Liberal Arts as Liberation

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

From their origins, the liberal arts have been associated with the freedom that their name implies. These are the arts practiced by free persons, who are not forced to serve any ends but those chosen by themselves, and they are the arts that ultimately create free individuals and societies. Nearly co-original with the liberal arts, however, is the critique that only a privileged few, limited by perceived ability or circumstance, can access this liberation. Reading material from the social sciences and humanities, this course will consider whether and how the liberal arts can be truly liberating for all people.