Talk:Liberal arts education/Archives/2018

UK
"the term "liberal arts" is very little used in any contemporary context in the UK" - not so. Was this article written entirely by an American? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.198.58.26 (talk • contribs) 16:37, 10 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Hello,
 * the author's claim that the term 'liberal arts' is rarely found in the UK is entirely mistaken. In fact, the UK is one of the countries where the diversity of degrees (such as the 'joint honours' and, in particular, the 'combined honours' degrees) testifies to an educational experience that promotes all-rounded education in addition to, I would say (at the expense of, other would say) of one-sided specialisation. It said that this kind of learning was introduced from the States, where it is certainly very popular and somewhat more liberal. In any case, liberal arts education is still more respected than scientific or vocational training in the UK, although I don't know for how long. Thanks, happy to receive comments, if any. —Preceding unsigned comment added by PanosUK (talk • contribs) 20:30, 2 March 2006 (UTC)  (diff)


 * PanosUK, what's with erasing everyone else's comments on this discussion page? And then not signing your own comment? To sign a comment, type an em-dash (a long dash), then type four tildas. — Walloon 22:15, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

While there are a few UK institutions that use the term, most do not. A check on the websites of Russell Group and 1994 Group members' websites shows that the term "Liberal arts" is not how they generally refer to themselves or the education they offer. The article doesn't say that UK education isn't liberal, just that the term "liberal arts" isn't common. -- Siobhan Hansa  22:42, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm British, and graduated in what an American would call liberal arts. That term is very rarely used here. UCAS does not use it as a keyword. There are very few degrees of that name --Duncan 16:52, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I'd also have to uphold the assertion that the term is not common here in the UK; the "liberal arts" may be the basis of many degrees here, but the term itself is very rarely used. The key distinction here is between the terminology and the concept - we just don't tend to refer to it as "liberal arts". I wasn't even sure what the term actually meant until very recently, and I'm a university educated person with a reasonably good vocabulary; I'm embarassed to admit that I thought it was shorthand for a more politically leftwing, arts-focused type of university! (drawing on the common American meaning of the word "liberal" rather than its more general interpretation). missdipsy (talk) 12:13, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

Having been through the UK education system (school, undergraduate and postgraduate university), worked in the academic world (university lecturer (whivh would be called some sort of 'professor' in the USofA, though that term is reserved for very senior academics in the UK, typically heads of faculty)), worked in schools, the term 'liberal arts' is almost unknown here except very specifically in reference to USofA-ian terminology.

This article, not untypically of Wikipedia, has a USofA perspective on the world. E.g. it refers to 'liberal arts' degrees being introduced in some UK universities almost as if they are following a transatlantic lead. The reality is that the subjects have been taught throughout the education system in the UK since long before the USofA existed as a country and the UK education system does not have any need to use the, relatively new, US designation.

I dispute that "In England, the first institution to retrieve and update a liberal arts education at undergraduate level was The University of Winchester with their BA (Hons) Modern Liberal Arts programme which launched in 2010"; forty years before that, at the University of Durham I was awarded the BA in General Studies in 1974, and this course was of long-standing then, but I do not know when it was instituted. It is now called the BA in Liberal Arts. (dr5357)

Europe
The section on Europe is outdated and confusing. A more systematic approach might be preferred to organize discussion, for example building from ELAI. 71.125.15.186 (talk) 20:55, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

It is my understanding that Europe mainly teaches liberal arts in grade school and not in graduate school, that part of the article is not very clear. Leslyesullivan (talk) 19:28, 9 September 2018 (UTC)

Liberal Arts education vs. Liberal education
"Liberal Arts education" and "Liberal education", in modern use, gained a new significance that differentiates one from the other. Liberal arts refers to a set of specific subjects, an area of education that focuses on the arts and sciences. Liberal education, on the other hand, is a form of education which suits a broader and less limited vision of the methods of teaching, sustained bythe principles of freedom. Even thought historically, liberal education was based on the medieval concept of liberal arts education, as this last one changed it diverged from its original connection. Therefore, their connection is just historical, and they are not especifically connect as dependent concepts to this day. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2804:14C:5F84:156B:1D7F:F04C:72C4:C4ED (talk) 21:22, 1 June 2016 (UTC)


 * Only the last person was on point of merging the two articles. If you read them they present different information.  Liberal Arts talks about a historical area of learning that is different from science or say vocation.  Liberal Arts Education discusses what universities teach and the history of curriculum acceptance.  As a person with a liberal arts education and a law degree, I think both articles should stay separate. (Who really makes these kind of decisions and when are they made in Wikipedia?)Eschoryii (talk) 21:30, 7 February 2017 (UTC)
 * As to who makes the decision: any editor can once a consensus is reached or when the discussion is stale. Klbrain (talk) 16:13, 5 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Closing merge proposal due to no support for the proposal (and opposition) over 2 years. Klbrain (talk) 16:17, 5 October 2017 (UTC)