Does studying the liberal arts present you with too much choice?
US universities are known for allowing students to study many different subjects, but can that much choice be a bad thing?
Joe Peck
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We could debate for hours about whether America truly is, as it is so often called, the land of the free. One thing I聽know for certain, though, is that the US model of education is considerably more liberating that the British one.
Unlike English universities, where students typically study only one or two subjects for three years, American universities allow individuals to more or less study as many subjects as they wish. Prospective students don鈥檛 apply to study history or physics, but liberal arts. In this system,聽students choose their classes from a large menu of offerings, with each class acting like a building block towards a degree.
I鈥檝e studied at Yale University for 18 months now but haven鈥檛 yet picked a subject to specialise in. I聽don鈥檛 have聽to settle on my major (main subject)聽until the end of my second year. To graduate, I聽need to聽have taken 36 classes over four years, of which 12 will be in my major. Easy, right? Well, as you might be able to tell, not always.
Yale publishes an annual guide, colloquially referred to as the 鈥淏lue Book鈥, which lists all the classes that will be offered in the coming academic year. Roughly 2,000 courses are categorised into 80 potential majors, of which you have to pick only four or five to study in any given semester. After the Blue Book is released, every student spends hours聽poring over it, trying to聽devise the optimal schedule, ever hopeful of picking the best class at Yale, ever fearful of choosing the worst one.
After I聽open the Blue Book, I聽jump straight to my area of interest, the history classes. In this one subject alone, there is more choice than anyone could wish for. There are the more traditional classes, such as the History of France since 1871 and Research in Ottoman History, which satisfy specific interests.
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Then there are the broader history classes,聽for example聽Liberalism and also Spiritual but not Religious, which might allow a broader analysis across different elements of history, and even invite students to explore an area they had never聽considered before. 鈥淚nviting鈥 is the best word for it, because the聽US liberal arts system actively encourages students to step outside of their comfort zone. Professors don鈥檛 just want their students to become experts in certain fields, but to learn of new and exciting things. The combination聽of intense subject specificity and broad historical analysis offers students an appreciation of historical trends that regimented English courses don鈥檛 afford.
That is, of course, if students take advantage, as I聽have done, of the breadth of intellectual opportunities. They are merely opportunities, not requirements, and in this fact lies the true beauty of the American educational philosophy: you can do whatever you want, even if the path you choose is intensely subject specific.
No one is bound to one subject聽鈥 I聽don鈥檛 have to only take history classes.聽As long as I聽take at least 12聽history classes throughout my time at Yale, I聽can use the other 24 to explore different areas. In my 18 months, I聽have taken classes on economics and politics and learned Italian.
Proponents of the more traditional English system might argue that liberal arts produces jacks of all trades who聽are masters of none. I聽had the same聽reservation when I聽started at Yale. But it couldn鈥檛 be further from the truth. Not only do I聽feel intellectually fulfilled outside my study of history, I鈥檝e found that the other subjects I鈥檝e studied have bolstered it.
In one history class, I聽learned about the Wall Street Crash; after taking a class in economics, I better understood its intricate causes. In another history class, I聽learned about Dante, and in an Italian class I聽read the Divine Comedy in its original language. All areas of study support each other in one way or another. It鈥檚 incumbent on individual students to figure out how, rather than professors alone, to enforce their own course structure and make their own connections.
That said,聽it鈥檚 not all smooth sailing. When the Blue Book聽is released online, it鈥檚 extremely nerve-racking. It鈥檚 hard to tell which classes are the best ones to take. Choosing only 0.2聽per cent of the available classes leaves a lot of stones unturned, and at worst you could be stuck in a terrible class for months.
But if there鈥檚 one lesson I鈥檝e learned from the 鈥淏lue-booking鈥 process, it is that all the classes at Yale are engaging in聽some way, and you can make of them what you will. I鈥檝e never stumbled across a bad class, and the fear of doing so seems largely unfounded. If it does happen, however, there鈥檚 always a new semester on the horizon and a new chance to explore the 2,000 classes all over again.
