How The Liberal Arts Can Save Liberal Democracy

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How the Liberal Arts Can Save Liberal Democracy

Author : Steven M. DeLue
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 295 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2018-06-06
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781498575379

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How the Liberal Arts Can Save Liberal Democracy by Steven M. DeLue Pdf

Currently, liberal democracy is threatened by authoritarian movements, not just in the United States but also in societies around the world. The liberal arts helps to arrest these tendencies because of the support by citizens in liberal democracies for the values the latter shares with the liberal arts: autonomy and freedom. Autonomy is the capacity to make reasoned decisions about a host of political, social, and personal matters—independent of external parties who seek to control our lives for the sake of their ends and at the cost of our freedom. But autonomy depends on people being able to enter into discussions—what I call discourses of mutual respect—designed to test ideas in public against facts and good reasons. This discourse is facilitated by an enlarged culture through which individuals identify what they hold in common and by which individuals work to understand their differences. Now, authoritarian regimes reject autonomy because it empowers citizens to designate the boundaries and content of political authority. Liberal democracies, in contrast, embrace autonomy because it is the basis for the political institutions that provide civic equality—and through it—the freedom of citizens to control their destiny. Yet, ironically, an enlarged culture and the discourse of mutual respect that, together, sustain autonomy are not likely to be produced within a highly partisan political atmosphere of a liberal democracy. Still, a liberal democracy is open to the importation of these elements from the liberal arts. Thus, saving liberal democracy from authoritarianism depends on a robust liberal arts presence in society. What reforms of the liberal arts are needed to make this objective possible? Much rides on the answer to this question. For the fact is that if the liberal arts recedes to a whisper, liberal democracy is likely to be defeated by the authoritarian’s bluster-filled and always nihilist roar.

Liberal Democracy and Liberal Education

Author : Daniel E. Cullen
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 191 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2016-12-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781498502474

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Liberal Democracy and Liberal Education by Daniel E. Cullen Pdf

The essays in this book reflect on the paradoxical relationship of liberal education and liberal democracy. Liberal education emphasizes knowledge for its own sake, detached from all instrumental purposes. It also aims at liberation from the manifold sources of unfreedom, including political sources. In this sense, liberal education is negative, questioning any and all constraints on the activity of mind. Liberal democracy, devoted to securing individual natural rights, purports to be the regime of liberty par excellence. Since both liberal education and liberal democracy aim to set individuals free, they would seem to be harmonious and mutually reinforcing. But there are reasons to doubt that liberal education can be the civic education liberal democracy needs. If liberal education is in tension with all instrumental purposes, how does it stand toward the goal of preparing the kind of citizens liberal democracy needs? The book’s contributors are critical of the way higher education typically interprets its responsibility for educating citizens, and they link those failures to academia’s neglect of certain founding principles of the American political tradition and of the traditional liberal arts ideal.

In Defense of a Liberal Education

Author : Fareed Zakaria
Publisher : National Geographic Books
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2015-04-21
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780393247688

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In Defense of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakaria Pdf

CNN host and best-selling author Fareed Zakaria argues for a renewed commitment to the world’s most valuable educational tradition. The liberal arts are under attack. The governors of Florida, Texas, and North Carolina have all pledged that they will not spend taxpayer money subsidizing the liberal arts, and they seem to have an unlikely ally in President Obama. While at a General Electric plant in early 2014, Obama remarked, "I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree." These messages are hitting home: majors like English and history, once very popular and highly respected, are in steep decline. "I get it," writes Fareed Zakaria, recalling the atmosphere in India where he grew up, which was even more obsessed with getting a skills-based education. However, the CNN host and best-selling author explains why this widely held view is mistaken and shortsighted. Zakaria eloquently expounds on the virtues of a liberal arts education—how to write clearly, how to express yourself convincingly, and how to think analytically. He turns our leaders' vocational argument on its head. American routine manufacturing jobs continue to get automated or outsourced, and specific vocational knowledge is often outdated within a few years. Engineering is a great profession, but key value-added skills you will also need are creativity, lateral thinking, design, communication, storytelling, and, more than anything, the ability to continually learn and enjoy learning—precisely the gifts of a liberal education. Zakaria argues that technology is transforming education, opening up access to the best courses and classes in a vast variety of subjects for millions around the world. We are at the dawn of the greatest expansion of the idea of a liberal education in human history.

