Nicholas Tillson ENG 112-15 5/2/2013 Megan Keaton

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Liberal Arts debate research paper Public Liberal Studies Colleges were among the first educational institutions to feel the ripple effect from the economic crisis. The Global Financial Crisis of the early 2000s made a redistribution of government funding inevitable. Abrupt monetary collapses motivated politicians to reconsider federal funding, including but not limited to public medicine, insurance companies, and education. Liberal Studies programs, negatively perceived through conservative political eyes as a waste of government funding, are in the midst of determining if: Liberal Arts Colleges, as well as colleges offering Liberal arts degrees, deserve a decrease in Federal Funding. Funding towards Vocational Universities is directly negatively correlated to decreases in Liberal Arts funding. The politicians rejecting investment in Liberal Arts programs promote financial aids for schools focused in science, engineering, and mathematics. Right wing conformists fail to recognize the positive influence Liberal Arts courses have on modernized society. Support for the affirmatives stance is found through our common media. Global College Search Associates (GCSA), LLC public advocates of a healthy university experience for students of all ages. The Huffington Post and Mother Jones articles on public awareness independently expose biased North Carolina Governor Pat McCroy and Florida Governor Rick Scotts elitist standpoint against Liberal Arts alumni. Both organizations are university based, making information on the subject easily available to students and teachers alike. Online Colleges, developed to aid students university selection process, recommends a Liberal Arts course of study.. Each of these sources has a positive impact on societys Liberal Arts awareness. Long before entering ones university of choice, students of all majors proactively concerned themselves with overly competitive job markets. The opposition believes Liberal Arts

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majors are unable to become employed while still in the wake of graduation. Huffington Post differs in saying that a 2012 survey of 225 employers issued by Millennial Branding and Experience Inc. found businesses seeking out liberal arts majors almost as much as engineering students. Online Colleges is in association with plethora of university information databases. Their website advertises and supports Staff Writers article, The Politicization of the Liberal Arts. Writers strongly believes Liberal Arts graduates enter the work environment with ease. Postindustrial economy craves renovation specific to innovative production processes. Having been cultivated in means of communication, Liberal Studies bachelors are automatically adaptive to any work environment. More acutely aware of detailed dynamics within the workplace, Liberal Arts degree holders asses the circumstances directly applying to individual situations. Career advantages accounted for by malleable thought processes are endless. Liberal Arts majors way of thinking is an absolute by product of the diverse curriculum. Centralizing on cultural adaptions, Liberal arts majors are largely accredited for their abundant knowledge base. Once fully submerged in any career environment, their unique skill set provides them with the tools to evolve minute knowledge into a productive practice of information. Relocation of housing due to normative changes, such as a spousal career provoked change of residence, is a factor taken for granted by students. Measures must be taken to insure a consecutive career path. Reliable income for oneself and family requires a compliant degree. Liberal Arts allows for a wide range of jobs to be applied for, no matter the location. A graduates contextual intelligence training will allow them to see a well cut path to the most profitable job opportunity relating to their present situation.

Nicholas Tillson ENG 112-15 5/2/2013 Megan Keaton

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In succession to obtaining employment, the opposition marks Liberal Arts majors as inadequate for the workplace. Staff Writers 2013 Online College article The Politicization of Liberal Arts reiterates the ancient Greek definition of liberal arts as those subjects that were considered essential for citizens to master in order to take an active part in civic life. Writers further explains the curriculum by stating, subjects like philosophy, grammar, rhetoric, and logic was meant to produce citizens who were knowledgeable, virtuous, and articulate. Using these statements as evidence, one can comfortably label variations of Liberal Arts as historically necessary component of human advancement. As a society, America is breaking free of the traditional analytical intelligence. Creative and contextual intelligence is incumbent to the development of analytical intelligence, without adaption one is simply recreating behavior. Global College Search Assoicates 2010 7 Major Misconceptions About the Liberal Arts by Goucher College President Sanford J. Ungar addresses how much Americas educational system differs from other first world countrys way of teaching. Ungar states, It is often difficult to explain the advantages of a liberal-arts education to people from other cultures, where it is common to specialize early. The French style standardized testing equally analyzes an individuals knowledge of philosophy as well as sciences. A philosophical background allows for a cultured thought process. As opposed to a scientific thinker, contextual thinkers apply an array of prior knowledge in each situation. The more detailed thought process contributes to the development of new ideas, and provides solid foundation for communication. Group settings depend upon communication for progress. Poor communication skills, such as those exhibited by Florida Governor Rick Scott in Mother Jones article Rick Scott to Liberal Arts Majors: Drop Dead blur the intended message. Had Governor Scott invested more

Nicholas Tillson ENG 112-15 5/2/2013 Megan Keaton

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completely in his communication classes, he would understand the catch-phrase speech pattern he possess can be simply fixed by antianxiety exercises. Liberal Studies classes instill universally professional communication skills in each of their graduates. Completers of the Liberal Studies program will thrive in the workplace while refining products and ideas. Liberal Arts innovative thinkers have been known to develop extraordinary ideas, resulting in large amounts of revenue. Other bachelors of Liberal Arts take more traditional routes in community development. According to DegreeDriven.com article Degree Debate: Liberal Arts vs. Math and Science, on an average yearly income, accountants only make around $4000 more than real estate brokers. As derived from this data, one can still lead a financially stable life with Liberal Studies as their only course of education. American society has invested an abundance of time to perfecting analytical thinking in young adults. Analytical intelligence, by Education Incorporated uses a set mechanical way of thinking to work through social and intellectual problems. While an analytical approach almost always has a guaranteed result, it is important to integrate the other intelligences to the decision making process. While each predominant style of intelligence has an undeniably positive contribution to the thought process, intelligence is most fully applied when balanced. America originally organized their standardized testing around an ideal individual, a concept established by an early Harvard University President. The perfect individuals test answers are considered to be compliant with qualities necessary to thrive in industrialized America. Meaning that, Americas testing system is focused solely around an individual lacking skills in creativity and contextual reasoning. In an effort to raise district SAT scores, usually resulting in increased government funding, modern education focuses on test taking ability. As opposed to the Liberal

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Studies individual development approach, Americas educational system instills cookie cutter decision making techniques to insure a uniform answer throughout the youth. United We Stand but diversified we will increase our capability to thrive. Continued financial promotion of Liberal Studies programs will result in eruptions of modern ideas. Creative intelligence not only expounds upon the natural ability to improve an action through rehearsal, but also improves the ability to work with novel ideas. Therefore, an individual with high creative intelligence will perfect a task while modernizing the ideals. By expounding upon the previously neglected creative intellect, the business world will obtain employees with newly valid thinking. The creative ideas will be further developed through contextual thinking. Contextual intelligence focuses on adaption. Individuals with strong contextual thinking are able to understand a situation through multiple perspectives. Contextual thinkers universal eye allows them to change an instance to best suit the communities needs. When a college student embarks on the journey of Liberal Studies, they are also setting themselves on a path of philosophical expansion. Declaring Liberal Studies as a career path sets one aside from the traditional based competition, earning the individual a secure career directly following graduation. This degree will continue to be helpful through the building of knowledge, as well as the applicability to unexpected settings.