“The New Liberal Arts” Sanford Ungar - Collaborative Summary Sanford J. Ungar was the president of Goucher College, located in Baltimore, Maryland. He wrote this essay to debunk common misperceptions about liberal arts colleges and the education provided by them. The first misperception he confronts is the idea that a liberal arts education has become far too expensive for most families to afford; therefore, it would be better if potential students focused on education specific to their desired career. Ungar argues that this is not the case. He asserts that it is better for young people to have a well-rounded liberal arts education that will prepare them for a plethora of career paths rather than having an education based solely on one career
The New Liberal Arts- Summary In the article, “The New Liberal Arts,” author Sanford J. Ungar addresses several misperceptions that people have about the importance of Liberal arts education in today’s world. In doing so, he highlights seven misperceptions that people have and then provides a logical correction to them. In his article, the first misperception claims that people should focus more on career education rather than liberal arts education. On contrary, Ungar argues that the society today, demand individual’s who have preparation in all fields, which liberal arts provide.
A number of American policymakers have come to scrutinize liberal arts education. They say that the liberal arts are dead, that it’s an irrelevant field to pursue, especially if students come from a low-income family; that they will not get a good job with a liberal arts degree. Sanford J. Ungar responds to these claims in his essay, “The New Liberal Arts”. Misperception No. 2 in “The New Liberal Arts” says that “College graduates are finding it harder to get good jobs with liberal arts degrees” (228).
Graduation Reality Check This is a summary of David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement address This is Water to the Kenyon College graduating class. Wallace starts off by telling his audience that “The most obvious IMPORTANT realities are often the ones that are HARDEST to see and talk about”. This is the first of many reality checks he gives to his fellow students. His address is not the typical pomp and circumstance addresses typical heard at any college or university. Wallace draws in the adults from the audience by connecting with them only on a level that the working classes guests and parents would understand.
In the article “Why We Undervalue a Liberal Arts Education” by Adam Chapnick, the author points to reasons why the liberal arts degree is undervalued. While his article lacks direction, it is effective because he talks about the topics he promised and he backs up his claims efficiently through the use of ethos,pathos and logos. Overall his argument is legitimate and the article is well written. To my understanding, the article is analyzing the way the world looks at liberal arts degrees and how they should be teaching the students to appreciate them. Chapnick clearly thinks that the liberal arts degree is unappreciated by today’s society as you can see in this quote, “The message coming from the policy world is clear: if you want
I. Introduction Paragraph A. David Foster Wallace gave a commencement speech that taught lessons about having the ability to choose how to think in situations and to be flexible in their opinions. David Foster Wallace persuades the audience to be open-minded and selfless through rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos. Wallace wants the audience to realize that it is best to deviate from one’s own thoughts and think of others; if one cannot exercise this, then adult life will be difficult. The graduates are about to enter routine in adulthood, therefore, positive thoughts can alter a situation. B. Thesis: In “David Foster Wallace, In His Own Words,” David Wallace’s motive is to influence college graduates to be open-minded and
David Foster Wallace was an American Writer and an instructor at Illinois State University of English and creative writing. Wallace became the 2005 commencement speaker at Kenyon College in which he gave one of the best commencement speeches ever given. After his death three years later, the speech was printed in the Wall Street Journal and republished as a book. In his speech, Wallace made a lot of points and after thoroughly reading and thinking about them I can strongly agree with every single one of them. Such opinions were things that I had never thought about nor paid the littlest attention to, but after reading his speech I became fascinated.
Things like that is what student these days see and find unappealing. So let's take Adam Chapnicks’ advice and conceive and developed more way to appeal students to think about the liberal arts. Teacher should learn how to make it fun to learn. One thing Adam does not mention, which seem to be a great idea is that students should not be required to take intensive classes of liberal art. Once you enter high school you start to think about your career.
Wallace, David Foster. "Water" Kenyon College Commencement Speech 2005 Wallace's speech offers various descriptive points and arguments that represent what might happen to us in the future. It is some thoughts, delivered on a significant occasion, about living a compassionate life. This essay covers subjects including "the difficulty of empathy," "the importance of being well adjusted," and "the essential lonesomeness of adult life." In addition, Wallace speech that the overall in taking higher classes or education is to be able to see or choose how you or others will act during the day.
Today’s universities are shaping future citizens in an age of cultural diversity, where we are increasingly told to understand how issues such as agriculture, human rights, ecology, even business and industry, are generating discussions that bring people together from different nations. This is an example of humanity, where multiple nations come together however; recent research done by Dr. Donna Kotsopoulos mentioned that “science students need the liberal arts.” Dr. Kotsopoulos, explains that liberal arts education at many universities
This article indicates that there is an increasing trend of arguments claiming that liberal arts education cannot fully prepare students for the future job market than the professional fields. There are some schools reduce the fund for the arts and humilities courses such as philosophy. Instead, the spending in the STEM program has been increased. However, those schools and parents have little understanding of what liberal arts education are as it providing students with the “soft skills” that the most important skills employer acquired when hiring stuffs. LAE offers students the comprehensive knowledge of communication, group working, ethics, and the most importantly, the critical thinking skills.
High school seniors are faced with a wide variety of decisions as they approach graduation. They must decide whether or not they are going to attend college, begin working, or do something else. If they do decide to attend college, they also must decide whether to pursue a liberal arts education or a vocational one. A liberal arts education primarily includes a collection of different classes and topics students can choose to take and study. A vocational route will mainly educate students on their specific intended career.
America, land of the free, home of the brave, and quarters to a broken education system. Even though America has become more advanced with every passing year, whether it be technological or scientific, there is one thing that remains unchanged in the nation, the education system. It has been tampered with, yes, but the main factual issues stay present in nearly every American school, be it public or private. “ If I am correct that a new educational revolution is underway, it will need its own Thomas Paine, speaking ‘ common sense’ and urging action, “ says Daine Ravitch, education reform activist. Though groups of activists and others alike have made a difference in the system, the facts remain evident.
According to Antonio De Velasco “liberal arts education is education to virtue.” The author states that liberal arts institutions do not only aim at teaching students how to do their job in the future. They want to show them both the useful and the good. When one spends 4 years in a learning environment surrounded by people who are encouraging and people from diverse nationalities one becomes more tolerant. Students are given the chance to enroll in different classes and to learn any subject they want which in turn frees their mind of bias and prejudice (457-458).
Evan is a frustrated high school student at an urban school. Considering his plummeting grades and desperate need for an income, he drops out of high school to work at a restaurant earning minimum wage. Evan is now trapped by perpetuating inadequacies: not enough education for a high-paying job and not enough income to afford higher education. Unfortunately, many young people find themselves in this position, including high school graduates. The American school system emphasizes a “college for all” curriculum by implementing standardized tests and offering advanced placement courses, but what are viable options for students like Evan who either cannot afford a four-year college or have no desire to attend university?
