Is College Doomed?

In today’s educational system, subjects such as ethics and multiculturalism are usually optional and are not enforced into the regular or basic curriculum. They are more electives and may even be restricted to extracurricular activities. In Yo-Yo Ma’s “Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education” he argues the importance of the arts and empathetic thinking within education. Additionally, within Graeme Wood’s “Is College Doomed?”, he praises the accomplishments of the new and innovative online-based university Minerva that has campus locations all over the world. The job of the educational system is not to educate non-academic concepts and ethics because such things are personal and developed individually throughout life. College is

Ethics are personal beliefs about certain topics and situations. If such empathetic thinking were to be taught within a classroom setting, it would force certain perspectives upon the students that would condition them into thinking a certain way. “Empathy is the ultimate quality that acknowledges our identity as members of one human family” (Ma 258) One should not be taught how to be a human and what kind of mindset a human should have. Human empathy and ethics are things that come through personal development. “I was forced, in effect, to learn. If this was the education of the future, it seemed vaguely fascistic” (Wood 507). Wood expresses the demanding atmosphere of the Minerva classroom. By being forced to learn he has to continually be engaged and absorb information. With this type of setting the process of educating students of empathetic topics and ethical type classes would cause the students to have whatever is being taught indented into their minds. If certain ethics are forced onto them, they may find themselves conforming to whatever they are learning. However, by allowing the student to develop it themselves on their own time and in their own natural way they will have their own opinions and ethics. They will be able to discover their own self and learn about the world in their own perspective instead of the curriculum 's

“The integrative awareness is especially important today as our science-driven, technologically advanced world is breaking down into ever compartments, specializations, and disciplines-even as the interdependence of globalization is creating more links with other cultures through which empathetic understanding is vital” (Ma 258). In this new and changing world cultural links aid in advances that are being taught within schools. That is the very aspect of globalization and empathetic thinking is necessary. However, having classes on topics that require such thinking may steer all students in a direction that isn’t necessarily their own. Therefore, regular core classes should include the benefits of arts and culture by using the diversity of personal experiences that each student has received in the outside world. “The student body could become truly global, in part because Minerva’s policy is to admit students without regard to national origin” (Wood 508). Minerva’s diverse student population allows the students to have access to different personal perspectives that could be used in core curriculum. Instead of teaching what can be absorbed in these experiences, the student should be encourages to get involved as much as they can outside the classroom