Department of Liberal Education
Liberal Education cultivates critical and creative thinking skills, and prompts students to develop their oral and written abilities, all necessary for success in any field. With an emphasis on helping Columbia students to integrate their experiences and creativity with research and observation, Liberal Education is expressly conceived to encourage students to integrate pragmatic mastery with abstract reasoning. It prepares students to lead fulfilling lives as professionals, citizens, and members of the human family. For these reasons, students are encouraged to complete their LAS Core requirements with Liberal Education courses, and for maximum benefit, to take a Liberal Education course in each of their semesters at Columbia.
In our rapidly changing world, artists and media professionals must be not only skilled in their crafts, but also be sensitive to major issues of the societies in which they practice them. Interdisciplinary learning provides the ability to research a subject for a proposal or a project, and the ability to understand the historical and cultural development of a subject. Artists and media professionals well-rounded in the liberal arts are able to enter the professional world of work at multiple points, to participate in shaping new developments in their professions, and to exhibit greater confidence when overseeing their interests. For those who wish to accomplish the powerful mandate to author the culture of their times, a foundation in the liberal arts offered by the Liberal Education Department is an indispensable element of their education at Columbia.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Cultural Studies Forum
Friday, May 16, 2008