In a Technocratic Age, Study of the Liberal Arts Is Even More Important

By Francis Conroy, professor of philosophy at Burlington County College in Pemberton, NJ
From The Christian Science Monitor-Tuesday, July 17, 2001

In his essay in The Christian Science Monitor, Conroy calls for a reevaluation of the fate of liberal arts in today's world, and asks: "Do we really think we are going to improve learning with the current trend of more computers, tests, and accountability, alone?"

The diminishment of the liberal arts "has been largely overlooked as a cause" for the hopelessness that has characterized many young people's lives in the age of tragedies such as Columbine, according to Francis Conroy, professor of philosophy at Burlington County College. As he sees it, American society lacks understanding of the significance of the liberal arts as a tool to enable individuals to be societal leaders "schooled in the rich and subtle arts of reasoning."

Cyber culture and long-distance learning are also problematic, according to Conroy. He evokes the image of a college professor as a "skilled practitioner" of Platonic dialectics and likens a professor teaching long distance to a parent who tucks in his or her child with a phone call. He believes educators should rehearse the complexities of true learning and avoid the "superficially upbeat" assurances of a market-driven academy.

http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/07/17/fp17s1-csm.shtml

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