A "liberal" education, one that strives to improve the mind of the student through exposure to a range of traditional disciplines, is viewed by some as a relic of gentler, more contemplative times.
Compared to popular vocational courses of study, a liberal education appears anachronistic. It doesn't emphasize "cutting edge" technology or offer a tailored plan of feeding graduates into a specialized economic niche.
A liberal education offers something markedly different, according to James Freedman in his new book, "Liberal Education and the Public Interest." It teaches us to be "whole and humane human beings," helping people to "see the world clearly and steadily."
The book is passionate in its support of the value of a liberal education. President of Dartmouth from 1987 to 1998, and President of the University of Iowa for five years preceding his Dartmouth presidency, Freedman became devoted to the cause of liberal education through his work in higher education.
The book expresses his concern that liberal education is quickly becoming viewed as a luxury available only to the very rich.
People perceive it as "an entitlement for the fortunate minority who can afford to delay the necessity of earning a living," Freedman states, because it is erroneously believed that those who receive a liberal as opposed to a vocational education will have less earning power.
Freedman believes that the exact opposite is true, that graduates who possess a liberal education have a "far greater" ability to earn money.
"They have been taught to think and react," he said.
The biggest challenge to liberal education is "coping with those who think it doesn't provide a job," Freedman said. He is also concerned that the stereotype of a liberal education as a luxury is linked to the rising costs of higher education, especially at the private colleges like Dartmouth which specialize in offering liberal arts degrees.
"I am worried that the cost is turning people away," Freedman said. "We are facing a world whose costs are so very expensive."
Modern technology and communications media also conspire to create what Freedman terms a "social environment of constant and hyperkinetic stimulation" which he believes distracts from the contemplation that is at the core of liberal thought.
Self-discipline is required, Freedman said, for people to change how they choose to spend their time, forgoing instant gratification for more thoughtful pleasures like reading. He acknowledged, however, that "we are not going to change people's choices."
Instead, he said that the best way to forward enthusiasm for liberal education is to "reach people and persuade them." He hopes that those who read his book take from it "a heightened appreciation of the importance of liberal education."
His book also addresses issues that might be faced by the president of a university, such as the granting of honorary degrees and the challenge of dealing with moral issues.
He recalls giving a speech at the dedication of the Roth Center for Jewish Life in which he chose to address the school's history of anti-Semitism, a decision that led him to analyze his experience as a Jewish president of an institution which had an "ignoble history of discrimination."
Freedman also remembers both notables who Dartmouth honored during his time as president and those who declined such degree offers, including author J.D. Salinger who "lived no more than twenty miles from Dartmouth in Cornish, N.H." and was a long-time user of the College library.
His presidency of Dartmouth strengthened Freedman's commitment to the value of liberal education.
"I had never been at a place as intensely devoted to liberal education as Dartmouth," Freedman said. "What Dartmouth is doing makes it a striking example."
