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Why Choose the Liberal Arts? Paperback – Download: Adobe Reader, August 20, 2010
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In a world where the value of a liberal arts education is no longer taken for granted, Mark William Roche lucidly and passionately argues for its essential importance. Drawing on more than thirty years of experience in higher education as a student, faculty member, and administrator, Roche deftly connects the broad theoretical perspective of educators to the practical needs and questions of students and their parents.
Roche develops three overlapping arguments for a strong liberal arts education: first, the intrinsic value of learning for its own sake, including exploration of the profound questions that give meaning to life; second, the cultivation of intellectual virtues necessary for success beyond the academy; and third, the formative influence of the liberal arts on character and on the development of a sense of higher purpose and vocation. Together with his exploration of these three values―intrinsic, practical, and idealistic―Roche reflects on ways to integrate them, interweaving empirical data with personal experience. Why Choose the Liberal Arts? is an accessible and thought-provoking work of interest to students, parents, and administrators.
- Print length198 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity of Notre Dame Press
- Publication dateAugust 20, 2010
- Dimensions8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
- ISBN-10026804032X
- ISBN-13978-0268040321
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“A wise and inspiring meditation on the value of an education in the liberal arts, one that is informed by long experience, enriched by mature reflection, and not neglectful of commonsense practicalities. It beckons as a kindly light amid the encircling gloom of so much contemporary commentary on American higher education.” ―Francis Oakley, President Emeritus, Williams College
“In a resistant country in a resistant age, Mark Roche dares to make the case for education in the liberal arts in terms both broad and deep. He makes forcefully the obligatory case for the practical value of a liberal arts education as a preparation for whatever profession―a case that must continue to be made, especially in these times. But on the basis of wide reading and long experience as a scholar, teacher, and administrator in institutions large and small, he straightforwardly makes the case for the inherent value of study in the liberal arts and for the intimate relationship between that study and what life might actually be about. He foregrounds the truly big questions that are so often avoided in pursuit of the professional by both students and faculty. Unlike so many commentators, he is not a scold. He is a thoughtful advocate for an education in which young and old alike explore together what it means to be a human being and how one might be a better one.” ―Don Michael Randel, President, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
“I love this book. Mark Roche lays out a fascinating and accurate case for the liberal arts.” ―Donald R. Keough, Former President of The Coca-Cola Company
“With grace and passion, Mark Roche makes the compelling case―as timeless as the Greek poets and as timely as tomorrow’s headlines―for studying the liberal arts.” ―Mark Shields, Columnist and Commentator, PBS NewsHour
“Explaining the value of a liberal arts education to someone who does not have one can be difficult. First, one must explain what liberal arts education means and then explain its value. Roche does an admirable job of explaining both. . . . The book is clearly written, nicely crafted into four thematically organized chapters, well argued in a reasonable and balanced manner, and convincingly supported by a substantial body of research. It will prove valuable reading for anyone concerned with the state of the modern university and the future of the liberal arts.” ―Choice
“Writing with students, parents, faculty members, and administrators in mind, Roche argues for the importance of a liberal arts education and outlines its three important values: intrinsic, practical, and idealist. He shows how this education is valuable for learning for its own sake, cultivates intellectual virtues necessary for success beyond college, and has a formative influence on character and the development of a sense of higher purpose and vocation.” ―Book News Inc.
“Can a liberal arts education be defended in a time of economic decline? Mark William Roche thinks so and that’s what he explores in this book. . . . Roche includes personal reflections to illustrate and personalize his points on the enduring value of a liberal arts education.” ―Catholic Library World
“Why Choose the Liberal Arts? argues for the essential importance of a liberal arts education―beyond the practical value of a degree as the gateway to employment after graduation. . . . The Association of American Colleges and Universities recently named Roche . . . the winner of the 2012 Frederic W. Ness Book Award. . . . given to the book that best illuminates the goals and practices of a contemporary liberal education.” ―ND Works
“Roche has written a very thoughtful and fair apologia for the liberal arts that speaks to many contemporary challenges. Not only prospective students but current faculty can richly benefit from the author’s extensive administrative and teaching experience. The creative teaching methods he cites as examples throughout the book can serve as valuable models for teachers in almost any field.” ―Anglican and Episcopal History
“Mark William Roche contends in Why Choose the Liberal Arts? that holistic education, vibrant residential community, and ardent engagement with great questions are the enduring traits of liberal arts learning. . . . The liberal arts indeed have pragmatic benefits, more so now than ever. Roche taps into survey data to show that the very intellectual and practical virtues prized by liberal arts proponents are also esteemed by most employers. . . .” ―Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
About the Author
Mark William Roche is the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Professor of German Language and Literature, concurrent professor of philosophy, and former dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of many books, including Realizing the Distinctive University (University of Notre Dame Press, 2017) and Why Choose the Liberal Arts? (University of Notre Dame Press, 2010), which won the Frederic W. Ness Book Award.
