Friday Feature: Why Do I Have to Take All These Other Classes?

A few semesters ago, one of my students and I were talking after class. He was frustrated by the fact that he couldn't just "live" in his major. Why, he wondered, did he have to take all these "other" classes? He knew what he wanted to do with his life and, in the classes in his major, he was like a fish in water. He struggled, however, with classes outside of his major, in part because writing papers was difficult for him and because they required him to think outside his comfort zone.

Many students and their parents ask these same questions. As college costs rise and a degree no longer promises entry into the world of corner offices, all of those "other" classes can seem like a waste of time and money. College students who love their liberal arts focus but who might not understand the difference between a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science, end up tongue-tied when the conversation at dinner turns to questions like, "Art history? What does that have to do with your major?"

As it turns out, all of those "other" classes might just have more value than you'd think in the "real world" after graduation. As someone who graduated from a liberal arts program and who teaches "those" classes, I understand the value of learning and refining communication skills and learning to think critically, but this piece on LinkedIn about the value of arts and humanities approached the argument from the other side: the science side.

Honestly, I rarely read the LinkedIn articles that land in my inbox, but, as an instructor at a private college and the parent of a college junior, I'm glad I read this one. Knowing "well-rounded" is a good thing and understanding its real-world value in a field outside my own are two different things -- something I'll discuss with my students when I assign them this article to read in the fall.