The liberating arts: why we need liberal arts education - jeffrey bilbro

A new generation of teachers envisions a liberal arts education that is good for everyone.

Why would anyone study the liberal arts? Its no secret that the liberal arts have fallen out of favor and are struggling to prove their relevance.

The cost of college pushes students to majors and degrees with more obvious career outcomes.

A new cohort of educators isnt taking this lying down.

They realize they need to reimagine and rearticulate what a liberal arts education is for, and what it might look like in todays world.

In this book, they make an honest reckoning with the history and current state of the liberal arts.

You may have heard - or asked - some of these questions yourself: Arent the liberal arts a waste of time? How will reading old books and discussing abstract ideas help us feed the hungry, liberate the oppressed and reverse climate change? Actually, we first need to understand what we mean by truth, the good life, and justice.

Arent the liberal arts racist? The great books are mostly by privileged dead white males.

Despite these objections, for centuries the liberal arts have been a resource for those working for a better world.

Heres how we can benefit from ancient voices while expanding the conversation.

Arent the liberal arts liberal? Arent humanities professors mostly progressive ideologues who indoctrinate students? In fact, the liberal arts are an age-old tradition of moral formation, teaching people to think for themselves and learn from other perspectives.

Arent the liberal arts elitist? Hasnt humanities education too often excluded poor people and minorities? While that has sometime been the case, these educators map out well-proven ways to include people of all social and educational backgrounds.

Arent the liberal arts a bad career investment? I really just want to get a well-paying job and not end up as an overeducated barista.

The numbers - and the people hiring - tell a different story.

In this book, educators mount a vigorous defense of the humanist tradition, but also chart a path.