So what exactly do the Liberal Arts, who dominate so much of our curriculum, teach us?
I've learned a damn lot about history and humanity, about what brings us together as people and what drives us apart into cultures. I've learned compassion and beauty on a spectrum that can't be rationalised or broken down into handy, easy-to-use charts. The liberal arts carry on the words, memories, and passions of the past. If that isn't of importance to you, that's for you to reckon with, not for me to explain away. Suffice it to say that I'd rather live in an intelligent, passionate society than an intelligent, impotent one.
Too often we've opened famous works of literature, and been told that it is replete with interlocking layers of meaning, only to find it not that interesting-and the insights it provides not terribly profound. But there is always a feeling that, in the Professor's mind, a failure to be stirred by the work in question demonstrates a flaw in the student instead of perhaps a mind that does not take to their favorite book.
I'm afraid I'm not sure what you think 'the problem' is, but again, that's your affair, not mine. I see no problem with people learning things you don't like, or that you don't appreciate. Considering that I'm forced to learn the rudimentary basics of scientific disciplines just to get my music degree (because, as we all know, understanding red shifts and imaginary numbers are terribly important in the real world - why, I couldn't even buy a can of pears without knowing that x=5), I think the playing field is rather even.
But you'll have to excuse me... I've just finished two concerts today, sacrificing more than ten hours in two days to the foolish pursuit of 'entertainment', selling out to appreciative audiences of people who surely aren't so enlightened as the scientific crowd, and I'm a little sleepy. The above may not make sense when viewed while alert. Or sober.
no subject
I've learned a damn lot about history and humanity, about what brings us together as people and what drives us apart into cultures. I've learned compassion and beauty on a spectrum that can't be rationalised or broken down into handy, easy-to-use charts. The liberal arts carry on the words, memories, and passions of the past. If that isn't of importance to you, that's for you to reckon with, not for me to explain away. Suffice it to say that I'd rather live in an intelligent, passionate society than an intelligent, impotent one.
Too often we've opened famous works of literature, and been told that it is replete with interlocking layers of meaning, only to find it not that interesting-and the insights it provides not terribly profound. But there is always a feeling that, in the Professor's mind, a failure to be stirred by the work in question demonstrates a flaw in the student instead of perhaps a mind that does not take to their favorite book.
If the professor implies such a thing, he's an arrogant ass who shouldn't be trusted to teach. If the student assumes it, he is a weakling who needs not only a stronger spine, but a healthy dose of self-esteem. There is room for all perspectives in art, so long as the perspective is an honest one. I have enjoyed this in abundance in my Song Lit class, where there were frequent naysayers, informing the class (and professor) that Schubert missed the mark on this one, or Fauré was shallow in that one, every one of us having the gall to assert ourselves as authorities, and every one of us being right.
I'm just defining the problem
I'm afraid I'm not sure what you think 'the problem' is, but again, that's your affair, not mine. I see no problem with people learning things you don't like, or that you don't appreciate. Considering that I'm forced to learn the rudimentary basics of scientific disciplines just to get my music degree (because, as we all know, understanding red shifts and imaginary numbers are terribly important in the real world - why, I couldn't even buy a can of pears without knowing that x=5), I think the playing field is rather even.
But you'll have to excuse me... I've just finished two concerts today, sacrificing more than ten hours in two days to the foolish pursuit of 'entertainment', selling out to appreciative audiences of people who surely aren't so enlightened as the scientific crowd, and I'm a little sleepy. The above may not make sense when viewed while alert. Or sober.