Explainer. What is Liberal Arts education?

Perhaps this unusual, yet well-thought-out system of organizing training is just right for you

You may already have noticed that in the conversations published on the website, our interviewees often mention the Liberal Arts model of education. Professors and students talk about the wonderful opportunity to freely choose their modules and courses at university.

What is this educational principle and how does it differ from conventional university education? Find out in our short explainer.

In the standard model of higher education, you choose a vocational path and follow it for several years. Then you are faced with a choice: to continue your education at a higher level or to work in your profession. Mass higher education in this way prepares personnel for the needs of the market and the economy.

At the most basic level, the principle of Liberal Arts and Science is distinguished by the fact that it aims at the comprehensive development of the individual and the citizen. Here you are not required to make a serious choice about your future already at the age of 17-18, which many people rightly consider an impossible task. What do Liberal Art students do? In short, they learn the basics of Liberal Arts and Sciences, though it sounds like a tautology.

This principle goes back to the ancient tradition of education, when the main thing was considered to be the versatile development of personality. You do not prepare to become a narrowly-functioning cog, but learn the skills that will enable you to become a free-thinking subject. At the same time, you get all the necessary skills to move towards a narrow specialization if you feel the need to do so.

That's not to say that liberal education students don't have a major - they still have it. But it should definitely be supplemented with courses from different fields of study.

Liberal Arts and Sciences. A brief History

As we've already mentioned, the approach has its roots in antiquity, and in medieval universities this principle generally became the structural basis of European education.

The “liberal arts” were divided into two groups of disciplines. The trivium included rhetoric, grammar and logic - areas related to the art of speech and thinking. The quadrivium consisted of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music - disciplines that are mainly concerned with numbers and dealing with them.

In the 19th century, universities began to move toward greater specialization for specific professions. No wonder, because behind the walls of universities the sky was smoked by the chimneys of factories - the Industrial Revolution was rumbling on. The new economies needed specific specialists, and the further they went, the more personnel they needed.

The modern approach of Liberal Arts has retained the spirit of tradition, but has expanded. Students in such programs study the humanities, sciences, social sciences, mathematics, and the arts. This broad scope helps develop flexibility of thought, the ability to see connections between different areas of knowledge, and the ability to solve complex interdisciplinary problems.

In addition to interdisciplinarity, liberal education values ways of learning that maximize student engagement. It's certainly not vertically organized lectures where the professor broadcasts information to you that you must learn and repeat on an exam. At Liberal Arts, there are plenty of seminars, and professors encourage and incentivize independent work by students.

Writing assignments are also often emphasized here - students need to sharpen their skills in expressing thoughts clearly. Organizationally, small group work is preferred so that students can be more productive in collaboration and discussion.

Contrary to some stereotypes, Liberal Arts education is not a fashion trend or a whim to suit the needs of elites. On the contrary! It is the most classical model of education. Another thing is that this approach cannot be called the most widespread today.

Liberal Arts programs are most widely represented in the United States. But it should be said that Liberal Arts and Sciences have regional features. Universities and colleges in the USA, Europe and the UK are known for their own teaching traditions, which may differ even from institution to institution. Somewhere teaching is based on the reading of original classical texts, somewhere social justice issues are placed at the center of learning. Moreover, the development of liberal education is not only linked to North America and the Old World. For example, in 2017, the Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities (AALAU) was founded, which now includes about three dozen universities.

Regardless of region and local traditions, the central idea remains the same - teaching critical thinking skills and nurturing a free, well-informed individual.

Liberal Arts in Russia

The first Liberal Arts and Science program in Russia was a joint project of the American Bard College and the Russian “Smolny”; they began the partnership as early as 1998. At first, the project existed within the Philology Department of St. Petersburg University, and later became a separate department of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“Smolny” did not manage to become an independent educational institution, although the project had such ambitions. In 2021, Bard College was recognized as an undesirable organization in Russia. The long-term, the oldest in Russia, double degree program of Russian and Western universities was equated to criminal activity, for participation in which you can be criminally prosecuted. The project ceased to exist in its former form, and many students and professors left the country.