A Liberal Education William Cronon Analysis

Liberal education is a type of culture that many people want to achieve. People are continuously striving for an all-around knowledge. We want the freedom to grow as individuals and as a community, not only physically but mentally as well. In the article Only Connect…The Goals of a Liberal Education William Cronon argues “Liberal education is built on these values: it aspires to nurture the growth of human talent in the service of human freedom.” I believe William is trying to say that everyone has a gift or talent inside of them and we as people should have the freedom to explore and find those talents and use them to better everyone around them. I think trying to achieve a liberal education is a never ending battle, or never ending quest …show more content…
This is easier said than done. The sciences and humanities are often divided where the sciences tend to attract more attention than the humanities. In the article Don’t Let College Become Extinct by Timothy Cook, he admits “The sciences have an enormous advantage in the competition for the university resources because of their ability to demonstrate progress.” (page 2) In many Universities, the amount of science credits that have to be obtained far outweigh the number of humanities credits that need to be taken. With all that being said, I believe it is not solely the universities fault. I think that some of the blame is also on students. The students need to have a drive to be educated in a variety of different topics, not just the one they are majoring in. If the students aren’t interested in becoming an all-around educated individual, it is hard for the University to help them grow. Both universities and the students have to give effort to try to achieve a liberal education. I thought it was interesting how many of the articles did not mention that the students needed to put in the effort necessary rather than just go through the motions as I see a lot of students do. Andrew Delbanco did touch on how the colleges have changed in his video on PBS. He mentioned how it used to help people find out who they were, but now the universities expect people to know …show more content…
Like many students I came to school trying to find out what I excel at and what I enjoy. This university helped me find out all those things, as well as other strengths. They put me through a variety of classes to find out which I liked best, and along the way I was being educated in many diverse fields without even realizing it. When I finally narrowed my study, I did not stop taking a variety of different courses. I wanted to continue to find out more about myself. Students have to be willing to try new things and be open minded to become liberal educated. As I stated earlier, it is not only on the university but also on the student’s obligation to reach these goals. For example this school helped me find that Economics was the perfect major for me, but because I kept taking different class I found out that I like learning about nutrition and exercise and how it helps the human body. I also found from a coaching class that I love working with kids and passing my wisdom onto them.
Everyone as a different definition of what it means to have a liberal education. I think University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is moving in the right direction towards a liberal education. If the university and it’s students work together on what they think of having a liberal education means to them, they can achieve it together in a successful and productive