Abstract
The research describes the essence and the role of liberal education. The definition of the liberal arts and sciences has been provided; the role of liberal education in the democratic society has been described; the importance of studying liberal arts and sciences has been applied to the field of the Information Systems.
Introduction
The research is focused on the essence of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and their role in the life of an individual and society. Studying these issues helps to understand interrelatedness of knowledge and the importance of social arts and sciences for the college students and to raise the motivation while their studying.
The aim of the research is to give the notion of liberal arts and sciences and to study how they can be applied on the different levels of every-day life and the life of the community. In the first part, the definition of the liberal arts and sciences is given. The second part is devoted to the role of liberal education in the democratic society. The third part provides the explanation of the role of the liberal arts and sciences in studying Information Systems.
Results
The Essence of the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Definition
The Liberal Arts and Sciences are a basis of the interdisciplinary approach in education. They provide general knowledge, which extends intelligence and mental outlook.
Subjects
The contemporary liberal arts and sciences include literature, languages, philosophy, history, mathematics, arts and natural sciences.
The Importance of Studying Liberal Arts in the Democratic Society
Forming Educated and Conscious Nation
The interdisciplinary approach helps to integrate a person to the environment and to understand his or her rights, obligations and role in society, as well as to integrate its knowledge and skills to the reality. The target of a democratic society is to reduce the gap between the educated elite and the rest population (Kelly 15). Broad-minded, aesthetically rich people, eager to continue their education during all their lives, form a basis of the developed democratic society with its humanistic principles:
A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect (Sir Walter Scott). (Mason 633)
Democratic environment needs constant “questioning, exploring, stating the unpopular, challenging poorly reasoned theories, wrestling with convoluted and contradictory positions” (Carr 6), which is provided by liberal education.
Increasing Human Capital
Liberal education is a means of building a fundament for the prosperous society. The interdisciplinary approach in education helps to bring up specialists who acquire both general and specialized knowledge, and to raise the human capital of the nation:
…My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain (John Adams). (Adams 378)
The correlation between the nation’s intelligence and its economic prosperity is obvious. For example, The WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report provides annual ranking of the nations’ educational level and intelligence (Global Competitiveness Report).
Role of Liberal Education in studying Information Systems
Providing competitiveness
Contemporary environment is competitive, and wide knowledge is a strong competitive advantage. Intelligence and the mental outlook have become a persuasive reason for the employer to give preference to a candidate.
Extending skills
Studying liberal arts and sciences develops analytical and argumentation skills, broadens vocabulary and rhetoric abilities. This is crucial in every field, including Information Systems, as many positions include such responsibilities as communication with clients, writing reports, marketing, management and public relations.
Advancing to Globalization
A field of IT is closely connected to globalization, where cultures begin to play huge role. Studying History, languages and Humanities help to find common language in the global World information space:
Science and art belong to the whole world, and before them vanish the barriers of nationality (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe). (Beekman 277)
No doubt, globalization will influence the education in the World, putting culture studying and languages onto the primary position.
Keeping Humanity Principles
The era of computer technologies begs the question of relation between Science and Humanity. Today computers and technologies are used in every field of the human life, and the main issue is how to make science not to lose its human face.
A perfect example of such contradiction is the development of robotic engineering. On the one hand, robots can serve to the people’s needs and make their life better: robotic surgery “solves some very human problems”, decreasing painful sensation and term of hospital stay, and giving hope to the hopeless cases (The Humanity behind Robotics). On the other hand, artificial intelligence is often considered as a potential “treat to humanity” (Armed, Autonomous Robots).
Studying Information Systems touches e-business, IT security, biotechnology, where the principles of humanity are of a huge importance.
Information systems used in economics provide optimization of the information flow within the enterprise and outside its boundaries (communication with outer stakeholders, clients etc).
In business, Information Systems help to save time and resources, which increase an enterprise’s economic performance. Besides, Information Systems are a part of an enterprise’s image, as they perform its reliability. In other words, they help to do the work done.
My experience of using IS is connected with marketing and communication. It includes using Word, Excel, Power Point, outlook and some ES (Enterprise Systems) for the aims of business. I am interested in web-design, as it is an important issue in e-marketing, and this also is a reason for my interest to the liberal arts.
My goal for the future is to work in business which operates throughout the World. In addition to high salary rate, this field provides the possibility of self-actualization and using creative skills. Today E-business gives unlimited possibilities, which makes this field rather attractive.
My experience in marketing required knowledge in such fields as management, marketing, accounting, and economics. To work on a boundary of different subjects is rather interesting. I pay much attention to studying languages, cultures and History, as in order to work in e-business I need to understand the peculiarities and needs of foreign agents.
Conclusion
The liberal arts and sciences are a basis of the interdisciplinary approach in education, providing general knowledge, which extends intelligence and mental outlook. Liberal education is extremely important for building democratic prosperous society, as it diminishes a gap between the educated elite and the rest population, and increases human capital of the nation. Taking into account the global and innovative nature of the information technology field, liberal education helps to maintain the intelligence and competitiveness of the specialists, find the common language in the global informational space, and to keep the human face of the technical progress.
Bibliography
Adams, John, Abigail Adams, and Frank Shuffleton. The letters of John and Abigail Adams. New York: Penguin Classics, 2004. Print.
Beekman, George, and Eugene J. Rathswohl. Computer confluence: exploring tomorrow’s technology. Vol. 1. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice
Hall; Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. Print.
Carr, Wilfred, and Anthony Hartnett. Education and the Struggle for Democracy: The Politics of Educational Ideas. Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1996. Print.
Gutierrez, David. Armed, Autonomous Robots: A Threat to Humanity. NaturalNews. Web. 2010.
Kelly, Elizabeth A. Education, Democracy and Public Knowledge. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995. Print.
Lund, Kristin. The Humanity Behind Robotics. Roboticoncology. Web. 2010.
Mason, Alfred F, and Samuel E. Turner. American law school review. Vol. 5. St. Paul, Minn: West Pub. Co., 1922. Print.
The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-10. World Economic Forum. Web.