Why Are Many Young Americans so Uncomfortable With Liberal Arts?

978 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Educational changes in today's society

Why are many young Americans so uncomfortable with liberal arts? And why are many high school graduates shying away from this particular form of education? Just like anything else that is popular, once the liberal arts has been accurately, or inaccurately, discredited, the aftermath inevitably spreads. As more and more information is being mistakenly spread, numerous liberal arts colleges are taking the fall. To combat this, university officers are speaking out to discredit the invalid claims.
Sanford J. Ungar, a journalist and president of Goucher College, is one of those faculty members actively trying to disprove the accusations against liberal arts colleges and educations. In his February 2010 article from the academic journal The Chronicle of Higher Education, Ungar gives readers many examples of common misunderstandings about liberal arts and then informs them why those examples are incorrect. Appropriately titled, Ungar’s “7 Major Misperceptions About the Liberal Arts” is an easy go to guide when a person wants to learn more about liberal arts. These readers, mainly students and parents looking towards a higher degree of education, can read Ungar’s essay and find new knowledge about the liberal arts discipline.
As students and parents are looking into colleges, their minds need to be open and free of biases. Sanford Ungar’s essay can help broaden the mindset of families, and even help make a decision to attend a liberal arts college. Ungar uses various techniques in his essay that make it effective. Not only does he discredit the misperceptions of liberal arts, but he also approaches his writing with etiquette that appeals to his readers. In his essay, Ungar uses three main appeals: reason, emotion, and ethics...

... middle of paper ...

...ly trying to convey that all kinds of education is expensive, and one should not shy away from a liberal arts degree because it seems too much.
As mentioned throughout this analysis, Sanford J. Ungar’s main purpose of his essay, “7 Misperceptions About the Liberal Arts” is to inform Americans that liberal arts education is not an unpopular decision to make. Although The Chronicle of Higher Education published this article in 2010, it is still very relevant today. I believe Ungar has accomplished his purpose by adequately refuting each misperception in his essay. By using the three appeals of reason, emotion and ethics equally, Ungar leaves no doubt that liberal arts is an education that should not be sought after.

Works Cited

http://www.cic.edu/News-and-Publications/Multimedia-Library/CICConferencePresentations/2011%20Presidents%20Institute/make-the-case2.pdf

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of The New Liberal Arts By Sanford Ungar

    395 Words  | 1 Pages

    All though “The New Liberal Arts”, Sanford J. Ungar uses seven misconceptions about liberal arts on why learning the liberal arts. And explain why is still relevant and will be for coming years. The first misperception that he advocates is that a liberal arts degree is no longer affordable. Vocational training is better alternative to liberal arts in today. In this recession it is a financially wise decision to obtain a career oriented education instead. Students may not able to find jobs in the field that they are training after graduate. Ungar argues that especially collage students find it harder to get good jobs with liberal arts degrees, which is not the case. Which is the second misperception is that graduates with liberal arts degrees

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Owen And Sawhill's Essay: Should Everyone Go To College

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Owen and Sawhill 208) After all, if our country’s leader is preaching about college being a good thing, it should reflect the views of a majority of people in this country. They then continue to try to make connections with the audience by emphasizing that this is a “we” problem and by recognizing that the decision to go off to college is not an easy one for everybody. These first words in the essay demonstrate a call to the ethos of President Obama and clear cut pathos to bring the authors down to the same level as their audience; However, the rest of the essay is absolutely dominated by

    Read More

  • A Critical Analysis Of 'Majoring In Fear' By Mark Shiffman

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Majoring In Fear” by Mark Shiffman analyzes a shift in the attitudes of today’s youth. He claims that students are choosing more practical pathways out of fear, sacrificing their genuine passions and interests in order to attain a safer career. Shiffman believes this sacrifice is detrimental to students because a liberal arts education catalyzes introspection and spiritual growth. By leaving behind opportunities for such growth, the youth of today lack the capacity and resources for reflection on their lives. Shiffman further illustrates this idea with the claim that students who initially show an interest in the humanities later choose to further their education in Economics or Spanish (Shiffman 5).

    Read More

  • College Isn T For Everyone By W. J. Reeves

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    Education has always been a current issue due to the fact that it is seen as an economic cure-all. However, the perception of college is ill-conceived and there are multiple debates on how to improve it. College universities believe that having open admissions will increase the amount of matriculations, but the fact is the amount of students being enrolled into a four-year university has no relationship to the amount of students with academic aspirations. W.J. Reeves, an English professor at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York, gives a few examples of how open admissions has changed education methods and student abilities. Reeves wrote this opinion piece to convince everyone, especially parents, that schools are in need of reform

    Read More

  • College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be by Andrew Delbanco

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The New Liberal Arts

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article “The New Liberal Arts,” Sanford J. Ungar presents the argument of why liberal arts schools are still competitive and useful today. The beginning of the article immediately addresses the problem that Ungar is defending, “Hard economic times inevitably bring scrutiny of all accepted ideals and institutions, and this time around liberal-arts education has been especially hit hard.” The author provides credibility through his time of being a liberal arts presidents, applies statistics about the enrollment and job security outside of liberal college, he addresses the cost factor and how a student may find compensation, and that a liberal arts college is not preparing students for success. The article “The New Liberal Arts,” addresses

    Read More

  • Three Reasons College Still Matters By Andrew Delbanco

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    In recent years, many have debated whether or not a college education is a necessary requirement to succeed in the field of a persons’ choice and become an outstanding person in society. On one hand, some say college is very important because one must contribute to society. The essay Three Reasons College Still Matters by Andrew Delbanco shows three main reasons that students should receive their bachelor’s degree. On the other hand, many question the point of wasting millions of dollars on four years or maybe more to fight for highly competitive jobs that one might not get. Louis Menand wrote an article based on education titled Re-Imagining Liberal Education. This article challenges the main thought many americans have after receiving a secondary education. Louis Menand better illustrates the reasons why a student should rethink receiving a post secondary education better than Andrew Delbanco’s three reasons to continue a person’s education.

