In a South Asian environment, every parent hopes that their child becomes an engineer, a doctor or a lawyer. If they do become an engineer, it’s typically followed up by an MBA. Yet, there are institutions in India such as St. Stephen’s in New Delhi and St. Xavier’s in Mumbai that have higher cut-offs for the Arts than Sciences. Several surveys conducted by various firms or even media organisations have always listed these two colleges as part of the top 10 colleges for liberal arts.

So, what exactly are liberal arts? In ancient Greece, studying liberal arts involved equipping oneself to participate in debates, defend oneself in court, serve on juries and even offer military service. Grammar, logic and rhetoric were the core liberal arts, while arithmetic, geometry, the theory of music and astronomy played a (somewhat lesser) role. Today, premier institutions such as Harvard University offer liberal arts programmes that cover biological and social sciences as well as the humanities. Clearly, liberal arts implies far more than aesthetic or artistic pursuits. This observation is corroborated by a paper published by Richard Sigurdson, former Acting Dean of Arts, Thompson Rivers University in Canada, which states, “If you want to get a solid, broad-based, general education, which will improve your analytical, communication and learning abilities, then liberal arts may be for you.” Tazeen Canteenwalla, a retired Professor of English, Sophia College of Women, Mumbai, suggests that students with a liberal arts background tend to be better equipped to deal with real-life situations. “They are well-read and through the curriculum, tend to understand society better. This can help them in the long run,” she says.

Canteenwalla adds that throughout the course of history, a number of scientists have loved the liberal arts, and were students of not just subjects like sociology, but also fine arts and music. “The Indian career path is still a bit one-dimensional, but students in the West do opt for subjects that interest them, even whilst pursuing engineering or medical degrees,” she says.

George Joseph, Director of South Asia, Yale University, explains that in the case of an Ivy League college, the student first has to get in. “They go through several classes before they decide what they want to focus on and eventually major in. This way, they are better prepared, as choosing a major is a life-altering decision,” he says.

Benefits The biggest advantage that liberal arts have is that they equip students with skills that employers value in an employee. These include effective communication, cultural understanding and analytical abilities. Most importantly, reading so much during your years in the educational system, holds you in good stead in professions that demand a lot of reading.

The future...In its latest report on the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), the Literacy Skills for the Knowledge Society tells us that literacy means more than knowing how to read, write or calculate. It involves understanding and being able to use the information required to function effectively in the knowledge-based societies that will dominate the twenty-first century.While a majority of graduate and postgraduate programmes in India are still rigid in terms of their curricula (science students are not allowed to study history, and vice versa), the awareness that students in this digital age possess could hold them in good stead as they prepare to launch their careers in 2025.