having core requirements is beneficial to an extent. These classes help students to become more well rounded in all aspects of their life. They entail crucial reading and writing skills that are useful in every day life. For example, a math major may think it is pointless to take ethics or philosophy classes, as it doesn't really apply to the major. These classes, however, will help them to learn problem solving skills, and become a better writer, which can help in job interviews. The core classes are definitely beneficial to Villanova students.
ReplyDeleteIn his work Pensées, Blaise Pascal says, "it is much better to know something about everything than everything about something." Though many might argue that a liberal arts education is not as valuable as a very specialized education, I actually agree with Pascal. Having at least a basic knowledge about various topics will actually help us to grow intellectually. Even when topics don't interest us, chances are, if we are in some sort of classroom environment with a targeted or structured curriculum, we will learn whether we want to or not. Though we might put more effort into and get more out of the subjects we enjoy, I do not think that this topical knowledge of various different subjects like ethics or theology can be discounted. I personally do not believe in the concept of "useless knowledge." Everything we know can serve us in one way or another whether we are seeking it or not, and even if specialized detail or facts we pick up in a classroom do not end up serving us in life, basic skills like public speaking, writing, and meeting deadlines will benefit us in other courses and in our professional careers.
ReplyDeleteNick, You've raised an incredibly valid question here. I think we would all agree that a Liberal Arts education requires that we have some sort of "liberal", wide-variety of knowledge. I would even go far as to say that it's beneficial in ways that we may never know or even recognize in the moment, like Lexi and Larissa pointed out. But I think there is a facet that we're missing regarding a core curriculum, and that's the effect it has on your GPA, which ultimately is what we're trying to prove. If we're in school to prove how high we can perform academically in a short amount of time, why take "core, liberal arts courses" that could jeopardize that max potential? It's great and impressive to "know something about everything" and be well-versed in multiple topics for cocktail parties, but is there value necessarily worth your GPA, and to the extent that overall academic performance matters in this society? If we really want to be realistic, No one cares about your education except for you, Those who hold the key to your future want a piece of paper that says you've gone through the process and have the degree, School and how far you go in school simply validates you in society, nothing more, nothing less. So if we're being honest, these core curriculum courses don't mean anything to anyone except you. So you should pursue them on your own in the hope that it will make you a better person as you see fit, not as a college system tells you.
ReplyDeleteJonathon you brought up an interesting point regarding taking these core classes for your own benefit. All of the reasoning in the previous comments suggests that requiring students to take classes such as philosophy and ethics will provide the student with the ability to think critically and learn how to formulate their opinions in a coherent manner. Although this is certainly true in many cases, it is dependent upon the individual to actually take things out of these courses. If students are required to take courses, their mindsets regarding those courses may not be suitable for learning much from those topics. The same is true for students who choose to take classes but are not stimulated by them, nothing is really gained. Therefore, core classes are a good idea in principle, but in a practical sense their usefulness really is determined by the individual and universities are merely trying to point the students in the right direction by implementing these curriculum.
ReplyDeleteAs an engineering student coming into villanova, I thought that I would hate the core curriculum at our liberal arts based school. I thought it was ridiculous that as an engineer I would be required to take writing and discussion based classes such as ethics and theology. I ended up really enjoying most of these core classes as it was a break from only science and math classes. I think a liberal arts education is very important when looking for careers as it keeps one in touch with skills aside from their major and sets students apart from those who are only focused on their major. Liberal arts focuses more on the real life skills which proves to be very helpful.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mind here at NOVA had just switched from VSB into the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Even before she started applying to colleges, she knew that she wanted to pursue a major that would ultimately guarantee her a decent job coming out of college. She developed a tunnel-view of her goals, with a set career at the of the tunnel. However, only when she came here to Villanova and took the required classes from the core curriculum did she fully realize her true passion and what she really wanted to do with her life in the future. An ethics class, in addition to the other core classes here at Villanova, may seem extraneous in obtaining a degree in your major, but those classes help you to explore more about yourself and your passion while also helping you understand more of the world around you. A liberal arts education does promote the importance of being "a well-rounded person" both in and outside of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with the purpose and the goal of having a liberal education, I do not think that a liberal education is sufficient enough in today's society. Yes the teachings of the great Western thinkers of Aristotle, Plato, Thomas Aquinas are important in order to learn the "first principles" and important to for a student to develop how to think critically, though there still needs to be a way in which experience and practice and coincide with the book knowledge that we are gaining for the purpose of our democratic society. A liberal education alone will provide us with this general knowledge, but it also forces a student to separate his personal goals from his career goals. There are many aspect to a liberal education that can apply to the betterment of a man's life, though it is important to include the practical aspect in education today in order to prepare those for the job force.
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