Protecting liberal disciplines essay

William Butler Yeats is approved with when saying “Education is certainly not the filling up of a suitable container, but the light of a open fire. ” It seems this idiom no longer wedding rings true; present preferred education encompasses the regurgitation of technical lingo in the hopes of finding a job. People now regard Liberal Disciplines degree worthless; it’s too costly and impractical in today’s employment market. The sciences and profession colleges will be where the careers lie. In the battle more than higher education, through his iconoclastic article “The New Open-handed Arts, ” Sanford M.

Ungar stands as a lone crusader against an onslaught of “misperceptions. “

I for just one agree with and applaud his effort, even though he would use some added support in presenting some of his counter disputes. Unger first battles the misperception in the value in a liberal disciplines degree intended for first-generation, low income college students; these types of degrees will be for the elite upper-class. As Ungar’s imagined enemies put it, “A liberal disciplines degree is known as a luxury that most families can no longer afford.

‘Career education’ is exactly what we now need to focus on” (191). Ungar contends that although shooting upwards tuition can make it increasingly hard to pay for a school education it is now a more prudent investment than in the past (191).

Continuing his mission against naysayers by indicating that “the career education bandwagon” (191) is not only a smart purchase, asserting that “It can be far better for students to prepare for change—and the multiple careers they may be likely to have—than to search for a single job monitor that might 1 day become a deceased end. ” (191) Ungar shows the pitfalls of getting a directly focused education. Moreover, Ungar seems absolutely disgusted with all the notion that an education inside the liberal artistry is one for the top class, the rich and the privileged; those who are not of the stratification happen to be better suitable implementing the ideas with the elite, not coming up with concepts of their own (192).

He brands these claims as “condescending” (192) and “prejudice” (193) and rejects the idea that the lower-class’ simply duty is to implement the ideas from the upper-class. I really believe that Ungar is correct about these assertions; however , Ungar’s argument can be better served if this individual acquiesced that a college education, much less one out of the generous arts, is definitely not perfect for everyone. Degree is not only a one size fits all self-control. There has to be several to fill the factories, work the land, front the roads and electrical power the assistance industry.

Unger is correct in saying that the open-handed arts must be available to everyone and everyone may benefit from this type of classical education; non-etheless not everyone is suited for this kind of education. The misperception the liberal artistry are for the top notch is one which has been noticed before but not nearly as much as the old “employers do not need to hire individuals with useless degrees” line which will Unger obliterates with his subsequent argument. Ungar continues his defense of the liberal arts education by simply refuting the claim that business employers no longer hire someone using a “useless” level, such as The french language.

Showing how not only a certain degree such as a foreign language is one that is usually wanted by simply employers however the usefulness of other liberal arts certifications, emphasizing “A 2009 review for the Association of American Colleges and Universities truly found more than three-quarters of our nation’s employers suggest that college-bound students pursue a ‘liberal education. ‘” (192) Ungar works with this common misconception systematically by first proclaiming “what persons believe” and then contesting that belief with facts diversified with his personal opinions.

Even though he is right and he brandishes documented facts to compliment his statements Ungar might have missed the draw by not including actual task numbers. By simply displaying irrefutable proof that those who have a liberal artistry degree are more inclined to get a job in any field through showing those jobs are more lucrative for degree slots than those who are not, Ungar could put the nail in the coffin naysayers.

For his next dose of perception breaking, Ungar skirmishes with the following thought: Liberal arts degrees are antiquated, the Sciences and Career universities are the place that the smart money can be, and the STEM fields are better suited for today’s economic reality. Ungar contests this misperception by simply showing that the degree in liberal disciplines also includes the sciences. He illustrates that the traditional open-handed arts level includes the sciences: “the historical foundation a open-handed education is in the classical artes liberales, including the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music)” (193). Many of Ungar’s points will be valid; his handling on this misperception is usually deft and detailed. Nevertheless , I feel that Ungar is extending with his respond to this disagreement. Although a liberal arts degree does offer some glimpses into the ORIGINATE disciplines, it is not necessarily comparable to a degree in individuals specialties.

Students wishing to be a chemist will not be very well served going after a degree of all time. In exhibiting that these misperceptions are just that, Sanford Ungar single-handedly makes the case for a classical liberal arts education. He will do a wonderful job tackling the misperceptions being thrown about today about a college degree inside the liberal disciplines. He takes each one of these common misconceptions and thoroughly disproves each assert skillfully minus hesitation. In so doing he reopens the door to raised education. Perhaps if this individual and others like him always confront the onslaught of misinformation doled out after the masses we can go back to a world where a traditional generous arts education is yet again commended and no longer forsworn. Works Cited

Ungar, Sanford. “The Fresh Liberal Disciplines. ” “They Say My spouse and i Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: with readings. Eds. Gerald Graff, Kathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. New York: W. W. Norton and Business Ltd, 2012.

190-196. Printing.

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