Are those Gen. Ed. classes necessary? For your major, maybe not. But for your education? Absolutely.
See, the point of Olivet (and so many other universities) is to educate us and make us a better population, not just pump out narrow-minded specialists. Arthur Holmes discusses this (at length) while looking at where a liberal arts education fits in a Christian College.
He determined that a liberal arts education helps us in several ways. I’ll summarize it: we, as rational beings, have a natural inquisitiveness that the liberal arts sate. We must read and write–and in doing so, glorify God. Humans are also historical beings. Liberal arts helps us shape and envision the future, by studying but not holding onto the past. Third, we are beings that have values–more than just feelings, these are principles we hold near near to our hearts. The liberal arts can help engender and mold these values.
Finally, Holmes wraps it up with a quote I find rather memorable. He says that, if a college student says this, then he will have succeeded: “I learned what it is to see and think and act like the human person God made me.”
William Whewell of Trinity College in Cambridge also discusses the liberal arts. He seems to be presenting an argument to the college so that they may adopt a curriculum containing liberal arts. I rather like a point Whewell makes early on: that education must not follow any passing trend, but also cannot stagnate. This is the point of his paper–that education, specifically the education at Trinity, must press on while making a foundation in important, established authors. He and Holmes agree–that as a society we must prevent people with narrow minds, and glorify God with our diverse education.
It certainly helps me see those pesky Gen. Ed. courses in a new light. I’m here to get a B.S. in psychology and propel myself to graduate school, sure. But I’m also here to become a well-rounded person, so that I can communicate intelligently on many fronts. Now let’s just hope it doesn’t all leak out of my head!
The Carrier Pigeon 
Hey Cayden! This is very well written. The way that you organized your thoughts made it easy to follow and understand, as well as created areas for you to insert your own thoughts and opinions.
Depth 20 – I can tell that you read the text and really tried to comprehend the points the authors were making.
Scholarship 19 – I think that you could have tried to connect the texts more, either to each other or to texts from other courses. You did a great job of summarizing each text individually, but did not explain how they relate or beliefs that the authors have in common.
Polish 10 – It is very easy to follow your thought process and points throughout your writing.
LikeLike
Depth: 18 – I can tell you understood the readings, and you bring up several of the authors points. The only reason I docked a couple points is because I heard mostly the authors’ ideas, and not as many of your own. I just wanted to hear your voice a little more.
Scholarship: 18 – Your connections between the two authors were spot on! The only thing I didn’t see was a connection to an outside source.
Polish: 10 – This post was easy for me to follow. It’s extremely clear and organized.
It’s a solid post! Nicely done!
LikeLike