INTERCONNECTIVITY: THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING LIBERAL ARTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

When you hear the words “liberal arts college” what do you think of? Poetry, philosophy, and music? Hard to find a job? Students living in their parents' house until they are 30?

Hardly.

In the early 1980’s, when I was working for Wartburg College (in Iowa), I was at a college fair where a student was going from table to table, asking one question and then moving to the next. I could hardly wait until he got to my table. His question was, “Are you a liberal arts college?” My answer, of course, was “Yes.” He then began walking away from my table, so I said “Come back here!” He did. I asked him what his major was, and he said, “Physics.” Wartburg has an excellent physics program, so I told him that. He then asked, “But are you a liberal arts college?” I said, “Yes,” and he walked away. Sigh…

There is so little understanding of the true meaning of liberal arts, especially in the 2020’s and beyond.

Prior to 1970 (my high school graduation year, by the way), it was not very common at liberal arts colleges to find majors in business administration or engineering. Economics, yes---but not business administration. Physics, yes---but not engineering. The 70’s were a turning point in terms of majors like business administration and engineering being added to the curricula at liberal arts colleges. Most began by offering 3+2 engineering programs with major universities, and then eventually (especially in the last 25 years or so) over 110 small private liberal arts colleges can now be found with full 4-year (ABET-accredited) engineering programs. Computer science follows a similar pattern. Most liberal arts colleges did not begin offering computer science as a full major until the mid to late 1980’s. Now, 45 years later, you will find hundreds of small private liberal arts colleges even offering Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics majors.

A bit of history from our friends at Wikipedia: “The term liberal arts for an educational curriculum dates back to classical antiquity in the West, but it has changed its meaning considerably, mostly expanding.” The seven subjects in the ancient and medieval meaning came to be divided into the trivium of rhetoric, grammar, and logic, and the quadrivium of astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, and music. Liberal arts colleges and schools often have names such as arts and social sciences, arts and sciences and humanities. Liberal arts degrees from today's universities and colleges traditionally include the following disciplines: Anthropology, English, Literature, Fine arts, Foreign languages, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Music, Journalism, Economics, Law, Communications, Architecture, Creative arts, Art, and History. Degrees in Liberal studies are often confused with those in a liberal arts discipline. Liberal studies refers to degrees with a broad curriculum, across multiple liberal arts disciplines and/or sciences and technologies.”

Is it appropriate for a liberal arts college to offer majors such as engineering, architecture, artificial intelligence, robotics, accounting, and nursing? If they do, can they truly be called liberal arts colleges? Need there be a line between “career/technical” and “liberal arts” education? It turns out that there has been an evolution and expansion regarding the definition of the liberal arts.

To me, the best definition of a liberal arts college is one that, by requiring a variety of liberal arts courses outside the major, demonstrates to students the various ways in which all disciplines are connected. INTERCONNECTIVITY IS THE KEY.

There is math in art. There is art in engineering. A knowledge of various religions can help you make a sale and help you understand and communicate with your neighbors. Taking a logic class can help you pass the LSAT exam. You can literally list all majors/disciplines and draw a line between any two and find a connection. This is what a liberal arts education gives you. The realization that everything in life is somehow connected. The ability to intelligently function on a day to day basis. To both understand and empathize.

Limited knowledge gives limited potential. The study of liberal arts, on the other hand, opens your mind, increases your knowledge base, and gives you the two major skills that will unlock your potential: the ability to speak and write well.

You don’t like writing and talking in front of people? Well, if you want that management promotion, you may get passed over. There is a reason liberal arts stress communication.

If nothing else, a liberal arts education makes you a more interesting and well-rounded human. More creative. A better communicator. Less one-dimensional.

Let’s talk about your search for that first job. Yes, you may have technical skills, but how are your soft skills? Soft skills are of utmost importance to employers. What are the most crucial soft skills?

