How an American liberal arts approach can improve the British higher education system

Richmond Trustee, Dr William G. Durden (also President, International University Alliance and former President of Dickinson College, Pennsylvania , USA) has just had a blog on the liberal arts published by website PIE (Professionals in International Education) News, aimed at the global education industry:

In his blog, Dr Durden explores both the US and UK approach to a liberal arts education, explaining how the liberal arts can help develop inter-disciplinary skills, enabling students to gain a broader perspective of the world around them.  As Dr Durden outlines:

“In the best of circumstances, an American liberal arts education, regardless of profession and life path, focuses on how to ask the right questions, how to gather information from disparate sources for a purpose, how to make informed decisions, how to see connections among disparate areas of knowledge, how to see what others never see because of their narrowness of perspective, how to learn quickly the basics of a profession or life situation, where to go for more information, how to discern valid information from that which is false or misleading, and how to apply past knowledge to understanding and sometimes solve contemporary challenges.”

Upon entry to Richmond, all students follow the liberal arts core curriculum before specialising in their chosen field.  The curriculum reaches across disciplines, building connections between such academic areas as philosophy, science, writing, business, creativity, communications, digital futures, international relations, history and psychology.

Find out more about our School of Liberal Arts here.