The Liberal Arts

With Emma heading out to a liberal arts college next August, I've been thinking about what "liberal arts" really means. I gather that studying the liberal arts means being "liberally educated" and thus acquiring broad and relevant knowledge while developing critical intellectual skills. Immersion in the liberal arts is considered to be educational rather than vocational. The student is not trained as a technician or a money-making machine, but is led to blossom in all that it means to be human, to appreciate and promote what is good, beautiful, and true, and to think, analyze, and communicate clearly and well.

Medieval universities focused on seven liberal arts: the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic), and the quadrivium (geometry, arithmetic, music, and astronomy). There are a few colleges today, mostly tiny Catholic liberal arts colleges with fewer than 200 students, that still try to implement something approaching this curriculum. It would be easy to dismiss what they offer, which appears to be a cutting edge education for ... the twelfth century. I've looked at the curricula of three of these small colleges, and I find them appealing and enriching, although inadequate. They stress arithmetic and geometry, but not, in most cases, algebra and calculus. They tend to be light, even very light, on the sciences. They focus on western civilization while de-emphasizing the richness of global traditions. One of these colleges studies Byzantine and medieval monastic art, but there is little to no exploration of contemporary art.

The Wyoming Catholic College curriculum includes humanities, theology, philosophy, math & science, fine arts, Latin, the Trivium, and "leadership" (which includes wilderness survival and horsemanship). Math and science classes emphasize the medieval quadrivium. Students spend two semesters studying Euclidean geometry, but, while they apparently touch on calculus, there are no courses dedicated to college level math. The science classes also seem very light. No modern foreign language is offered. Northeast Catholic College offers a Great Books curriculum. One can major in theology, politics, philosophy, literature, or fine arts, but not in math, any of the sciences, or any foreign language. And, of course, not in gender studies, psychology, or sociology. The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts similarly focuses on the seven medieval liberal arts (and not much else). It offers a "sacred geometry praticum" in which students use a straight edge and compass (CAD/CAM nowhere to be seen), the tools of the medieval mason, to reproduce (not create) patterned floors, a cloister, Gothic windows, and so forth.

I suspect part of the attraction of these schools to their supporters is that they reflect a time of theocratic Christendom in Western Europe, a time dominated almost entirely by white, Christian men. A professor at one of these colleges even claims that the Enlightenment was a "period of self-satisfied bigotry, the constriction of the arts, and the consigning of centuries of human learning to the flames".  Some of the proponents of a medieval, Christian education that prioritizes western civilization romanticize the Crusades and view the barbarity and depravity of those cruel ventures (otherwise known as "killing brown people for Jesus") as the purest expression of Christian masculinity. Their narrative lends itself to rather black and white thinking in which they appear to be on a modern day crusade against evil modernism. I sense a whiff of ethnic, sexual, and religious chauvinism and of colonialism drifting from their direction. In spite of all unattractive associations, perhaps these curricula fall into the category of "necessary but not sufficient". They provide formative training, but civilization didn't end with the Enlightenment, and students deserve full exposure to the cultural wealth developed in more recent centuries.

Perhaps a broader Great Books education could be obtained at St. John's College, which has campuses in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in Annapolis, Maryland. St. John's also seems somewhat light in science, technology, and modern studies of the impacts of marginalization, but, like the afore-mentioned colleges, it offers a very rich education in many areas. I've read that students from St. John's sometimes go on to study medicine, which surprises me, given that the school doesn't offer majors in biology or biochemistry.

These curricula (not including that of St. John's College) seem to me to be better suited toward high school than college students. Alternatively, perhaps these classes would best benefit those who have already completed college and acquired a practical education that has allowed them to become both financially self-sufficient and familiar with modern trends. I would love to see the courses offered at these schools available on-line (some similar classes already are through, for example, MOOCs and The Great Courses.).

A Memorable Memorial Day

We had a fairly low-key but fun Memorial Day weekend.

Craig and Emma, the walking wounded, spent much of the weekend playing tennis. Emma, who has never played golf, has "golfer's elbow", which is apparently inflammation of the tendons attaching the forearm muscles to the elbow bone. She's had "tennis elbow" (or lateral epicondylitis) in the past, but this is her first round of "golfer's elbow" (or medial epicondylitis). Craig pulled a leg muscle during a tennis match last Thursday and is severely hobbled. Neverthless, the two of them played father-daughter doubles at the Paper Cup in Pueblo this weekend. Additionally, Craig played singles in his age group. Emma, because of her elbow injury, had to serve underhand, could not hit overheads, and had to stick to the ad side of the court so she could limit herself mostly to backhands (she has a double-handed backhand, which takes some of the pressure off her right elbow). Craig, in spite of his restricted movement, won the consolation draw for his men's singles division, and he and Emma were runners up in the father-daughter doubles. They had a wonderful time and really enjoyed chatting with their opponents. They came away with new friends and exchanged numbers with several people whom they may hit with in the future. It was a great bonding experience for them, and Craig, as evidenced by the new Fitbit Daniel just bought him, knocked off thousands of calories, and took tens of thousands of steps. They came home with three absolutely enormous trophies (one would think they'd won Masters 1000 events). Oh, and a rather alarmingly hued T-shirt apiece.

