Eric Hartman (Kansas State) and Antoinette Hertel (St. Joseph’s): Clearer Thinkers, Better People? Unpacking Assumptions in Liberal Education. Who needs a liberal education? Gilbert Meilaender on why we should stop pretending that the liberal arts are important frosting on the cake of an education that is in fact designed for other purposes. An excerpt from Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters by Michael Roth. Why Scott Samuelson teaches Plato to plumbers: Liberal arts and the humanities aren't just for the elite. The humanities aren’t obscure, arcane or irrelevant — they awaken our souls, influence how we think about inequality, and help us adapt to a changing world. The enemies, and friends, of the humanities: Mark Bauerlein on why deconstructionists defended the Canon. Digital humanities and the end of (close) reading: Daniel Moore reviews Distant Reading by Franco Moretti. Science is not about certainty: Carlo Rovelli on how the separation of science and the humanities is relatively new — and detrimental to both. Going underground: Raphael Allison on rock bands, the academy as subculture, and staving off the crisis in the humanities. The morbid fascination with the death of the humanities: Benjamin Winterhalter on why professors, librarians, and politicians are shunning liberal arts in the name of STEM. It's the end of the humanities as we know it — and I feel fine. Kevin Allred on why he teaches a university course on Beyonce. What can you do with a degree in watching TV? Hope Rees interviews Anne Helen Petersen, a media-studies professor who is leaving academia to write for the Internet. This chart shows what jobs you're likely to get with your college major. What's your major? Quoctrung Bui on 4 decades of college degrees, in 1 graph.
