For many people, especially experts in the technology and engineering fields, university Liberal Arts education is ineffective. They say the degree is too broad and it does not offer necessary professional skills. For example, in a Forbes article, chemistry expert Tim Worstall says that Liberal Arts education is a waste of time. For him, the method of sending young people to university when they reach the age is a remnant of the medieval time, a time when education is scarce and the only way to study is by going to a college. This model is outdated nowadays as we have an infinitive database of human knowledge in the forms of books and the Internet. For which reason, University Liberal Arts, the one that aims to teach students a wide range of subjects and expand their understanding, is no longer needed. Universities should be focused solely on providing students with professional skills that they need to perform a job and cannot learn by themselves. Other than that, universities should only be used as research facilities as they are well equipped and have qualified staffs.
However, Tim misunderstands and underappreciates the role of education in human maturity. According to Erik Erikson’s Eight Psychological Stages of Development, during the university age of 18 and 22, a person focuses on developing identity, fidelity and intimacy. At the age of 18, he finishes adolescent development and become an adult. At this time, a person would have many questions to answer about himself and the world: “Who am I”, “who do I want to be”, “what role do I take in my social circle”, “how can I fit in”, etc. To answer these questions, he would branch out, “explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity based on the outcome of their explorations” (Erikson). Also at the end of this stage, a person will develop fidelity, the ability to commit oneself to other people, understanding and accepting them despite differences (Erikson). Failing to establish personal identity and fidelity can lead to identity crisis, which prevent the person from fit in with society.
From 18 to 22 years old, a person develops intimacy (Erikson). After understanding himself, the person moves toward to establish relationships with others. Confident enough, he shares himself with other people in order to understand and be understood. Should this process go well, the person would develop long-term commitments with people he likes in the forms of friendship and love. These relationships provide him with a sense of safety and care (Erikson). Failing to do so, the person may fall in isolation, loneliness and even depression (Erikson).
These are the reasons why a university Liberal Arts education is needed. It exists not just to teach people things to know to get a job, we have professional schools that. It exists not to be a research center, since we also have facilities reserved just for research. Liberal Art education exists to give students choices. It creates a safe environment where students can experiment with possibilities without fear of consequences. It lets students try new subjects that they have never tried before or even do not know exist. Liberal Arts universities help students find their identities. Further than that, it helps students meet, communicate and establish relationships with each other, so that they can move on and create commitment. This is the role of Liberal Arts in modern day education, not to make workers but to create healthy matures who can lead happy lives and contribute to society.
http://www.topuniversities.com/blog/what-liberal-arts-education
Worstall, Tim. (2012, September 1). Should We Abolish Liberal Arts Degrees? Quite Possibly, Yes. Retrieved December 01, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/09/01/should-we-abolish-liberal-arts-degrees-quite-possibly-yes/#7cd35eea6872
Models of Maturity 
Hi Minh,
I was really excited about the topic of your article, especially because I did not have much of an artistic education myself. Recently I started to try to acquire some more ‘culture’ because I have noticed the lack of artistic expression in my life.
However, my argument would be that college is too late to teach developing minds about the arts. You mentioned Erikson, and I agree that it is very related to his outline of the maturing process, but I believe that arts education should be happening in the “industry vs. inferiority” stage. This is when children learn to read, write and generally express themselved in an effective way. What artistic education does is teach a more introspective form of knowing the self, and these skills will be invaluable come adulthood.
Anyways, I enjoyed your blog entry 🙂
Alena
LikeLike