Liberal Arts Education and Why Does it Matter in the 21st Century

Liberal Arts Education and Why It Matters in the 21st Century

Om Prakash Dwivedi

At a moment when the world is undergoing rapid transformations on a scale that is unprecedented and unmeasurable, the education system requires major reformation in liberal arts education. This, therefore, marks a shift from the disciplinary education system to a multidisciplinary model. While discipline-specific education is focused and limited, the multidisciplinary methodology and pedagogy link the dynamic interactions of different disciplines to resolve the complex challenges plaguing 21st century. This integral nature of education is what makes the liberal arts education so central to futuristic jobs.

Integrality is the way forward for 21st-century Universities and industries, and liberal arts education at Chandigarh University, Unnao campus brings students in direct interactions with industries and communities, with a carefully crafted liberal arts curriculum, thus empowering their employability and leadership prospects. As society and industries are becoming increasingly interconnected, making liberal education more important, demands are also amplifying for employees who think integrally, adapt to changing times and spaces, and convincingly demonstrate a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary management approach. For example, to understand the dynamics of industrial practices, one should learn liberal arts from top liberal colleges; the education system also needs to understand that industries do not exist in isolation but need to respond and cater to the sociology and psychology of people around them, which is the purpose of a liberal arts education.

This sort of integral approach that underpins the multidisciplinary education model is practiced by the School of Liberal Arts and Behavioural Science at CU Unnao, which is amongst the best liberal arts universities. The curricula and pedagogy are inflated with multidisciplinary approaches that are aligned with industry and global exposure to provide the best liberal arts education. The School provides a flexible platform for its students with its liberal arts teaching, making them see everything from different perspectives and different dimensions, that is, to examine life in its entirety, which in real sense are iterations of life skills and leadership skills. The multiple lenses provided to CU students cultivate in them some of the most essential learning components, a goal of liberal arts education of the 21st century, ranging from critical thinking to adaptability, versatility, and even entrepreneurial skills, because this is what the purpose of a liberal arts education is.

The Liberal arts education at Chandigarh University is suited to align with the changing times to help them make informed choices about future jobs with liberal arts curriculum integrated with AI at Chandigarh University, also making them future-ready with liberal art classes and courses in liberal arts, thus belying the myth that industries do not have enough job opportunities for liberal arts degree or BA in art education holders. The possibilities are immense because liberal arts students can think widely and connect the seemingly unfamiliar dots with the help of subjects in the liberal arts. The nature of jobs in the 21st century is not static; rather, it keeps changing and will continue to become more dynamic in the days to come in the domain of the liberal arts approach. For example, Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, points out, “In the past, people were educated, and learned job skills, and that was enough for a lifetime. Now, with technology changing rapidly and new job areas emerging and transforming constantly, that’s no longer the case.” At Chandigarh University, the multidisciplinary model of liberal arts education opens the gateway for future jobs. Welcome to the world of the personalized learning model of CU’s Liberal Arts education for a better liberal arts meaning with more empowerment and opportunities.