    Read More

  • Caroline Bird's College Is a Waste of Time and Money

    1699 Words  | 4 Pages

    In her article “College Is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird attempts to pursued her readers that colleges are overflowing with students who don’t belong there. Her article first appeared in Psychology Today (May 1975). Since this material is outdated, I find it hard to believe that most of the responses by students and parents quoted in the article still hold true. The author has set out to pursue the readers that college is a bad and unnecessary choice for today’s youth. Yet the author holds a bachelors and a masters degree from two different universities. I would think that if she thought college was really a bad choice and a waste of time and money, she would not have gone back to get her masters degree.

    Read More

  • Higher Education Opinions

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    How imperative is it that one pursues a traditional college experience? Although it might appear that Charles Murray and Liz Addison are in agreement that the traditional college experience is not necessary for everyone, Addison provides a more convincing argument that higher education is necessary in some form. This is seen through Addison’s arguments that college is essential to growing up, that education is proportional to the life one lives, and that community college reinvents the traditional college experience. Not only does Addison have her own opinions about college, but Murray does as well.

    Read More

  • College as the Pathway to the American Dream

    2356 Words  | 5 Pages

    Over the past few years, people have begun to see going to college as a way to achieve the American Dream through career-readiness. People used to go to college, hoping to get a better well-rounded education. For most the well-rounded education, it usually came with the courses required for a liberal arts education. The courses would provide a level of analytical and in-depth understanding that would prepare the students for both life and whichever career path chosen. No matter the amount of money paid, parents would be willing to gi...

    Read More

  • Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here? Rhetorical Analysis

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    Studying a university degree is one of the biggest achievements of many individuals around the world. But, according to Mark Edmunson, a diploma in America does not mean necessarily studying and working hard. Getting a diploma in the United States implies managing with external factors that go in the opposite direction with the real purpose of education. The welcome speech that most of us listen to when we started college, is the initial prank used by the author to state the American education system is not converging in a well-shaped society. Relating events in a sarcastic way is the tone that the author uses to explain many of his arguments. Mark Edmunson uses emotional appeals to deliver an essay to the people that have attended College any time in their life or those who have been involved with the American education system.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Are Too Many People Going To College

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Charles Murray’s essay entitled “Are Too Many People Going to College?”, he discusses the influx of Americans getting a college education. He addresses the topic of Liberal Arts education, and explains that not many people are ready for the rigorous challenges a liberal-arts degree offers. In addition, Murray explains that instead of a traditional degree more people should apply to technical schools. He believes that college should not be wide spread, and that it is only for those who can handle it. These viewpoints harshly contrast with Sanford J. Ungar’s views. Ungar believes college education should be widespread, because a liberal-arts degree is, in his opinion, a necessity. He argues that a liberal-arts college is the only place that

    Read More

  • Liberal Arts Reflection Essay

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    The liberal arts are becoming increasingly rare in schools and universities. However, Saint Catherine University makes it a priority to teach its students the core benefits to the liberal arts college. It requires students to take the course “The Reflective Woman” along with “Global Search for Justice” as an introduction and conclusion to a liberal arts education. Throughout this semester I became more knowledgeable on what the liberal arts truly are, honed my reflective judgment, developed my writing skills, and I now have a deeper and defined sense of self.

    Read More

  • Augustine of Hipo's Ideas of Creation and Time in The Confessions

    1999 Words  | 4 Pages

    Corriveau, Roger. “The Quest for a Liberal Education.” Lecture to Philosophy 356: Seek & Find: Augustine Seminar, Assumption College, Worcester, MA, March 17, 2014.

    Read More

  • The Rhetoric Of Resistance Analysis

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    By the late 1960s, the USA had created a system of‘mass’higher education: approximately 30 per cent of the eligible age-group was enrolled in college (Jones, 32). Industrial capitalism, to function properly, required a growing mass of‘white-collar’workers, performers of‘mental labour’: scientists, technologists, administrators, lawyers, etc. This was the fastest expanding sector of the workforce, whose pay and working conditions were slowly converging towards those of ‘skilled manual’ workers, and the institution of the higher education looked to support this technical growth. Students studying in the humanities and arts programs, however, had a different definition of higher education. They expected their courses would offer some kind of effect on their critical development and on their capacities for social, moral and political generalization, rather than just preparing them for the workforce. These students were most likely incubated to expect the classical model of the University: a liberal institution promoting freedom of thought and expression, encouraging free debate and argument. The old upper class model depicted the university education as devoted to the leisured pursuit of ideas.

    Read More

More about Why Are Many Young Americans so Uncomfortable With Liberal Arts?

Open Document