What is the value of learning? This is an important question in today’s academic world. Students have become critical consumers, and the value of higher education has not fared well with the current generation. The response? Universities have increasingly become less focused on learning for learning’s sake and have instead put a greater emphasis on career preparation.
There is no need for compromise, though. Students can have a valuable liberal arts education and be more than adequately prepared for the global marketplace. This is no more evident than in the Liberal Studies major at The Master’s University.
Since each Liberal Studies student is required to take several courses within the various academic departments on campus, it is important that they seamlessly integrate themselves within those programs. More than just sampling the courses that are offered, they must engage with and adapt to the reading, writing, and dialogue that is expected within those disciplines. This requires a Liberal Studies student to work alongside and learn from the students within those various majors. These communication and collaboration skills will definitely serve our students well in any career they choose.
Along with these skills, the development of an interdisciplinary mindset is probably the most important aspect of the Liberal Studies program.
Interdisciplinary learning is most often considered to be the study of a single topic by various disciplines. However, this approach would be difficult to achieve among the many courses at Master’s. More importantly, this kind of learning still isolates each discipline from the others.
True interdisciplinary learning does not allow itself to be isolated by subject-matter boundaries, though. When a student engages in authentic interdisciplinary learning, they are able to use the various perspectives of individual disciplines to their advantage as they wrestle with significant questions that can best be answered through a unified analysis. That is the kind of student the Liberal Studies program desires to develop.
By working through several courses in the various academic programs at Master’s, Liberal Studies students gain a wider understanding of those content areas. They become well-balanced in both the humanities and sciences, and their learning becomes more and more integrated rather than fragmented. They move beyond simply learning the what of the content to understanding the why behind that content.
How so? The answer is simple. All learning within each course falls under the authority of Scripture.
God’s Word becomes the singular unifying perspective among the disciplines. Learning is not merely filtered through the Word, but undeniably intertwined and inseparable from it. The application of a biblical worldview among the disciplines gives Liberal Studies students the template for discernment in learning.
This is all made visibly evident through the culminating project for a Liberal Studies major. The capstone project allows a student to show the relevance and authenticity of the learning they have done over the past four years. They must demonstrate an ability to creatively synthesize information and see the interconnectedness of ideas among the content areas of the various courses they have taken.
The value of an education is seen in its end product. Parents, family members, and friends who attend the capstone project presentations bear witness to the value of the education these students have received.
Most importantly, though, it is the work the students generate themselves that proves that a Liberal Studies education at The Master’s University has helped them to not only grow as learners, but to discover the true value of learning.
For more information on a liberal studies degree, click here.
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We are excited to reopen the university and seminary campuses this fall, including the newly built Pearl C Shaffer School of Education. The plan to reopen includes a return of campus housing, in-person classes, and athletic events.
We continue to accept undergraduate applications for the Fall 2020 semester and have extended our deadlines. We will prioritize the well-being of students, faculty, and staff. For new and continuing students we are offering special financial support. For transfer students and those affected by modality shifts in the CSU and UC system, our new policies make transferring easier and more flexible. We are coming alongside new students financially and able to create a robust financial aid package thanks to the generosity of our donors.
