Sharing an article that I wrote exploring the futures of liberal arts featured in the Journal of Futures Studies (JFS).
The paper inquires and investigates the decline and resurgence of liberal arts in the West and the assimilation and development of the discipline in Non-Western societies.
It tried to put the issue on a cultural and civilizational context and weaved a number of views on how the others participate in the liberal arts debate.
This paper peers into the futures of liberal arts and articulates numerous contexts engaged in shaping the futures of liberal arts. It sought to answer the following questions: Is liberal arts likely to face extinction? Are there other liberals arts contexts other than the Western liberal arts model? Is there such a thing as a non-Western framework of liberal arts education? And can it be renewed, reinterpreted, redefined or translated in the context of the other, beyond the Western tradition? If so, what are its nuances, constraints, intricacies, hopes and futures? What are the futures of non-Western and Western liberal arts models?
Debates and discussions about the future of liberal arts have been going on mainly in the net and its future is being seen in the way that its Western proponents want it to be – a liberal arts that is useful in the workplace and promotes individualism and freedom of choice as well. Non-Western academics, however, see different patterns and values as liberal arts now becomes culture bound. Additionally, they insist that it must go beyond the current view and accentuate liberal arts cultivate one’s identity and nurtures skills for life.