Thursday, January 21, 2021

Maybe that Degree in Art History isn't such a bad idea

On January 20, 2021, a graduate of the University of Delaware who was a history and political science major with a minor in English became the forty-sixth President of the United States. That background would make Thomas Jefferson and our Founding Fathers proud, for they believed deeply in the power and significance of a classical liberal arts education. In fact, the study of the liberal arts was the focus and goal of early higher education among those great men in order to create well-educated leaders who were deep thinkers. House Minority leader   McConnell, a political science major in college, would most certainly agree.

In recent economic downturns, as the Liberal Arts programs in higher education have continued to lose funding, the nation has begun to take a new direction in higher education, and it's a turn that will be to the detriment to our national identity. Sadly, colleges are cutting majors mostly in liberal arts to focus primarily on the study of STEM and the focus of basic utilitarian job training. But we go to college for more than just job skills - we go to study to become fully actualized and educated human beings. And those liberal arts can be more useful than many suspect. Here's a short list of the college majors of some well known people.

Carley Fiorina - former CEO of Hewlett-Packard studied medieval history & philosophy
John Mackey - the founder and CEO of Whole Foods majored in philosophy & religion
Andrea Jung - the leader of companies like Neiman Marcus and Avon focused on English Literature
Sue Wojcicki - the early CEO of YouTube eschewed comp-sci in favor of history & literature
Steve Ells - the founder of Chipotle was an art history major
Steve Jobs - Apple - the study of the humanities is credited for the unique brilliance of Apple


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