Dwayne Dazell
Cassidy
05 OCT 2015
Liberal arts has been downplayed as a valid study route throughout society. Some ongoing misperceptions, stated and analyzed in this article by Sanford J. Ungar, show how some of these perceptions are formed. He argues the many different views and opinions on how liberal arts compares to other fields of study and specifically ones that lead directly to a certain career path. Never the less it is finding its way back by being incorporated into the same career studies thought recently to be singularly better. Points made by the author suggest that the study of liberal arts is not only the better way to go but it can be universally affordable and provides a broader spectrum of understanding and future career …show more content…
Some of these misperceptions include: “College students finding it harder to obtain good jobs with a liberal arts degree.” In this particular misperception Ungar argues that even though recent college students have been finding it difficult to get hired, a 2009 survey carried out for the Association of American Colleges and Universities, actually found that more than three-quarters of our nations employers recommend that college bound students pursue a “liberal education”. Eighty-nine percent of said employers would prefer someone with “the ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing,” (Ungar) with just as many emphasizing better development of “critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills.” (Ungar) Even seventy percent said that they were looking for “the ability to innovate and be creative.” (Ungar) He also states that most of today’s growing corporations, including ones in some highly technical fields are headed by people with liberal arts degrees and what seemed like a radical idea 10 years or so ago in business education is now …show more content…
6 talks about America being the only country in the world that still clings to such an old-fashioned form of post-secondary education as the Liberal Arts. The authors response to this perception seems the weakest in my opinion because of details like: “In many places, including Europe, the study of law or medicine often begins directly after high school, without any requirement to complete an undergraduate degree first,” supporting the idea that an education focused towards a certain career would advance life faster for someone rather than them be more well-rounded in all the arts. Another supporting detail of the other side is, “however, a secondary education in some systems---say, those that follow the model of the German Gymnasium---often includes much that is left out of the typical high-school curriculum in America.” This hurts the argument the most by stating that the American school system is lacking certain fundamentals that would benefit it better, if taught from a younger age, instead of leaving it to a more mature college student.
Misperception No. 4 “One should not, in this day and age study only the arts. The STEM fields---science, technology, engineering, and mathematics---are where the action is.” This perception seems to carry the strongest argument by the author, stating, “The historical basis of a liberal education is in the classical artes liberals, comprising the trivium and quadrivium.” (Ungar) This supports that the liberal arts have
Cassidy
05 OCT 2015
Liberal arts has been downplayed as a valid study route throughout society. Some ongoing misperceptions, stated and analyzed in this article by Sanford J. Ungar, show how some of these perceptions are formed. He argues the many different views and opinions on how liberal arts compares to other fields of study and specifically ones that lead directly to a certain career path. Never the less it is finding its way back by being incorporated into the same career studies thought recently to be singularly better. Points made by the author suggest that the study of liberal arts is not only the better way to go but it can be universally affordable and provides a broader spectrum of understanding and future career …show more content…
Some of these misperceptions include: “College students finding it harder to obtain good jobs with a liberal arts degree.” In this particular misperception Ungar argues that even though recent college students have been finding it difficult to get hired, a 2009 survey carried out for the Association of American Colleges and Universities, actually found that more than three-quarters of our nations employers recommend that college bound students pursue a “liberal education”. Eighty-nine percent of said employers would prefer someone with “the ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing,” (Ungar) with just as many emphasizing better development of “critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills.” (Ungar) Even seventy percent said that they were looking for “the ability to innovate and be creative.” (Ungar) He also states that most of today’s growing corporations, including ones in some highly technical fields are headed by people with liberal arts degrees and what seemed like a radical idea 10 years or so ago in business education is now …show more content…
6 talks about America being the only country in the world that still clings to such an old-fashioned form of post-secondary education as the Liberal Arts. The authors response to this perception seems the weakest in my opinion because of details like: “In many places, including Europe, the study of law or medicine often begins directly after high school, without any requirement to complete an undergraduate degree first,” supporting the idea that an education focused towards a certain career would advance life faster for someone rather than them be more well-rounded in all the arts. Another supporting detail of the other side is, “however, a secondary education in some systems---say, those that follow the model of the German Gymnasium---often includes much that is left out of the typical high-school curriculum in America.” This hurts the argument the most by stating that the American school system is lacking certain fundamentals that would benefit it better, if taught from a younger age, instead of leaving it to a more mature college student.
Misperception No. 4 “One should not, in this day and age study only the arts. The STEM fields---science, technology, engineering, and mathematics---are where the action is.” This perception seems to carry the strongest argument by the author, stating, “The historical basis of a liberal education is in the classical artes liberals, comprising the trivium and quadrivium.” (Ungar) This supports that the liberal arts have