What is Liberal Arts?

The field of higher education has witnessed some changes and day by day, the appetite of students for quality education is increasing. To choose the right stream in higher education is becoming an increasingly complex activity. After passing 12th boards, students have a daunting task to choose from several academic disciplines. The parents and teachers play a crucial role in deciding the career streams for students who have passed 12th standard, therefore their way of analyzing different career streams matters. It has been observed that prestige is associated with streams such as “Science and Commerce” whereas humanities and liberal arts streams are somewhat viewed with disregard. To associate Liberal Arts as a stream which has fewer benefits might be a lop-sided view taken by adults without having complete knowledge about this new emerging stream of education. Students, who want to study history, literature, philosophy or political science are discouraged and pushed to take streams that have a predefined career path.

 The origins of Liberal Arts education is rooted in history. The term “Liberal Arts” comes from the Latin term “liberalis” which means –Free and “ Ars” meaning Art or principled practice. The Liberal Arts is also known by another terminology, i.e. “ Seven Liberal Arts”. If we delve deeper to understand the meaning of Liberal Arts, then it is a cluster of core subjects such as “Grammar, logic, and rhetoric” called the “Trivium” and subject areas like arithmetic, geometry, the theory of music, and astronomy were called the “Quadrivium.”

A quote by President Christopher Eisgruber, “ A liberal arts education is a vital foundation for both individual flourishing and the well-being of our society” aptly sums the idea behind Liberal arts.

A course in Liberal Arts helps an individual to discover different academic disciplines and gives him the flexibility to design a curriculum based on his area of academic interest. The flexibility to combine courses from a wide array of subjects provides the individual with a chance to venture beyond the traditional course study. The focus earlier was on building a skill-set in students that would assure them of a secure lifestyle. Therefore parents pushed students to opt for two most sought after career choices, namely, engineering and medical streams.

 “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential, these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”Quote by Confucius should motivate the students to achieve their goals.