I think this article is going to be about the affects liberal arts has on critical thinking of students or people in general. I think ‘liberal arts’ is referring to classes such as music, art and theater courses or activities. The connection of artistic abilities and critical thinking is very interesting and would be a great topic for an article. I am super excited to start a new unit.
What are Liberal Arts?
“At its best, a liberal education isn’t intended to inculcate practical skills or to dump data into students’ brains, though it may teach a fact or two. Instead, it’s a wellspring of ideas and questions, and a way of promoting flexibility and openness to diverse perspectives” (Scheuer pg.6)
This quote was the last two sentences of this section, and I think it brought all the pieces together. Our society focus so much on being perfect or always having the fully right answer to problems. But within liberal arts, they know there are many factors that go into the world, and see and develop connections between those factors. It is important to see those, and to be able to know that there many be differing views, and many different people view certain things in completely opposite ways. Liberal arts accepts and celebrates that, where as our society as a whole tries to be uniform, and it causes a division.
Why Do We Need the Liberal Arts?
“These three forms of citizenship interrelate in subtle as well as obvious ways, and they are the most visible bands on a specturm of possible communal engagement” (Scheuer pg 8).
This sections highlighted the connections between the word citizenship, and how it connects liberal arts. This text is very biased towards liberal arts majors, and writes as though only liberal arts students are able to see how one action affects another. Though I believe this is sometimes true, it is unfair to those who still understand the importance of these topics, and just choose to go to a science or medical based major or career.
What is Critical Thinking?
“All of these perspectives have value, but they aren’t reducible to neat formulas. In the end, critical inquiry is not a map or a lift to form rules but a set of navigation skills” (Scheuer pg 11).
This section expressed the importance of not always having a right answer. The ability to be creative, and research different topics to describe one thing is crucial to living a successful life. Many other majors do not discuss these topics in close detail, but these skills are important for everyone. They express the reasons why liberal arts is designed the way it is, and it is to create an open space, where people have room to create their own opinions and have the ability to critically think freely.
The Importance of Critical Inquiry
“Clearly there is no fixed rules governing this conversation; its signature is its openness” (Scheuer pg 14).
This section and quote here brings me back to Dwecks conversation about fixed and growth mindset. This sentence here is basically saying there is not fixed mindsets here, there is room to think and grow. This paragraph did bring up the importance of both STEM learning and liberal arts education. These two concepts go hand in hand and are both equally as important to create good people and a good society.
