A liberal arts education is not something that can be experienced only once, it builds upon itself over and over again as you grow older. It teaches you how to use your mind, and gives you knowledge in many areas.
A liberal arts degree does not focus exclusively on one area of study, for example, social sciences or humanities. These courses are focused more broadly, which makes them easier to access.
Most people who have a liberal arts degree also achieve professional success after college, proving their educational value. Because they emphasize studying several disciplines, these students are usually good at drawing from other fields to solve problems.
Liberal arts degrees typically include instruction in the following major areas: Literature, Art, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Social Sciences (such as sociology, psychology, economics), Languages, Mathematics, and sometimes physical education or fitness.
Experts agree that this broad-based curriculum is an integral part of educating young adults. They believe such an education helps develop the student’s understanding of the world beyond his or her own experience.
It also cultivates self-knowledge, by teaching about different aspects of oneself — what ones knows and doesn’t know, strengths and weaknesses. This aids personal growth and development, because you learn about yourself through experiences outside your comfort zone.
Creative thinking
A liberal arts education cultivates creative thinkers of all disciplines, not just literature or art. This is important to know as today’s world demands solutions that go beyond solving math equations or figuring out how to use power tools.
A well-rounded student will devote time in college studying many different subjects, exploring concepts within each field and applying them elsewhere.
Studying humanities like English, history, or psychology can help you develop your understanding of other fields, such as sociology, by relating what you learn about one area to another.
For example, reading fiction uses narrative so effectively because it builds on truth. The stories we read have true characters who make decisions with underlying motives.
By analyzing why people made those choices, we are able to apply their lessons to our own lives.
Likewise, learning about politics brings together ideas from science, philosophy, and theology. These areas break down barriers that may otherwise prevent you from seeing both sides of an argument.
This ability to think outside the box is valuable in everyday life and career settings, where you meet challenges by drawing on knowledge and skills from various sources.
Liberal arts students also tend to be more motivated self learners than students focused only on getting good grades in a specific subject.
This is very helpful when they must review material several times due to changing assignments or courses.
Develops good time management
A liberal arts education is not only about learning lots of things, it’s also about developing good time-management skills. This can be difficult for students who have never been trained in this area before.
A degree program with no clear focus will often require you to take several courses at a time, which could easily overwhelm even the most organized student. It is very common to find students dropping out of an academic program because they cannot handle the stress of trying to fit so many classes into their schedule every week.
Many students feel overwhelmed after school, and some drop out early due to lack of motivation. Fortunately, there are ways to improve your organizational skills, and having an art or humanities background can help you do that.
Develops resilience
A liberal arts education is an educational experience that leaves students with a sense of well-being, or what some call “internal peace.” This feeling comes from being exposed to many different topics and modes of learning, not just academic subjects but also things like art, music, literature, and philosophy.
Students who attend college today are increasingly likely to learn only about business, technology, and medicine. They may be educated in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields but very few have studied other areas such as humanities or social sciences.
This has led to a decline in one important skill set that most people have now lost — the ability to use reason to evaluate evidence and arguments. It also can lead to students developing tunnel vision where they only study things that go hand in hand with their existing beliefs.
Liberal arts colleges and universities still emphasize these skills, however. Their departments typically include studies in both the hard and soft science disciplines, as well as the humanities, which all contribute to this.
But beyond educating you in various branches of knowledge, a liberal arts degree will teach you how to access those lessons for yourself.
You’ll get practice applying reasoning to new material outside your field of expertise, and studying it in ways that don’t feel too formal. You’ll develop understanding and appreciation for concepts even if you never take them formally at school.
Understands different perspectives
A liberal arts education is an educational experience that teaches you about a variety of things, not just academics. It trains your mind to understand other points of view, to study how different people organize knowledge, and to evaluate whether those ideas are worth investing time in.
This broader understanding can help you apply what you learn from academic disciplines like math, science, literature and business. It also helps you develop personal organization skills, such as how to manage your own time effectively or how to use teamwork to achieve your goals.
In fact, several studies have shown that individuals with more diverse backgrounds tend to make better decisions than those who do not. According at least one theory, this comes down to the way people process information — being exposed to various ways of thinking gives them wider perspective.
There are many theories about why having a broad background makes for good decision-making, but no one really knows for sure! What we know is that it’s very important.
Understands cultural differences
Recent events have shown that even basic understanding of other cultures is no longer an easy thing to achieve. With ever-growing geopolitical tensions, it seems like there’s never a day where we don’t see news stories about something happening in another part of the world.
In fact, many experts believe that having more than just a superficial knowledge of different culture is becoming less common than ever before.
This is bad because being able to identify and understand cultural differences can play a major role in keeping our lives safe and peaceful.
For example, people with limited exposure to Islam may find themselves targeted due to stereotypical ideas about Muslims. Likewise, individuals who are only exposed to the view of Islam propagated by sources such as CNN or The Guardian may come away with inaccurate notions about what Muslim beliefs actually are.
Similarly, those with limited knowledge of Chinese culture might assume that China is one big Communist country with government control over every aspect of society. In reality, China is a highly individualistic culture which values respect for others and social harmony.
It’s not too difficult to agree that avoiding stereotypes and learning from examples outside your own frame of reference is important when it comes to multiculturalism. What is tricky is figuring out how to do this without developing rich insights into the diversity of human nature.
Helps you become a more well-rounded person
A liberal arts education is an educational approach that focuses on broadening your knowledge base by studying both academic disciplines as well as non-academic areas like art, music, literature, and other fields.
This is important to understand because it’s one of the main reasons why an undergraduate degree from a university such as Harvard or Yale can be so valuable to you.
Not only do these universities offer bachelor’s degrees in many academic majors, but they also offer students the opportunity to gain experience in different areas through various student clubs and organizations.
By being involved in at least one organization per semester, students are able to find out not just how much learning takes place outside of the classroom, but also how career oriented this organization is.
These types of experiences help prepare students for future jobs since they make them familiar with what companies look for when hiring new employees.
Helps you become a more effective communicator
A liberal arts education is an integral part of what makes someone know how to communicate effectively. You will learn about different topics and media modes, but beyond that, you’ll learn how to speak as a person comes from their emotions, experiences, beliefs, and so on.
This is important because we live in a culture where people are constantly talking about things and creating messages for other people to consume.
If you want to be successful in business or social settings, you must be able to relate to others and understand why they choose to believe in certain things and talk about things with passion.
A degree in humanities can help you do this by studying things like psychology, communications, anthropology, art, literature, and so on. These areas teach us about human nature and how humans interact with each other and our environment.
Appreciates diversity
A liberal arts education is not limited to studying literature, language, and music, although those are certainly important parts of that. You can study art history, geography, political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, mathematics, physics, philosophy, religion – there are almost too many options!
A liberal arts degree gives you the opportunity to explore different fields with depth. By learning about several disciplines, your knowledge grows in breadth, but also in complexity.
You learn how concepts relate to each other, and why some rules work and which ones don’t. You become more aware of how power works in our society, and what people take advantage of when they feel like someone else is in control.
This helps you be a better leader, because you’re conscious of how leadership works. And as we know, being a good leader isn’t always easy.
Your college major doesn’t matter so much as long as it’s challenging and educational, but if you were planning on becoming CEO of a company or working in politics, then choosing an area of focus could help you achieve your goal.
Liberal arts degrees often emphasize topics such as psychology, communication skills, or even spirituality, all of which play a big part in leading a successful life.
