Liberal Arts in the UK

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The Liberal Arts revolution has begun.

Articles

A Return to the Idea of the Liberal Arts in Britain – D. D. Guttenplan (12 May 2013)

In Britain, anyone who wanted to study both the arts and the sciences, or to take courses across a range of disciplines, had to leave the country, until now. This past autumn, King’s College London and University College London both admitted their first cohort of undergraduates to new programs in the liberal arts. The University of Exeter is set to begin offering a similar program next autumn. So are the University of Birmingham and the University of Kent in Canterbury, whose courses will each take four years to complete, making them even more like a U.S. undergraduate degree. (The New York Times)

Big picture from all angles – Michael Worton (21 February 2013)

The humanities must embrace interdisciplinarity and reclaim their key role in our fractured world: It is often argued that the complex, globalised world of the 21st century demands new ways of thinking and working to tackle its key challenges, from the financial crisis to conflict, climate change and poverty. Solutions are most likely to come from interdisciplinary thinking. (Times Higher Education)

The importance of being useless – Nigel Tubbs (11 October 2012)

Is it really the case that employers recruiting for generalist graduate jobs seek subject specialist knowledge above all else? Or is it rather that they seek lively, enquiring minds, able to set out on yet-to-be defined paths, not knowing where they will lead but having faith in the process and having the skills to communicate this to others? (Times Higher Education)

Liberal arts colleges: The model for the future – AC Grayling (16 September 2012)

Study of the humanities has indeed always had the role of providing thought-leaders and people-leaders in society. To study the humanities is to study the example and insights of our forebears in the great human story. (University World News)

Being human – Martha Nussbaum

Britain needs to work much harder than we do in the US to keep the humanities alive. Resistance to the bureaucratisation of academic scholarship and teaching will be difficult, but it is essential if the culture of the mind and heart that protects both knowledge and citizenship is to survive. (New Statesman)

It’s the breadth that matters – By Rebecca Attwood

One of the things we’ve learned in this latest crisis is that no job is secure. What you really need is to be flexible. You may need to move into a job that you haven’t had before or that didn’t exist when you graduated from college. For me, this is a strong argument for a liberal arts education. (Times Higher Education)

Liberal arts offer something completely different – Tariq Tahir

The Liberal arts is aimed at developing a student’s intellect and, though it takes many forms, it can include science and mathematics as well as languages and the humanities. It stands in sharp contrast to traditional degrees in which students focus on a relatively narrow field of study. (Guardian)

Liberal arts: The broad strokes that paint a vivid future – Matt Symonds

Education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, inflame their intellects, and teach them to think straight, if possible. (The Independent)

Mandelson needs a liberal arts degree – Alan Finlayson

A typical liberal arts degree might include learning a language, studying world literature, understanding scientific methods and core principles, world history and philosophy. It might also include classes in writing and public speaking. The aim of it is to impart skills that a wide range of employers welcome, and to create citizens conscious of their place in history and confident about acting in public life. (Guardian)