PART 1:

UNE’s CAS handbook is surprisingly similar to the ideas and benefits that Scheuer and Ungar describe in their pieces. First off, the fact that it is called the College of Arts and Sciences adds proof to a misconception that liberal arts don’t study the sciences. The handbook says “Scientific literacy, including an understanding of scientific along with quantitative and qualitative approaches to comprehending the universe, is also central to our educational mission.” In his own writing,  Ungar defends liberal arts by saying “In fact, the historical basis of a liberal education is in the classical artes liberales, comprising the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music).” The idea that liberal arts education doesn’t study science is simply false. In the core themes section, it talks about the four themes that are focused on in the CAS. The four themes are environmental awareness, social and global awareness, critical thinking, and citizenship and civic engagement. Although he doesn’t talk about the environment (which seems to be specific to UNE as we are an environmentally heavy school), Scheuer writes about these topics specifically in his article, “we all need to be well-informed, critical citizens. And the liberal arts prepare students for citizenship in all three senses—civic, economic, and cultural.” These are some of the major concepts that a liberal arts education provides at UNE.

PART 2:

This semester, I am taking four classes: ENG110, Introduction to Psychology, Problems in Philosophy, and European History. I wanted to look at Problems of Philosophy and Introduction to Psychology for this assignment. Philosophy is an “Explorations Course” and is considered one of the classic liberal arts courses. The handbook states, “We value the role of the arts and languages in instilling fluency, creativity, and imagination in thought and expression.” Although it fits the idea of liberal arts very well, Philosophy is often looked down upon as a major or course, because it is very far from the scientific method way of looking at things and lacks job availability. But in my experience, I have really enjoyed the class because it focuses specifically on critical thinking, abstract reasoning, and social and global awareness. I don’t think it fits the handbook’s description in that it isn’t a science but I think it still mostly fits the ideas of a liberal education. My Intro to Psychology course is a Social Science. The handbook states, “Drawing upon social science methods, techniques, and theories, SGA courses require students to engage in active and critical reading.” I think this fits the general idea of the CAS handbook very well because it is a science that requires a lot of critical thinking and provides social/global awareness. None of my classes fit the core theme of environmental awareness but I feel that it is specific to this University, as we have a heavy focus on environmental and biological science.