In his opening remarks, Phil Baty, chief knowledge officer of THE, noted that the latest wave of innovation is bringing unprecedented disruption for economies and communities. More than that, advances in AI and elsewhere will transform the very notion of society and what it means to be human. Technology can change the world for the better, and the positive possibilities are endless. However, the route and destination are by no means certain.
“Where we end up will be determined by universities, not just by science and technology, but by scholars who work in arts and humanities and embrace a multidisciplinary approach to research,” Baty said. “The role of universities will be more important than ever, as society’s critic and conscience. They must provide the ethicists, artists and philosophers who point the way and the critical analysis, sound methodology, and understanding of the bigger picture.”
Welcoming the 800-strong international audience, Professor Leonard Cheng, president of Lingnan University, quoted the observation made by Apple’s Steve Jobs that “technology alone is not enough”. Also vital are 21st-century skills, the kind that a liberal arts education is already well known for developing.
These skills can be referred to as the 4Cs, which stand for creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking. But, latterly, the category is often expanded to include other desirable characteristics such as curiosity, generosity, empathy, equality and emotional intelligence.
Cheng also alluded to a McKinsey study conducted in 2017, but still pertinent today, which suggested the best path for the higher education system was to combine a foundation of the best in liberal arts with training in professional and technical skills. That would prepare students for a future where the skills needed to manage, lead, interact, apply reason, and solve problems creatively will be at a premium.
“Every undergraduate major at Lingnan is built upon such a foundation,” Cheng said. “It consists of a core curriculum, a well-defined requirement of extracurricular activities, and specific graduation requirements which nurture a liberal arts ethos that goes beyond knowledge and skills.”
For the forum’s initial panel discussion, Cheng was subsequently joined by Professor Saikat Majumdar, who teaches English and creative writing at India’s Ashoka University, and Professor Feiyu Sun, associate dean of Yuan Pei College at Peking University.
Their task was to consider socio-economic developments in Asia and, in particular, how liberal arts courses can produce the type of “holistically minded” graduates needed to find solutions for today’s health and climate crises.
One theme was how best to foster different, more innovative ways of thinking in cultures and institutions which have traditionally been “top- down” in their approach to teaching and organisation. Another was how to make a convincing case so that, in the public mind, liberal arts education can compete with degrees in science, engineering, business and medicine, which are generally seen as the preferred door to job security and good salaries.
“More autonomy is needed for the instructor, and every college should model its own needs,” said Majumdar, adding that the focus on exams in many Asian countries has encouraged a certain kind of learning. “There are barriers in pedagogy and curriculum, but the ideal liberal arts class should be small and use the Socratic method of exchange. We should also invoke our indigenous traditions and see that different models are available.”
He mentioned that, in India, innovative course combinations such as computer science with literature or music are starting to appear. And the introduction of online classes has helped to “democratise” the field by allowing more students to sign up and explore diverse interests.
“The greatest gift of a liberal arts education is a meta-cognition - understanding how you learn how to learn,” Majumdar said. “The disciplines are vessels, but students have to look beyond the disciplines, create an epistemic space, and change the lens a little bit.”
Sun pointed out that, in China, the central question to ask is what kind of person or personality is to be cultivated. Typically, students there focus almost obsessively on exam results and GPA scores. But in the past five to ten years, many professors have realised that an exam-driven approach doesn’t necessarily lead to a happy or healthy life.
There are calls for change, a redefinition of success, but not surprisingly there is also resistance from parents, administrators and policymakers who hold on to their entrenched views. “Our college is very unique,” Sun said. “We allow students to change disciplines and cross boundaries. We help them build their ability to learn, to understand what philosophy and sociology are, and give them the ‘free space’ to choose their own major.”
According to Cheng, liberal arts education is all about whole-person development. In Asia, this should be sure to tap into local traditions and values – Confucian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or others – and not just follow the American model.
“I believe Asia’s liberal arts universities still need to do a better job of selling themselves,” Cheng said. “And if they want to do true interdisciplinary study, one way to experiment is by having students solve problems using expertise from different academic units.”