What do we mean by "the liberal arts"? Why is it the best
path to your goals in your life--your goals both personally
and professionally?
In this three to five page essay, you will be exploring what
the liberal arts means. You will be considering how it
will help you in your profession/ career, with your overall
professional goals, and in your life writ broadly. How does
the liberal arts impact the profession life of a small
business owner or CEO--if those are your goals? How is a
doctor more prepared for her life in medical school and as a
doctor when she has an undergraduate degree from a liberal
arts institution? Take an important and central aspect
related to the central goals or impact of a liberal arts
education and briefly explain why that is a central part,
and then look at its implications: you will not be able to
look at everything and this essay needs to be concrete:
avoid broad generalities for the most part.
For the first draft, write two pages in which you begin to
define the liberal arts specifically and in very concrete
terms, and then apply that to your field. Before the final
draft (three to five pages), you must incorporate additional
ideas--from people in the field, from professors in your
major area, from the essays that you received from A
Student's Guide to the Liberal Arts.
-
although you may use sources, define the liberal
arts for yourself--emphasizing the aspect that seems
to be the most central and likely to have the most
impact on you
-
consider how that aspect will change you--help
you develop into the person and the professional
that will best achieve your goals
-
incorporate others' ideas about the liberal arts and
its role in your goals
-
avoid broad generalities about how the liberal arts
"broads you" (although it is true)
