Several years ago, the Dean of my college thought it would be useful for our campus to address some basic questions about the work we do at Azusa Pacific University, questions like, What are the Liberal Arts? How is a liberal arts school different from other colleges and universities? What other kinds of schools are there? Where does the basic structure of a liberal arts curriculum come from?
The Dean decided to prepare a book that would help students, parents, faculty members, staff, and administrators understand these questions. He invited me to work with him on the project, and we edited The Liberal Arts in Higher Education: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Possibilities.
In the first half of the book, four original essays define the liberal arts and related terms; give a lively historical overview of liberal arts education; wrestle with the tension between liberal arts programs and professional studies; and envision a liberal arts program that is rigorous, relevant, and unabashedly Christian. In the second half, ten of the essential books about the liberal arts are described and reviewed. Overall, this book serves as a terrific starting point for anyone who wants to understand the liberal arts and why they matter.