Liberal Arts Education [複製鏈接]

International Herald Tribune

JANUARY22, 2013, 10:39 AM

This week, the
IHT education section
takes a look at the liberal arts, thelargely North American education system that emphasizes a broad base oflearning. It is slowly making inroads in Europe and Asia, where universitycourses have traditionally been more narrowly focused.

Swarthmore CollegeRebeccaChopp is Swarthmore’s president

In HongKong, I met with Rebecca Chopp, the president ofSwarthmoreCollege, a top liberal arts colleges in the United States. ProfessorChopp was on a whirlwind Asia tour that also included Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei,Shanghai and Suzhou, China. Like most college presidents on the road, she wasthere to visit alumni, raise funds and recruit students. She was also in aposition to explain the pluses of a liberal arts education in a region whereit’s still a foreign concept. She said:

“Liberalarts is founded on a whole person, developing a person athletically andacademically. Liberal arts is going international. The 21st century is one ofentrepreneurship and innovation. There will not be fixed careers. The liberalarts teaches you to think outside the box.”

Here’s atidbit that didn’t make it into
my article: The first semester for everystudent at Swarthmore is pass/fail. You cannot get an A (or a D, for thatmatter). Professor Chopp was frank about her own less-than-stellar academicbeginnings, so maybe she is particularly forgiving of freshmen who are findingtheir way. She said that this system encouraged risk-taking — not something allacademically driven students are wont to do. With a pass/fail system anaspiring doctor can try an art class, with no fear that it will bring down hisor her grade-point average, or an artist can try a science class.

Speakingof doctors, Professor Chopp addressed a common (and inaccurate) worry about theliberal arts: that they lead to impractical degrees in obscure subjects thatdon’t lead to good careers. She points out that Swarthmore graduates who applyto medical school have a higher-than-average chance of getting in (81 percent).

Regent’s CollegeThecampus of Regent’s College in London

In London,D.D. Guttenplan visited the leafy campus ofRegent’s College, which is something of ananomaly in Britain. Once it gets government approval, probably next month,Regent’s will be only the second private university in the country (after theUniversity of Buckingham).

Regent’sis also different because it is structured something like a U.S. liberal artscollege – with a looser curriculum, small-group teaching, points for speakingup in class and a very international student body. (Only 15 percent come fromBritain.)

LawrencePhillips, who heads Regent’s American College (one of its specialist schools),said in an interview:

“Icame here out of specific concerns about the narrowness of Britishuniversities, producing business graduates who can’t write and historians whocan’t count.”

Mr.Guttenplan also spoke to foreign students like Lisa Marie Nyvoll, who said, “InNorway, you only study a single subject, and I wanted something more flexible.”You can read the full article
here.

Theliberal arts model is shaped like an inverted pyramid — broad on top, and thentapering down to a point. The traditional European or Asian model is shapedlike a telescope — narrow and focused all the way through.

By themiddle of high school, most European or Asian students have chosen their fieldof study and are taking courses and exams that will get them into their desiredcourse. Meanwhile, there are 19-year-olds in America still debating whetherthey want to major in chemistry and minor in music. Many students and parents Imeet in Europe and Asia are surprised to hear that some American students don’tdeclare their majors until the end of their second year – about half-waythrough their four-year degrees.

Do private U.S.-style colleges have a place inBritain, which has its own proud academic culture? Which system better preparesstudents for the real world? One that gives students three years of intensestudy in one field? Or one that takes four years to produce literate scientistsand numerate writers?