FYSP 196 - Why Oberlin? The Value(s) of a Liberal Arts Education

FC SSCI WINT

4 credits
You came to Oberlin to pursue a liberal arts education. Why? What is a liberal arts education? Why is it important? You will consider these questions about yourselves, your education, and the social and political significance of the liberal arts. We will read from texts as diverse as Confucius’ Analects, Booker T. Washington’s autobiography Up From Slavery, and Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed; we will write about them; and we will discuss them vigorously. You will learn how to read carefully and critically, to write clearly and persuasively, and to listen and respond to each other generously and empathically.