- Coming off a summer of protests, going to school during a pandemic, and reading Pasquerella a week before a federal election, what are you noticing and thinking about our “public sphere” or the conversations that are dominating and defining our current culture (Scheuer, “Critical Thinking and the Liberal Arts”)?
- 2020 has been a an extremely fast-moving year. The conversations dominating our society today are varied, but all intricately linked to one another. These conversations focus mainly on politics, unfortunately. COVID-19 has been made into a political argument between the two parties, even though it should not be so divided by political views. The question of wearing a mask or sending students back to school is political. But there are also aspects of current conversations that need to be voiced politically: the Black Lives Matter movement, human trafficking, and immigration policies have been heated conversations throughout this year. People in our current climate are fighting for the true definition of equal rights for all people. Whether it be healthcare, discrimination, education, or food supply; the basis of our societies conversation base around political action. People want their opinions to be heard.
2. For example, how do you respond to Pasquerella’s assertion that
The current culture wars being played out on the national stage highlight the enduring value of liberal education and how it prepares students to discern the truth and be mindful of the dangers of ideological filtering; to speak across differences; and to engage in deliberation with respect to competing arguments while cultivating personal and social responsibility.
“The Future of Higher Education and Our Democracy in a Post-COVID-19 World.” Liberal Education, vol. 106, no. 1/2, Winter/Spring 2020, https://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/2020/winter-spring/president, Oct. 26, 2020.
- Pasquerella’s reference to the “enduring value of liberal education” lies in Scheuer’s argument based around the values of critical thinking. I believe that this is true; a liberal arts education allows students to develop their own methods of critical inquiry and applying these skills to make educational judgements about the current public sphere. A liberal arts education helps to promote open-mindedness by spanning the horizons of students education and engaging deeply in texts while developing their own voice. Learning how to put these readings in conversation with one another sets students up for success in the future when it comes to debates. In fact, debates are what is dominating our fashion of conversations today. The ability to see multiple views and respect opinions of others while also maintaining and developing ones own voice is vitally important in the state of our current public sphere today.
