School of Liberal Arts

Getting a Job, Making a Difference, Making a Life.

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What Businesses Can Learn From the Arts

The Economist. “Being a manager involves a lot more than just setting targets and entering numbers into a spreadsheet. It requires empathy and an understanding of human nature.” Those in the world of business and management can learn a lot from participating in just a single artistic activity. The arts require us to work with others, always cognizant of others’ needs and preferences. The arts require us to understand humans as humans. In the world of business, this is sometimes what individuals lack and what the students of the arts can offer.

The Negative Narrative That Keeps a College President Up All Night

Diverse Education. Health and happiness may not be directly related to college attendance (though some evidence suggests otherwise) but the evidence of the economic value of a college education is irrefutable. So why, then, is it being refuted?

Ethnic studies Classes in S.F. Surprisingly Successful

The San Francisco Chronicle. Ethnic Studies – Stanford study shows 9th grade ES course has dramatic impact on student performance and completion.

The Myths and Realities of a Liberal Arts Education

Aspen Ideas Festival. Sean Decatur, President of Kenyon College, counters three myths about liberal arts education (re: employment & earnings, student protest, and dollar value).

Stem Education is Vital, but Not at the Expense of the Humanities

Scientific American. Promoting science and technology education to the exclusion of the humanities may seem like a good idea, but it is deeply misguided.Scientific American has always been an ardent supporter of teaching STEM: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. But studying the interaction of genes or engaging in a graduate-level project to develop software for self-driving cars should not edge out majoring in the classics or art history.

Why Every Undergraduate Should Pursue a Minor

The Wall Street Journal. Students who complete minors earn higher overall GPAs and give themselves a diverse skill set or perspective that ultimately “can be more impactful to a career than a major.”  

The New Performing-Arts Curriculum

The Chronicle of Higher Education. Limited and declining professional opportunities in the performing arts mean that conservatory-style arts education needs re-thinking. Students need a broader set of skills for building a profession apart from performance.

The Ideal College Education Can Yield Rocket Scientists Who Write Poetry.

The San Diego Union Tribune. Today, we are discovering that the path to success in the new economy, an economy that highly values creativity and innovation, is found in the marriage of the liberal arts and hard sciences. Not surprisingly, the liberal arts is the magic bullet to learning STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Fortunately more universities are figuring out how to marry the two.

Why Everyone is Talking About T-shaped Professionals

Education Advisory Board. A discussion of the popular model of the “T-shaped” professional and the importance to this of the “soft skills” fostered by the liberal arts.