Fareed Zakaria has written an excellent account of the history of the liberal arts and what a degree program like Liberal Studies offers (see his book chapters in Module One Learning Materials).  You will read his account and address two questions.  Each question should require about 200 to 250 words to answer, for a total of 400-500 words.

Your task is to use ideas the author discusses in the reading to address the questions.  I am not looking for YOUR opinion on the questions, I am looking for what you think the AUTHOR’s opinion on the questions are. 

The two questions that I want you to answer are:

1. In the first chapter, the author describes several debates about what a liberal education should be:

  • Should it be practical, and help students prepare for their role in society?
  • Or should it be theoretical, helping students seek the truth of things for its own sake?
  • Should a liberal education focus on HOW to think, teaching skills that would benefit a person in any situation?
  • Or should it focus on WHAT to think, giving students the content that allows them to be successful in doing a specific task?
  • Finally, should there be a “common core” of classes or content exposing students to the most important ideas that everyone should have the opportunity to reflect on and critique?
  • Or should students pursue whatever interests them?

Choose three of these six positions and give specific examples of arguments made on their behalf in the reading.  You may paraphrase the auhor’s ideas if you wish.

2. In the second chapter, the author says that a liberal arts background will “help you get ready for your sixth job, not your first.”  What does this mean?  What were the three skills that the author says are most important to prepare you in this way?  Why will those skills do that?

Make sure you cite where the author said something you refer to, even if you don’t directly quote it.  EXAMPLE:  If the author said something about speaking skills on page 5 that you liked, you would write something like, “The author clearly thinks that debating and speaking skills have always been a part of a liberal education and are valuable today in the business world” (Zakaria 5).


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