General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUniversities silence unwelcome speech
If youve heard anything about the liberal arts in education recently, its probably been in connection to how little liberal arts graduates earn these days if they get a job at all.
But a liberal arts education is, quite literally, an education that frees the mind and enables the person to participate fully in civic life. And thats exactly whats being threatened in many of todays universities.
There was a time when people looking for intellectual debate turned away from politics to the university, writes Harvard Universitys Ruth Wisse in the Wall Street Journal. Political backrooms bred slogans and bagmen; universities fostered educated discussion. But when students in the 1960s began occupying university property like the thugs of regimes America was fighting abroad, the venues gradually reversed. Open debate is now protected only in the polity: In universities, muggers prevail.
As far back as antiquity, societies saw the liberal arts as the education necessary for a free citizen who wished to participate in the civic process. There are actually seven liberal arts, which include things such as mathematics, music and astronomy. But two key liberal arts are logic and rhetoric. These words mean slightly different things in modern times, but the principle hasnt changed. These skills enable a citizen to analyze, argue and evaluate ideas and policies. Theyre the foundation of political debate.
Thats where the liberal arts are under threat today. Modern universities now seek to eliminate debate not enable students to participate more fully in it.
More at http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-Editorials/199760/universitiies-silence-unwelcome-speech#.U3Oj6ygbHJU .
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)TexasTowelie
(112,226 posts)but there is a point to be made. Let the discussion flow and people present their ideas so some good can come from it.
pscot
(21,024 posts)inviting a war criminal to give a commencement address is probably not the best way to make it
YoungDemCA
(5,714 posts)TexasTowelie
(112,226 posts)However, as liberals we also need to be ready to defend our POV and reasoning from those that may attack it. The world isn't as idealistic as the crowd that is on DU. Considering that people in Texas often have to counter newspaper editorials like this and I'm also a liberal arts graduate, I want to see others offer effective counter-arguments in response.