<p>There was a discussion in one of my classes that somehow ended up getting into the topic of a the arts vs. math/science which then became liberal arts college vs specialized schools (or institutions). I thought the arguments were pretty lame for wanting to get a liberal arts education. I'm in a business school but still have to take my liberal arts courses. While I don't like business (ain't that something), I certainly don't see the point in liberal arts either. I heard arguments about how getting a general education is necessary to become an all-around person and how business students aren't well-rounded and just in it for the money. I couldn't help but laugh at that last point because I'm not in it for the money and I excel in all of my subjects (except physics; the only science i hope to never touch again). Anyways I'm curious what you folks think about this. It seems to me in today's society there's no room for people who have general knowledge, only for those who specialize.</p>
<p>I don't know what the hell I want to do, so taking general classes, and picking things that interest me will probably send me the right way.
There's plenty do without having to specialize in a field. A political science degree isn't something specific, but can let you explore a alot of fields and things to do. Sometimes people would rather take a look at the world and be a bit of a bohemian instead of finding something to do right away, and that's something pretty awesome in its own right: living life for life's sake, and changing the world on your own terms. Ultimately is doing what you dig to do.</p>
<p>not a lot of art majors end up getting jobs and making money. So they switched to something else. Unless you're very talented to open an art showroom or something. For science/business, everyone can get a job easily. Go to career fair or something like that. All the recruiters are business or engineering companies. There aren't any art recruiter there. You gotta go to their specialized career fair.</p>
<p>Liberal Arts doesn't just mean art. It means art/humanities/social sciences/science/math...just anything but a specialized school. And in terms of business companies recruiting, well, they recruit from liberal arts students as well as buisness students (let us not forget, Harvard undergrad is liberal arts). And there are thousands of other careers out there for someone with a liberal arts degree (not to mention going to grad school/law school/med school). The point of a liberal arts education is that with it you can do just about anything (except, perhaps, some very specilized feilds like engeneering, I don't know), if you are also smart and motivated and a good people-person.</p>
<p>^ i agree with Weskid's statements, and i'll expand on them a little more.</p>
<p>this is great because my last official paper for my writing class is almost exactly on this...the purpose of education, and the value of a "liberal" education. i think even if you don't consciously internalize the things you do in your GE classes, by studying and especially discussing the material you inherently gain knowledge, if somewhat unrelated to that specific class. you probably won't be able to recall even a tenth of the key terms you learned in one of your classes, but because of the connections to related ideas that you make in discussions during that class or just thinking about those ideas in a non-academic context, you really internalize those ideas and they subconsciously, if very slightly, affect the way you think and perceive things.</p>
<p>for example...in my physics class, it seems that more than learning about physical properties, i'm learning about becoming a better problem solver. or one of my favorite classes was an ancient Greek philosophy...i couldn't tell you exactly what views Anaximander held, but just learning and thinking about the ideas gave me another perspective on science, and even reality.</p>
<p>you should read excerpts from John Henry Cardinal Newman's essay "The Idea of the University." i'm not saying it's going to change your mind, but it makes valid points. one of them is that a "liberal" education trains the mind to think critically, something that will help you regardless of what more specific field you choose to enter. maybe i'm just getting a lot more out of my GE class than i should :p but i think they're more useful than a lot of people like to think. also, i think if you look around at your course catalog, i'm sure there'll be some GE class that's interesting that'll let you learn about something you never had the chance to learn about in high school.</p>