The Future of Liberal Arts

 Earlier today I read a fantastic comic strip that was featured on CNN's homepage. In short, the article was about how the millennial generation has been perceived by older generations as lazy and unprepared for the future. To counteract the previous generations questionable, and even negative views on the millennial generation, Matt Bors argued that a variety of external circumstances are actually what have influenced the older generations to hold these views.

For me, the CNN article was related to Donald Kagan's speech when I realized one of the comic’s important take-away messages: while the millennial generation grew up with drastically different experiences and maintains diverse and different values from previous generations, that does not mean the millennial generation will completely ignore the past in order to move forward.

I think change and variation scare a lot of people, but change and variation are necessary. I think if the liberal arts education operated under the exact manner that it did during the 18^th century or for how someone believes it should operate, then the liberal arts education would not fully encompass or allow one to fully process the diverse experiences and values people have and can bring to a liberal arts education. For me, the liberal arts are meant to unpack the values of the past and present in order to cultivate values for the future. However, I think the liberal arts education is what you make of it and the downside is, much like Kagan stated, not everyone will hold himself or herself accountable for participating in a liberal arts education or encouraging people to obtain a liberal arts education.