- The text has four sections. For each section, write a 3-5 sentence summary, pick ONE quote (include it in the HW response), and respond to or comment on the quote.
Part 1 – The first section, What Are the Liberal Arts, is about exactly what it sounds like it would be about. In this section they talk about the meaning of the term liberal arts and how it is actually very complicated. Originally there were seven liberal arts and now I think there are only four main ones. In this part of the reading we learn that there is not one single definition to liberal arts and that is actually a lot to break down.
Part 2 – In the second section, Why Do We Need the Liberal Arts, it talks about the main skills that we achieve by engaging in the liberal arts. Those top skills are critical thinking and citizenship. It talks about the three dimensions of the liberal arts ecology which are traditional civic, economic citizenship and cultural citizenship.
Part 3 – The third section, What Is Critical Thinking, breaks down critical thinking… if you couldn’t guess that already. It gives us the basic definition and then tells readers to dig deeper, saying that critical thinking is a web of different ideas rather than a fixed property. It continues saying that critical thinking is very important and it is an important skill set for everyone to have.
Part 4 – In the last part, The Importance of Critical Inquiry, it talks about the importance of certains skills. It claims that these are the types of concepts that are learned through taking liberal arts courses. It says that these are the skills that we need and that the liberal arts embodies the skills to maintain a democracy’s vital resourivor.
“But however we define the liberal arts, no unique approach and no single method, text or institution perfectly exemplifies the idea.”
What I get from this quote is that liberal arts is far from simple, and that there is a lot to learn and understand about the subject.
- Write 4-5 sentences drawing a connection/relationship between something specific in Scheuer and something specific in both the Core Handbook and Ungar.
In all of the readings it is mentioned the importance of the skills developed through liberal arts. The Core Handbook mentions that the concepts learned in liberal arts courses can be used in many other environments and in Scheuer it says that these skills, for example critical thinking, are the skills we humans all need to have. These are similar concepts, but are they true? Yes we may need these skills but are they going to come from taking liberal arts courses or could they come from a variety of different things. Either way, in each reading it debunks the surface level description of liberal arts and goes deeper to show how beneficial these courses really are.
