“The idea that an education should do more than prepare a student for a narrow career has quite broad appeal. I think we misread the public when we think that they are merely interested in narrow technical education.”
In a conversation with The Chronicle, Roosevelt Montás, the newly-appointed John and Margaret Bard Professor in Liberal Education and Civic Life at Bard College, spoke candidly about the role that general education plays in higher education today and the trends he sees shaping liberal education.
At a time when public confidence in the value of an undergraduate degree is dismal, some academics are seeing the revitalization of the humanities as a way to engage with a new generation of learners. Montás argues that when general education is “offered not as a replacement for a career-oriented education” but rather as a foundation to support a student’s future career and their general interaction with their environment, credibility to higher-ed institutions could be restored.
Read the key takeaways from this conversation with Montás.
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