Product details
- Publisher : University of Notre Dame Press; First Edition (August 20, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 198 pages
- ISBN-10 : 026804032X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0268040321
- Item Weight : 8.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #723,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #989 in Philosophy & Social Aspects of Education
- #6,928 in Higher & Continuing Education
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Roche was Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame for over ten years, so he has not only thought about the value of the liberal arts (which includes not just philosophy, history, and literature, but math and science as well), he has spent a lot of time exploring ideas with students and colleagues, answering the questions of the skeptical, and advocating for the role of the liberal arts in a world obsessed with what it thinks of as relevance and immediate, measurable gains. It can be a dispiriting task at times. It is far easier to preach to the choir, which is what so much of the writing on the liberal arts feels like. Roche’s book is largely in that category as well. He tries to reach out to the skeptical and the uninitiated, and he points out why student, parents, teachers, employers, and others should find his arguments useful, but the fact remains that the book is not likely to find a large audience among the unconverted. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.
That is not to say that Roche’s book does not have value. Indeed, there is a lot here that I wish would attract a wider audience. Roche analyzes the value of the liberal arts from three primary perspectives: the intrinsic value of learning for its own sake via engagement with great and enduring questions, the advantages that study of the liberal arts bestow on someone in their career, and the ways in which the liberal arts help form character and bring value to a life beyond all mundane considerations. From the first perspective, Roche argues that “to garner through engagement with the great questions a sense of the world as it should be, we need distance from the world as it is” (p. 29).
From the second perspective, Roche makes the case that the skills and, especially, the habits of mind that come from studying the liberal arts are directly relevant in the workplace, even if that workplace is not the groves of academe. Whether one is an engineer, a doctor, a CEO, a bureaucrat, or anyone at any position in any organization, the ability to think critically and communicate effectively, to apply information from one context to a different set of problems, to work in teams, and especially to keep learning with enthusiasm and an open mind, are traits that can make any organization better and any job more rewarding. The third perspective is essentially this: In addition to its intrinsic value and its relevance to the workplace, education has a moral and social value that comes from helping students develop character, a strong ethical and moral foundation, and “the capacity to ask questions about what is important in the world, who they are, and what they wish to do with their lives” (p. 145).
It’s hard to argue with Roche’s position—at least, it’s hard for someone of my temperament and intellectual predispositions. But the real question is: for how long, and in what way, should one strive for “distance from the world as it is”? Roche acknowledges that the kind of liberal learning he favors is most likely to take place in small, residential liberal arts colleges. And this is one difficulty with his treatment. Not many students go to these places. For the rest, some universities do a good job of infusing liberal learning into their curriculum, while others give nods in that direction without real commitment to the kind of serious thinking about the liberal arts that Roche advocates. So who are the liberal arts for? Or to use the wording of Roche’s title, who should choose the liberal arts? Everyone? A small elite? Does everyone need to think great thoughts? Not even the founders of the colleges and universities that Roche extols thought so. These places were not necessarily established to democratize liberal learning. That is a question that many of the books praising the liberal arts and arguing for their continuing importance in education seem reluctant to tackle. I’m part of the choir these people are preaching to, but now and then even members of the choir might need their assumptions about beautiful music shaken up a little bit, if only so that they can return to the heavenly harmonies with greater conviction but also more humility in the face of those who are just trying to sing for their supper.
I enjoyed Roche’s book, in spite of the shortcomings mentioned above, which I think are endemic to the genre and not specific to this book. There are now notations and various lines, arrows, and exclamation marks in my copy, and he refers to other works that I would now like to read. I don’t know how many people who are not already convinced of the value of the liberal arts will read the book, however. I hope many will, but I’m skeptical. When they argue for the importance of what they do, liberal arts professors write for, and read about, primarily themselves. It was probably ever thus, and ever shall be.
Roche covers it all in this book, and organizes his thoughts in a way that tells the reader 'here is what you and society have been trained to think regarding liberal arts, but a shift in focus can bring much more value.' Also, to change the emphasis of "value" is helpful...since (in my mind) knowing how to think rather than what to think might not pay off in the first few years, but pays great dividends long term. There are other benefits besides dollars, but even those other benefits impacts a liberal arts grad's career.
Business leaders need to read this book because it will show them what is missing from their business by simply hiring pre-professional college graduates. Prospective college graduates and their parents need to read this book because it will help you sell yourself to a world which underappreciates habits learned in a liberal arts environment. College staff and faculty need to read this book as it supports what we already know, that a graduate of the liberal arts is better off long term for several reasons.
You'll have to pick up the book to read how. I plan on recommending this book to the liberal arts colleges I serve.