Liberal arts education

[3] The term liberal arts for an educational curriculum dates back to classical antiquity in the West, but has changed its meaning considerably, mostly expanding it.

The seven subjects in the ancient and medieval meaning came to be divided into the trivium of rhetoric, grammar, and logic, and the quadrivium of astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, and music.

"[8] Pythagoras argued that there was a mathematical (and geometric) harmony to the cosmos or the universe; his followers linked the four arts of astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, and music into one area of study to form the "disciplines of the mediaeval quadrivium".

[11] Originally these subjects or skills were held by classical antiquity to be essential for a free person (liberalis, "worthy of a free person")[12] to acquire in order to take an active part in civic life, something that included among other things participating in public debate, defending oneself in court, serving on juries, and participating in military service.

[14][15] Seneca the Younger discusses liberal arts in education from a critical Stoic point of view in Moral Epistles.

[22] Their encyclopedia compiled ideas drawn from philosophy, theology, literature, music, arts, and sciences and was intended as a teaching tool for women of the abbey.

"[24] In the Renaissance, the Italian humanists and their Northern counterparts, despite in many respects continuing the traditions of the Middle Ages, reversed that process.

[25] Re-christening the old trivium with a new and more ambitious name: Studia humanitatis, and also increasing its scope, they downplayed logic as opposed to the traditional Latin grammar and rhetoric, and added to them history, Greek, and moral philosophy (ethics), with a new emphasis on poetry as well.

[27] The ideal of a liberal arts, or humanistic education grounded in classical languages and literature, persisted in Europe until the middle of the twentieth century; in the United States, it had come under increasingly successful attack in the late 19th century by academics interested in reshaping American higher education around the natural and social sciences.

If this basis is laid through schooling, vocational skills are easily acquired later on, and a person is always free to move from one occupation to another, as so often happens in life.

[37] In addition, most four-year colleges are not devoted exclusively or primarily to liberal arts degrees, and offer STEM programs.

[45] This new approach emphasized a broad-based education rooted in classical texts from philosophy, literature, science, and other disciplines, in contrast to the growing trend toward technical and vocational training in universities.

In 1952, Encyclopædia Britannica published a 54 volume set titled the Great Books of the Western World under the direction of Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler.

This monumental work was designed to serve as a comprehensive anthology of the foundational texts of Western civilization, spanning authors from Homer and Plato to Shakespeare and Newton.

In 1990, a second edition was released, expanding the collection to 60 volumes and updating its content to reflect more contemporary works and scholarship.

In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in the Great Books and the broader Liberal Arts tradition within some contemporary Muslim educational institutions.

Institutions like Zaytuna College in the United States and the Cambridge Muslim College in the United Kingdom have integrated elements of the Great Books and the liberal arts into their educational models, fostering a greater appreciation for the interconnectedness of intellectual traditions across cultures.

[citation needed] Going back to the long tradition of the liberal arts in Europe, education in the above sense was freed from scholastic thinking and re-shaped by the theorists of the Enlightenment; in particular, Wilhelm von Humboldt.

Central European University launched a liberal arts undergraduate degree in Culture, Politics, and Society [48] in 2020 as part of its move to Vienna and accreditation in Austria.

The four-year bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences at University College Freiburg is the first of its kind in Germany.

Thanks to their collaboration, Ilia State University[53] became the first higher education institution in Georgia to establish a liberal arts program.

[55] It has been suggested that the liberal arts degree may become part of mainstream education provision in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other European countries.

[59] In 2013, the University of Birmingham created the School of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, home of a suite of flexible 4-year programs in which students study a broad range of subjects drawn from across the university, and gain qualifications including both traditional Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, but also novel thematic combinations linking both areas.

The University of Nottingham also has a Liberal Arts BA with study abroad options and links with its Natural Sciences degrees.

[62] In 2016, the University of Warwick launched a three/four-year liberal arts BA degree, which focuses on transdisciplinary approaches and problem-based learning techniques in addition to providing structured disciplinary routes and bespoke pathways.

[64] In Scotland, the four-year undergraduate Honours degree, specifically the Master of Arts, has historically demonstrated considerable breadth in focus.

[66][67] In India, there are many institutions that offer undergraduate UG or bachelor's degree/diploma and postgraduate PG or master's degree/diploma as well as doctoral PhD and postdoctoral studies and research, in this academic discipline.