The Future of Liberal Education

Author : Timothy W. Burns,Peter Augustine Lawler
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2016-04-14
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781317689799

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The Future of Liberal Education by Timothy W. Burns,Peter Augustine Lawler Pdf

Liberal Education, once the whole of American Higher Education, has been displaced by technical training and career-oriented majors. But it has also suffered from the decline in genuine liberal learning found in humanities disciplines, owing to specialization, politicization, and the adoption of new literary and psychological theories. The social sciences, too, have arguably abandoned the kind of relentless and sometimes disturbing questioning that used to constitute the core of education. In this compelling volume, thirteen college educators describe in sparkling prose what liberal education is, its place in a liberal democracy, the very serious challenges it faces in the 21st century—even from some of its alleged friends—and why it is important to sustain and expand liberal education’s place in American colleges and universities. Proponents and critics of liberal education alike will benefit from these insightful essays. This book was originally published as a special issue of Perspectives on Political Science.

The Evolution of Liberal Arts in the Global Age

Author : Peter Marber,Daniel Araya
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2017-03-16
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781317291343

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The Evolution of Liberal Arts in the Global Age by Peter Marber,Daniel Araya Pdf

Advanced and developing countries across the globe are embracing the liberal arts approach in higher education to foster more innovative human capital to compete in the global economy. Even as interest in the tradition expands outside the United States, can the democratic philosophy underlying the liberal arts tradition be sustained? Can developing countries operating under heavy authoritarian systems cultivate schools predicated on open discussion and debate? Can entrenched specialist systems in Europe and Asia successfully adopt the multidisciplinary liberal arts model? These are some of the questions put to leading scholars and senior higher education practitioners within this edited collection. Beginning with historical context, international contributors explore the contours of liberal arts education amid public calls for change in the United States, the growing global interest in the approach outside the United States, as well as the potential of liberal arts philosophy in a global knowledge economy.

Political Thinking, Political Theory, and Civil Society

Author : Steven M. DeLue,Timothy M. Dale
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2021-04-28
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000376524

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Political Thinking, Political Theory, and Civil Society by Steven M. DeLue,Timothy M. Dale Pdf

This new edition of Political Thinking, Political Theory, and Civil Society presents a comprehensive overview of the Western tradition of political thought that approaches concepts with the aim of helping readers develop their own political thinking and critical thinking skills. This text is uniquely organized around the theme of civil society - What is the nature of a civil society? Why is it important? - that will engage students and help make the material relevant. Major thinkers discussed in the text are explored not only with the goal of understanding their views but also with an interest in understanding the relationship of their ideas to the notion of a civil society. New to this edition: • Visual aids and pedagogy • New chapter on black political theory and civil society, including a discussion of protest and #BlackLivesMatter in political theory. • Expanded discussions of feminism and the LGBTQ movement, as well as an additional discussion of the #MeToo movement from the perspective of its theoretical foundation and its implications for feminist theory. • Revised chapter on multiculturalism, including an expanded discussion of religion, neoliberalism, globalization, and global environmental issues. This authoritative text, written by two leading theorists and experienced lecturers, is essential reading for all students of political theory and philosophy.

Beyond the University

Author : Michael S. Roth
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2014-05-28
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780300206555

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Beyond the University by Michael S. Roth Pdf

Contentious debates over the benefits—or drawbacks—of a liberal education are as old as America itself. From Benjamin Franklin to the Internet pundits, critics of higher education have attacked its irrelevance and elitism—often calling for more vocational instruction. Thomas Jefferson, by contrast, believed that nurturing a student’s capacity for lifelong learning was useful for science and commerce while also being essential for democracy. In this provocative contribution to the disputes, university president Michael S. Roth focuses on important moments and seminal thinkers in America’s long-running argument over vocational vs. liberal education. Conflicting streams of thought flow through American intellectual history: W. E. B. DuBois’s humanistic principles of pedagogy for newly emancipated slaves developed in opposition to Booker T. Washington’s educational utilitarianism, for example. Jane Addams’s emphasis on the cultivation of empathy and John Dewey’s calls for education as civic engagement were rejected as impractical by those who aimed to train students for particular economic tasks. Roth explores these arguments (and more), considers the state of higher education today, and concludes with a stirring plea for the kind of education that has, since the founding of the nation, cultivated individual freedom, promulgated civic virtue, and instilled hope for the future.