I did research on “soft skills” and found several lists. Every list I saw included:

*Communication

*Teamwork

*Adaptability/Flexibility

Most lists also included:

*Leadership

*Organization

*Problem-solving

Two lists also included:

*Interpersonal/social skills (getting along with people)

*Work ethic

*Time management

*Critical thinking

*Decision-making

*Stress management

*Conflict management and resolution

*Creativity

Other lists included:

*Positive argumentation (agreeing to disagree without anger)

*Resourcefulness

*Ability to persuade

*Openness to criticism

*Ability to negotiate

*Innovation (thinking outside the box)

*Self-confidence

*Positive attitude

*Pleasant personality/friendliness

*Accountability

*Punctuality

*Ability to take initiative

*Empathy/emotional intelligence and awareness

*Tact

*Self-motivation

*Cultural fitness

*Ability to network

*Self-management

*Critical observation

Some of these skills come from part-time jobs that you have had and/or from activities in which you participate while you are in college. Others can come from a combination of classes taken and your activities.

For example, taking philosophy classes develops essential soft skills, including critical thinking, logical reasoning, analytical thinking, and problem-solving, alongside strong written and oral communication skills and the ability to understand and synthesize complex ideas. Students also cultivate flexibility, adaptability, and open-mindedness by engaging with diverse perspectives and frameworks. This is a great major or minor for students who hope to be lawyers.

Taking history classes develops essential soft skills, including critical thinking, analytical ability, strong research and communication skills, cultural intelligence, and problem-solving. History teaches students to evaluate diverse information, understand complex contexts, construct evidence-based arguments, and present ideas clearly and persuasively, making these skills valuable across many career paths. Many powerful business leaders majored or minored in history.

Taking art classes develops soft skills such as creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, emotional intelligence, and collaboration. Through the process of creating art, individuals learn to think outside the box, understand different perspectives, express themselves, and persevere through challenges, building resilience and self-esteem. Art is especially helpful to engineering and architecture students, as well as to computer software and UX professionals.

Theatre (and especially Improv) is a fantastic major or extracurricular that helps develop skills for virtually any career. There is a tremendous article about this, written by a professor at Albright College: https://medium.com/@mattfotis/yes-you-should-major-in-theatre-a868d9733957 Improv theatre enhances soft skills by cultivating active listening, communication, adaptability, creativity, collaboration, self-confidence, and problem-solving through hands-on, interactive experiences. These skills are developed by focusing on being present, responding spontaneously to unexpected situations, and working together to build scenes, which translates to improved performance in both personal and professional settings. I cannot think of a single career whose workers would not benefit from an improv theatre. In fact, Second City (in Chicago…The one that has produced so many SNL stars) has an entire business branch that works with corporations and organizations to improve their productivity through the development of improv skills. https://www.secondcity.com/second-city-works/team-building-workshops-coaching

But what about STEM? How does STEM fit into the liberal arts?

Engineers work in teams. They work with people. Classes like sociology and psychology can help them thrive in the workplace. Liberal arts classes that best support an engineering career focus on communication, critical thinking, and understanding human systems, with English/writing, economics, political science, and sociology/technology studies being particularly beneficial for skills such as clear technical communication, effective teamwork, and addressing societal impacts. Art classes, such as graphic design or human-computer interaction, can also be valuable, especially for engineers in fields like software or user experience design. Engineers who come from a liberal arts background have great management potential. They feel comfortable talking in front of people and have a strong report writing ability. If nothing else, as an engineering friend of mine once told me, they are more fun to talk to in the break room and at social gatherings because they know how to communicate about topics other than technology.

Bottom line: If you are looking for a technical career, please be open-minded about the advantages of attending a liberal arts college. I would especially encourage at least doing a double major or a major-minor: Engineering and Art; Business Management and Theatre; Nursing and Philosophy or Sociology would be some good examples. If you don’t have room in your schedule, at least take a couple of courses in these areas and/or get involved in these areas as extracurricular activities.

The liberal arts are alive and well. Please add liberal arts colleges to your search list. Your future self will be glad that you did.