As students of the liberal arts, we are driven to enhance our understanding of the world, to seek truth, to foster discussion and productive criticism, to question what we have been taught is reality, to avoid taking things at face value, and to enrich our own education experience. We select majors, degrees, concentrations, focuses, and studies to prepare ourselves for a specific career or life path, and we expect that our liberal arts education will enable us to be effective, successful, fulfilled, and contributive individuals.
Is this sufficient? I would argue that it is not.
Donald Kagan asserts that “our society...requires the allegiance and devotion of its members if it is to defend itself and make progress toward a better life.” Despite the greatest efforts of a St. Olaf liberal arts education to lead students towards a “life of worth and service,” this individualistic approach (that Kagan says derives from relativism bordering on nihilism) does not adequately empower students to be stewards of knowledge and contributors to a greater society.
While our classes may be fascinating, enlightening, eye-opening, thought-provoking, inspiring, or transformative, they do not inherently create a forum for addressing the devotion and allegiance Kagan describes as crucial. I have found that my academics have not propelled me towards a life of civic engagement nearly as much as my co-curricular or other activities. As much as we focus on how particular classes can be applicable to ‘real life’ or should inform or futures, they are not a call to action. They are not a call to arms, a cry for commitment to improving the human condition or our relation with this Earth, or a summons to integrate ourselves in communities that strive towards “betterment” or engagement. Are we creating brains on sticks or are we fostering the development of a generation that will dedicate itself to service, engagement, and participation in society?
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