Derrida and the Future of the Liberal Arts

Author : Mary Caputi,Vincent J. Del Casino, Jr.
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 289 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2013-06-06
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781441121196

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Derrida and the Future of the Liberal Arts by Mary Caputi,Vincent J. Del Casino, Jr. Pdf

Derrida and the Future of the Liberal Arts highlights the Derridean assertion that the university must exist 'without condition' - as a bastion of intellectual freedom and oppositional activity whose job it is to question mainstream society. Derrida argued that only if the life of the mind is kept free from excessive corporate influence and political control can we be certain that the basic tenets of democracy are being respected within the very societies that claim to defend democratic principles. This collection contains eleven essays drawn from international scholars working in both the humanities and social sciences, and makes a well-grounded and comprehensive case for the importance of Derridean thought within the liberal arts today. Written by specialists in the fields of philosophy, literature, history, sociology, geography, political science, animal studies, and gender studies, each essay traces deconstruction's contribution to their discipline, explaining how it helps keep alive the 'unconditional', contrapuntal mission of the university. The book offers a forceful and persuasive corrective to the current assault on the liberal arts.

You Can Do Anything

Author : George Anders
Publisher : Little, Brown
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2017-08-08
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780316548854

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You Can Do Anything by George Anders Pdf

In a tech-dominated world, the most needed degrees are the most surprising: the liberal arts Did you take the right classes in college? Will your major help you get the right job offers? For more than a decade, the national spotlight has focused on science and engineering as the only reliable choice for finding a successful post-grad career. Our destinies have been reduced to a caricature: learn to write computer code or end up behind a counter, pouring coffee. Quietly, though, a different path to success has been taking shape. In YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, George Anders explains the remarkable power of a liberal arts education - and the ways it can open the door to thousands of cutting-edge jobs every week. The key insight: curiosity, creativity, and empathy aren't unruly traits that must be reined in. You can be yourself, as an English major, and thrive in sales. You can segue from anthropology into the booming new field of user research; from classics into management consulting, and from philosophy into high-stakes investing. At any stage of your career, you can bring a humanist's grace to our rapidly evolving high-tech future. And if you know how to attack the job market, your opportunities will be vast. In this book, you will learn why resume-writing is fading in importance and why "telling your story" is taking its place. You will learn how to create jobs that don't exist yet, and to translate your campus achievements into a new style of expression that will make employers' eyes light up. You will discover why people who start in eccentric first jobs - and then make their own luck - so often race ahead of peers whose post-college hunt focuses only on security and starting pay. You will be ready for anything.

Seven Democratic Virtues of Liberal Education

Author : Teun J. Dekker
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 163 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2022-11-21
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781000834321

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Seven Democratic Virtues of Liberal Education by Teun J. Dekker Pdf

This book argues that the liberal arts and sciences (LAS) model of education can inspire reform across higher education to help students acquire crucial civic virtues. Based on interviews with 59 students from LAS programmes across Europe, the book posits that LAS education can develop a range of citizenship skills that are central to the democratic process. The interviews provide insight into how studying LAS prepares students for citizenship by asking them to reflect on their education, what it taught them, and how it did so. Building on these insights, seven key democratic competencies are identified and linked to concrete educational practices that foster them, leading to an agenda for higher education reform. Ultimately arguing for making the teaching of civic virtue a more central part of university education in Europe, this book will appeal to researchers, educators, and politicians with an interest in education policy, philosophy of education, and democratic theory, as well as concerned citizens. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Education for Liberal Democracy

Author : Walter C. Parker
Publisher : Teachers College Press
Page : 225 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2023
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780807781647

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Education for Liberal Democracy by Walter C. Parker Pdf

