University Efforts to Revive Liberal Arts as a Key Component of the College Experience

Discussion Questions

1. How have the liberal arts declined as a focus in universities across the country?
2. Where (what university) has taken an initiative to revive the humanities?
3. What is the Cornerstone program?
4. Who is the Cornerstone program designed for?
5. Why has this university decided to renew the focus on liberal arts?

Extension Activity

This segment describes the goals of a liberal arts education at the university level aimed at helping students understand themselves and the world, so they can make informed decisions. In secondary schools in the U.S., the vast majority of students also experience a liberal arts education (fun fact: when STEM subjects are included, as they often are, we call this a liberal arts & sciences education).

Based on that definition, have a class discussion about what art or media you think should be added to liberal arts programs (history, English, art, etc.) in their schools to help students understand their own world and generation (that is, understand themselves).

• First, each student should brainstorm a list of art or media that they think represents something interesting about the world or the experiences of their own generation. Think of music, movies, books, art and traditional liberal arts media, but you can also think of the media you pay attention to online and share with your friends.
• Then share one item on your list with the class. Discuss — what's significant about this media? Has everyone heard of it? How could discussing it help you understand yourself and your world better?
• Do you think understanding any of this chosen media could help you with other pursuits beyond the humanities, like business or science?

Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.