Higher education is about more than job training.

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BidenPresident

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By Audrey Bilger, President of Reed College.

A broad-based curriculum educates young people to be productive members of society who contribute to the overall well-being of those around them, from adding beauty through art to solving problems with the latest scientific breakthroughs. A liberal arts and science education is an education for life.

We nurture biologists who are also watercolor artists; dancers who study computer science; psychology majors who are creative writers. The ability to draw insight and inspiration from across disciplines leads to innovation and the betterment of society.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/10/opinion/humanities-college.html
 
BidenPresident said:
By Audrey Bilger, President of Reed College.

A broad-based curriculum educates young people to be productive members of society who contribute to the overall well-being of those around them, from adding beauty through art to solving problems with the latest scientific breakthroughs. A liberal arts and science education is an education for life.

We nurture biologists who are also watercolor artists; dancers who study computer science; psychology majors who are creative writers. The ability to draw insight and inspiration from across disciplines leads to innovation and the betterment of society.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/10/opinion/humanities-college.html
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The point of studying art history, philosophy, English literature is not to prepare to build widgets or sell insurance.

The point is to prepare to be a rational being.

Ultimate truth, authenticity, and beauty are not found in widgets, spreadsheets, software. They are found in art, literature, rational contemplation.
 
Cypress said:
The point of studying art history, philosophy, English literature is not to prepare to build widgets or sell insurance.

The point is to prepare to be a rational being.

Ultimate truth, authenticity, and beauty are not found in widgets, spreadsheets, software. They are found in art, literature, rational contemplation.
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We need people who can invent and build the next widget far more than someone who is trying to make a career of selling modern art. Without the widgets, those who luxuriate in the arts couldn't exist at all. The arts don't build modern society, science and engineering do. The arts add to it certainly.

The arts without science and engineering end up being little more than:

shutterstock-1256685625.jpg


Artisans, craftsmen, and tradesmen are also a necessity ahead of the arts. They create and make the tools and materials society needs to function. The liberal arts only function because people like them with scientists and engineers made it possible for people to have leisure time to create art, music, and the like.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
We need people who can invent and build the next widget far more than someone who is trying to make a career of selling modern art. Without the widgets, those who luxuriate in the arts couldn't exist at all. The arts don't build modern society, science and engineering do. The arts add to it certainly.

The arts without science and engineering end up being little more than:

shutterstock-1256685625.jpg


Artisans, craftsmen, and tradesmen are also a necessity ahead of the arts. They create and make the tools and materials society needs to function. The liberal arts only function because people like them with scientists and engineers made it possible for people to have leisure time to create art, music, and the like.
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Science without art is like living in a forced labor camp.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
We need people who can invent and build the next widget far more than someone who is trying to make a career of selling modern art. Without the widgets, those who luxuriate in the arts couldn't exist at all. The arts don't build modern society, science and engineering do. The arts add to it certainly.

The arts without science and engineering end up being little more than:

shutterstock-1256685625.jpg


Artisans, craftsmen, and tradesmen are also a necessity ahead of the arts. They create and make the tools and materials society needs to function. The liberal arts only function because people like them with scientists and engineers made it possible for people to have leisure time to create art, music, and the like.
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It sounds like you didn't go to college.

I was able to take elective class in art history, music appreciation, English literature, history, while still taking all the classes neccessary for a STEM degree.

Did you realize College students are required and encouraged to take elective classes?
 
Cypress said:
It sounds like you didn't go to college.

I was able to take elective class in art history, music appreciation, English literature, history, while still taking all the classes neccessary for a STEM degree.

Did you realize College students are required and encouraged to take elective classes?
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I did. Those courses were 'fluff' ones you did as electives. Sure, they can be useful in a secondary role to life, or in the pursuit of a hobby, but they aren't the ones that are likely to lead to a productive career.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
We need people who can invent and build the next widget far more than someone who is trying to make a career of selling modern art. Without the widgets, those who luxuriate in the arts couldn't exist at all. The arts don't build modern society, science and engineering do. The arts add to it certainly.

The arts without science and engineering end up being little more than:

Artisans, craftsmen, and tradesmen are also a necessity ahead of the arts. They create and make the tools and materials society needs to function. The liberal arts only function because people like them with scientists and engineers made it possible for people to have leisure time to create art, music, and the like.
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There are plenty of people to produce all of the above.

"Between 2010 and 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, the number of STEM bachelor’s degrees awarded grew by 62%, compared with 20% growth for all degrees."

https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/04/01/stem-jobs-see-uneven-progress-in-increasing-gender-racial-and-ethnic-diversity/
 
Flash said:
There are plenty of people to produce all of the above.

"Between 2010 and 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, the number of STEM bachelor’s degrees awarded grew by 62%, compared with 20% growth for all degrees."

https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/04/01/stem-jobs-see-uneven-progress-in-increasing-gender-racial-and-ethnic-diversity/
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People like Gardner know nothing about higher education. He claims to have a graduate degree in history but he admits he only served in the military.
 
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