Our democracy is in crisis. Both political trust and a shared standard of truth are broken. In this book, Walter Parker shows why and how a civic education can help. Offering a centrist approach suitable for a polarized society, Parker focuses on two linked curriculum objectives: disciplinary knowledge and voice. He illustrates how classroom discussion, alongside concept formation and deep reading, expand students’ minds while developing their ability to speak with others and form opinions. When children come to school, they emerge from the private chrysalis of babyhood and kin to interact with a diverse student body along with teachers, curriculum, instruction, and the school’s unique mission: education. Parker argues that these assets make school the ideal place to teach young people the liberal arts of studying and discussing public issues and academic controversies, both in and beyond school. The chapters in this collection, spanning 20 years and coming from one of civic education’s most influential scholars, show that voice can be taught right alongside disciplinary knowledge. Drawing students into dialogue with one another on the curriculum’s central questions is a teacher’s most ambitious goal and, when it happens, teachingÕs greatest accomplishment. Book Features: Argues that the proper aim of civic education in schools is to shore up liberal democracy.Shows how discussion can be a main course, and not a side dish, of classroom instruction. Demonstrates how to use discussion to develop voice, defined as the freedom to make and express uncoerced decisions, and disciplinary knowledge, defined as the knowledge that results from a public process of error-seeking, contestation, and validation.Explains why students need to learn both disciplinary knowledge and voice if they are to take their place on the public stage and hold the “office of citizen” in a democracy.Treats subject-centered and student-centered instruction as partners, not opponents.

The People Vs. Democracy

Author : Yascha Mounk
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 401 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2018-03-05
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780674976825

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The People Vs. Democracy by Yascha Mounk Pdf

Uiteenzetting over de opkomst van het populisme en het gevaar daarvan voor de democratie.

A New Deal for the Humanities

Author : Gordon Hutner,Feisal G. Mohamed
Publisher : Rutgers University Press
Page : 209 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2015-11-11
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780813573267

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A New Deal for the Humanities by Gordon Hutner,Feisal G. Mohamed Pdf

Many in higher education fear that the humanities are facing a crisis. But even if the rhetoric about “crisis” is overblown, humanities departments do face increasing pressure from administrators, politicians, parents, and students. In A New Deal for the Humanities, Gordon Hutner and Feisal G. Mohamed bring together twelve prominent scholars who address the history, the present state, and the future direction of the humanities. These scholars keep the focus on public higher education, for it is in our state schools that the liberal arts are taught to the greatest numbers and where their neglect would be most damaging for the nation. The contributors offer spirited and thought-provoking debates on a diverse range of topics. For instance, they deplore the push by administrations to narrow learning into quantifiable outcomes as well as the demands of state governments for more practical, usable training. Indeed, for those who suggest that a college education should be “practical”—that it should lean toward the sciences and engineering, where the high-paying jobs are—this book points out that while a few nations produce as many technicians as the United States does, America is still renowned worldwide for its innovation and creativity, skills taught most effectively in the humanities. Most importantly, the essays in this collection examine ways to make the humanities even more effective, such as offering a broader array of options than the traditional major/minor scheme, options that combine a student’s professional and intellectual interests, like the new medical humanities programs. A democracy can only be as energetic as the minds of its citizens, and the questions fundamental to the humanities are also fundamental to a thoughtful life. A New Deal for the Humanities takes an intrepid step in making the humanities—and our citizens—even stronger in the future.

Populism and Liberal Democracy

Author : Takis S. Pappas
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2019-04-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780192574893

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Populism and Liberal Democracy by Takis S. Pappas Pdf

Populism and Liberal Democracy is the first book to offer a comprehensive theory about populism during both its emergence and consolidation phases in three geographical regions: Europe, Latin America and the United States. Based on the detailed comparison of all significant cases of populist governments (including Argentina, Greece, Peru, Italy, Venezuela, Ecuador, Hungary, and the U.S.) and two cases of populist failure (Spain and Brazil), each of the book's seven chapters addresses a specific question: What is populism? How to distinguish populists from non-populists? What causes populism? How and where does populism thrive? How do populists govern? Who is the populist voter? How does populism endanger democracy? If rising populism is a threat to liberal democratic politics, as this book clearly shows, it is only by answering the questions it posits that populism may be resisted successfully.

Law in the Liberal Arts

Author : Austin Sarat
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 215 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2018-08-06
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781501729843

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Law in the Liberal Arts by Austin Sarat Pdf

Should law be left to the lawyers? Is legal education properly understood as technical education? Law in the Liberal Arts answers "no" and suggests that our society is not well served by the current professionalization of legal knowledge. An ideal approach to legal education, in Austin Sarat's view, would open up law and legal knowledge by making them the proper objects of inquiry in the liberal arts. Legal education in the United States is generally located in law schools dedicated to professional training. Sarat believes that this situation impoverishes our ability to see the complex relations of law, culture, and society in all their variety and to connect theorizing about law with its application in the humanities and social sciences. The contributors to this book aim to assess the place of legal scholarship in the liberal arts by asking whether and how legal research and pedagogy are different in liberal arts settings than they are in law schools.