Now there’s a rag-tag group of undergraduate liberal arts majors, if ever I saw one. Samuel Alito, B.A. in Public & International Affairs (Princeton University 1972) Stephen Breyer, B.A. in Philosophy (Stanford University, 1959) Ruth Bader Ginzburg, B.A. in Government (Cornell University, 1954) Elena Kagan, B.A. in History (Princeton University, 1981) Anthony Kennedy, B.A. in Political Science (Stanford University, 1958) John Roberts, A.B. in History (Harvard College, 1976) Antonin Scalia, B.A. in History (Georgetown University, 1957) Sonia Sotomayor, B.A. in […]
Tag: Liberal Arts
The Difficult Art
“What we labor at together in college is the production of individuals who know not only that the world is far more complex than it first appears, but also that, therefore, interpretative decisions must be made, decisions of judgment which entail real consequences for which one must take responsibility, from which one may not flee by the dodge of disclaiming expertise. This ultimately political quest for paradigms, for the acquisition of the powers and skills of informed judgment, for the […]
Study the Humanities and Save America
Jack Bauer has a BA in English Lit, so don't say the liberal arts can't get you anywhere pic.twitter.com/QhHTNePKN1 — Chris Becker (@crsbecker) May 6, 2014 I came across the above tweet last week and it made me smile. Jack Bauer, the main character in the FOX television show 24, earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature from UCLA. On one level, it became an interesting answer to, “what can you do with a humanities degree?” You can save the […]
No One Has a Monopoly on Teaching Critical Thinking
Yesterday my colleague Steven Ramey posted about a recent study of those who took the 2013 Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) — their undergraduate GPA, their undergraduate major, and their LSAT score. The means for each major were then graphed (above), with undergrad GPA on the vertical axis and LSAT score on the horizontal, making Classics majors (far top right corner) the highest preforming by both measures. But you may notice that Religious Studies majors are also near the front […]
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The Liberal Arts and the Job Market
Have you seen the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ report, “How Liberal Arts and Science Majors Fare in Employment“? Released near the end of January 2014, it’s conclusion states: […]
But Was It Worth It?
A new report has just been released by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAUP) — the press release opens as follows: […]
The Practical Humanities
Did you see this recent post from the former CEO of Seagram Corporation entitled “Business and the Liberal Arts”? In it he advises students to pursue a major in the Liberal Arts rather than “pragmatically oriented majors” such as Business or Computer Science. He explains, For all of the decisions young business leaders will be asked to make based on facts and figures, needs and wants, numbers and speculation, all of those choices will require one common skill: how to […]
“The Stories of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated…”
Seen this article from The Chronicle of Higher Education? Give it a read and ask yourself why — if this is what the public actually thinks — we all seem to assume that there’s a crisis in the liberal arts? That is, if the skills taught all across the liberal arts are so essential (read the results [PDF] of the study for yourself) then why do we all seem to agree so easily that they are so non-essential — i.e., […]
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Semper Ubi Sub Ubi
One of the curious items from today’s announcement from the Vatican that Pope Benedict XVI will be stepping down at the end of February was that he made his announcement, at a meeting of Cardinals, in Latin. So few reporters there understood Latin that it gave quite a competitive advantage to Giovanna Chirri, who works for ANSA (Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata), Italy’s main news wire service. As noted on the UK’s The Guardian real-time news blog: […]
Greg Johnson on the Real World in Real Time
On November 6, 2012, the second lecture in the 2012-13 series was presented by Prof. Greg Johnson, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His lecture–entitled, “In the Moment: The Relevance of the Humanities and Social Sciences for the Study of Religion in Real Time”–opened by reflecting on the “Studying Religion in Culture” motto of UA’s Department of Religious Studies and then moved on to examining the manner in which ongoing debates and legal […]