Tim Forstall, Forbes, Sept 1, 2012 “A wonderfully provocative post by Andrew Coulson over at Cato. What actually is the point these days of corralling students into universities so that they can be taught the liberal arts? Wouldn’t it be better to simply remove that whole swathe of subjects from the college curriculum and concentrate instead on those

Joyce Lau, New York Times/International Herald Tribune Blog, January 22, 2013 “This week, the IHT education section takes a look at the liberal arts, the largely North American education system that emphasizes a broad base of learning. It is slowly making inroads in Europe and Asia, where university courses have traditionally been more narrowly focused. “In Hong Kong, I

David Kroll, Forbes, Feb 7, 2013 “I’m currently teaching a section of the Basic Principles of News and Article Writing course (ENG 316) at North Carolina State University. In a recent radio interview with conservative talk show host Bill Bennett our new governor, Pat McCrory, questioned the relevance of funding liberal arts education across the state’s 17-institution University

Stuart Rabinowitz, Newsday, Feb 7, 2013 “Our nation’s ongoing economic recession, coupled with the escalating costs of higher education, has rekindled the perennial debate about the value of a liberal arts education. Just last week,North Carolina Gov. Patrick McCrory and House Majority LeaderEric Cantor (R-Va.) have publicly, and pointedly, posed the question: What good is a major in literature or philosophy when

Matthew O’Brien, The Atlantic, Feb 8, 2013 “Too much demand for liberal arts didn’t kill the job market. Too little aggregate demand did.” Read all

Richard Greenwald, Huffington Post, Feb 13, 2013 “I am constantly saddened to see bright college students and their parents confuse choosing a major with launching a career, taking, say, business over their passion in English or philosophy solely because they can look onMonster.com and see job posts for one and not the other. We tell students that

The University of Michigan hosted a conference on “The Liberal Arts and Sciences in the Research University Today: Histories, Challenges, Futures,“  May 22-24, 2013. The conference was intended to provide an appropriate venue for a sober national conversation about the value and contribution of education in the liberal arts and sciences in the research university

PhD student in sociology and graduate assistant to the Commission on the Liberal Arts Tressie McMillan Cottom wrote an article on for-profit education for the journal Contexts, the ASA public sociology magazine. This special issue of the magazine looks at the relationship between capitalism, neoliberalism, and higher education. Features include viewpoints on “creeping corporatization” in academia, the

Read notes from the second meeting of the Executive Committee of the Commission on the Liberal Arts. Click here to download .pdf

Read the minutes from the first meeting of the Executive Committee of the Commission on the Liberal Arts. Click here to download .pdf