As for the future, the U.S. will have to make difficult choices, as any country does. A liberal arts education can prepare citizens for life in a republic that cherishes its liberty.

A Liberal Education

by Miguel Monjardino 

This June, I spent a week reading and listening to many conversations about Homer’s Iliad at St. John’s College, Annapolis. The rules of a Summer Classics seminar are simple, explained the legendary tutor Ms. Eva Brann (instructors are addressed formally at the school). To start with, one should have read the book being discussed. Then it’s important not to speak too much—listening carefully to what others have to say is encouraged. Finally, too much expertise impedes the conversation. Guided by Ms. Brann and another tutor, Ms. Lise Van Boxel, we had a superb seminar, full of new insights about one of the greatest poets. We talked. We disagreed. Above all, we had time for the most important thing in a college like St. John’s: reflection.

The liberal arts seem on the defensive in the United States. University study, the public increasingly feels, should be a practical thing. A recentWashington Post article put it sharply: “Instead of ‘Follow your passion,’ the mantra [for many colleges] has become more like, ‘We’ll help you get a job.’ ” A father explained why “practicality” is so important for him: “Education for education’s sake is a luxury that middle-class families like us don’t have any more.”

The idea that education should be useful is not new in the U.S. 

“The Americans,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville, “can devote to general education only the early years of life. At fifteen they enter upon their calling. . . . If it is continued beyond that point, it aims only towards a particularly specialized and profitable purpose; one studies science as one takes up a business; and one takes up only those applications whose immediate practicality is recognized.” 

The key question, as Ms. Van Boxel puts it, is: useful for what?

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