They got home from Pueblo today too late for lunch, and Craig had to leave at five to fly out on a business trip this evening, so we had linner/lunner/dunch at four this afternoon. We did a vegan barbecue. It only took about half an hour to throw everything together. Vegan meat analogs mostly just need to be microwaved and then thrown on the grill for a few minutes. We had a few salads, vegan hot dogs and burgers, corn on the cob, chips and dip, watermelon, and some other sides, along with chocolate cake for dessert. It was raining (rain is welcome after our warm, dry winter), so we held off on the S'Mores. We will do those one evening when Craig is home and Paige, our resident bartender, is here to make us her wonderful cocktails. Daniel took Craig up to the airport after the meal.

Yesterday Laura went up to Elitches, a theme park in Denver, with a friend. For reasons best known to themselves, they love riding roller coasters. Laura's friend is an absolute gem. She stayed over last night as she and Laura got home really late. Laura worked for part of the weekend (she loves her job taking care of little kids) and spent time with her boyfriend. She's living an enchanted life at the moment.

Last Friday, I ordered some summer reading with titles culled from recent Common Reading assignments for various colleges and universities. Surprisingly, my books were delivered on Saturday evening (Amazon Prime). I ordered Visual Intelligence, by Amy Herman, Make Your Home Among Strangers, by Jennine Capó Crucet, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain, Hillbilly Elegy, by J. D. Vance, and The Joy of x, by Steven Strogatz. I'm hoping that the kids and I will read them over the summer and that we can enjoy discussing them. I have started on three of the five. Grinnell has not yet announced its selection, but speculation is that it will be Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi, so I should probably order that too. Last year, Grinnell chose Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah.

Poor Craig has been texting to say that his plane has been caught in extreme turbulence. He will get in late and will probably get no more than two hours sleep tonight😟

Rites of Passage for Emma

Emma's graduation from an online high school took place yesterday at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The cold and rain didn't detract from the happiness of the occasion, especially as, before the event, we were able to take refuge inside a heated conservatory and a restaurant on the premises. The ceremony itself was held inside a large tent, and the rain had the decency to cease and desist thereafter just long enough for us to snap a few photographs outdoors.

Emma is a self-directed learner who has managed her own education since third grade, when she quit regular school. She was not particularly happy in second grade at our local public school. Her classroom had no windows, and she came home nearly every day with a headache. She became frustrated with sitting still for hours every day. It was an unnatural environment for a young, active child who loved to learn. As an online schooler, she has not required adult nudging or intervention but organizes her time and her schedule quite effectively. Throughout high school, she chose to take a wide variety of electives (music, photography, marine biology, etc.) and explored these areas well outside the curriculum. As an independent learner who related better to adults than other kids, I think online school was a good fit for her. I think she probably learned more than she would have done in a regular school, partly because she was able to take complete ownership of her own education. She was able to explore and develop her many interests, which include music, writing, marine science, anime, and social activism.

Then today, Emma attended a "Bridging Ceremony" at the High Plains Unitarian Universalist Church in Colorado Springs. Bridging is a celebration of graduating high schoolers' transition from "youths" to "young adults". Each of the kids spoke for a couple of minutes, and I was impressed by how self-possessed and articulate they all were. Emma played the piano and sang during the service. She attended the UU church a few times with me when she was very young, after which we all took a hiatus for some years. She independently went back a couple of years ago and has found it a very enriching place. She has made great friends with other teens and with adult mentors, and the church has helped her become involved in social activism. As a result of contacts she made through the church, she has earned a scholarship to go to Washington D.C. next month. Once there, she will be trained as a lobbyist and will begin actively lobbying for climate change legislation.

Daniel's Graduation

So last Friday, May 11, 2018, Daniel graduated summa cum laude from the Colorado School of Mines with a degree in engineering physics. This past year, he has mostly taken graduate-level physics classes, along with the odd Shakespeare class and similar as he completes his humanities requirements. He has a research job on campus, and he just had a couple more papers accepted for publication. He will be going on to a masters in electrical engineering at Mines on an NIS grant. Most of his close friends are also staying on for masters degrees. His research job will become his masters thesis. He said he'd only been worried about one of his finals, which was for a graduate-level class in quantum mechanics. After some prompting, he eventually admitted that he'd got an A and come top of his class in that one. He has enough graduate level physics classes that he might be able to get a masters in physics as well.

Here is a stream of the ceremony:

The ceremony was very pleasant. It was held outdoors on a beautiful spring morning in the football stadium, surrounded by mountains and champagne air, and beneath the Mines "M", a letter embedded in a hill above campus. The President of the Student Council gave a poignant speech about her transformation as a student from her early struggles with insecurity into someone who finds purpose in interconnectedness and supporting others. The commencement speech was given by Harold Korell, who graduated from Mines 50 years ago and is a former CEO and chairman of Southwestern Energy Co. His speech was short and particularly pertinent to those heading out into the workforce. He assured them they would be very well prepared and that their education would give them many choices and hence great freedom. He also considered whether perhaps a graduate in the audience would one day give a commencement speech at Mines. He referenced a speech given 50 years before his own graduation by a Francis John McConnell, a Methodist bishop and social reformer, and reflected on McConnell's quote, "We need a type of patriotism that recognizes the virtue of those who are opposed to us." He announced that he has instituted two new traditions. Starting with this graduating class, every student's name will be inscribed on a brick in a campus building. Every student was asked to submit a prediction of what s/he will be doing in the future. These will be accessbile digitally so that people can reflect on them in future years. President Paul Johnson was ebullient, entertaining, and energetic, and kept the ceremony moving along.

It was a wonderful and memorable day. I am so happy that Daniel has found a field that he enjoys so much and that has contributed meaning and purpose to his life. Kind, brilliant, and unassuming, he is a gift to the world.