A Complete Education

Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern University, writes about the debate over the purpose of college and the divide between the liberal arts and the "applied disciplines."

Indeed, the marriage of liberal arts skills with experiential learning yields advanced survival skills for the modern era: creative, critical and analytical thinking, deft communication, and the ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity, applying knowledge in unexpected situations. We can’t engage effectively with other human beings -- or institutions, or work assignments -- without these talents. Just as importantly, the experiential liberal arts imparts an appetite for ongoing study, training students to adapt their minds to new learning situations throughout their lives. This is invaluable in an economy that demands that workers make multiple career jumps and replenish their skills on a continuing basis.

Essay calls for ending the divide between liberal arts and practical education | InsideHigherEd