How liberal arts encourage cross-disciplinary learning and integration of diverse fields

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" -Eleanor Roosevelt
This quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, a prominent American activist, diplomat, and political figure, focuses on the importance of having positive dreams in life. Dreams give us a sense of purpose and direction in life. True dreams encourage us to be better, to excel, and to achieve more than we ever thought possible. Across the world, many cultures believe that liberal arts can influence one's dreams, and break the shackles of minds. The word "liberal" comes from the Latin word "liber" which means free.

From Plato through the Middle Ages, there was a combination of subjects referred to as the Septennium (seven), which was divided into the Trivium (three) and the Quadrivium (four). The Trivium included grammar, rhetoric, and dialectics, and the quadrivium comprised mainly arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The seven subjects together were designed for the holistic development of human beings and are often considered as the ancient form of "Liberal Arts".

In modern days "Liberal Arts" is a combination of study based on rational thinking, along with the ever-evolved human nature and pattern of thinking, and it includes the area of humanities, social and physical sciences, and mathematics. It emphasizes developing the ability of critical thinking, analytical skills, understanding of human behavior, ethics and morality, and overall learning process in desired fields. It also exposes students to ideas that may be different from their own and provides them with different frameworks for thinking.

Liberal arts education is free from rigid thinking and theoretical enlightenment rather it is tailored and enriched with a broad range of subjects with intellectual and practical skills. Liberal arts majors may teach students how to collect, analyze data, and apply personal decisions along with state policies to resolve complex geo-political issues. It also contributes to the satisfaction of the human desire to know and understand the authentic educational insight and increased integration of diversified sensibility, heightened power, and universal tenderness. Liberal arts courses can help you develop skills in quantitative reasoning, statistics, linear algebra, logic, geometry, game theory, problem-solving, and applied mathematics.

The highly discussed National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP) aims to promote Liberal Arts Education and encourage flexibility in choosing a wide range of subjects and courses and moving between different streams. There is no separation between arts, humanities, sciences, or vocational and academic streams. NEP aims to create an inclusive and progressive education system of a multidisciplinary learning environment and promotes the "how" rather than "what". If there is one abiding regard for Ratan Tata, it is for the most enduring legacies of his pivotal contribution to the humanities. That makes him a real human, the whole human, the complete man, way ahead of a successful businessman.

Arguably the greatest physicist of all time Einstein once famously said "Life without playing music is inconceivable for me"; the same point of view was echoed by Fields Medal awardee Indian origin American mathematician Prof. Manjul Bhargav when he acknowledged Sanskrit poetry and music for his success. These are the testimonies of the importance of "Liberal Arts" in adopting multi-disciplinary courses and excelling. We must shift our focus to our consciousness which is the essential prerequisite of unifying the self with the greater self and integrating the ultimate realization of the world. The test of authentic education is an authentic integration of personal life. Integration qualities of head and heart: one's ethics, vision, intellect, passion, zeal, commitment, humanity, and so on.

About author: Dr. Arindam Ghosh is Associate Professor, JAGSoM, Vijaybhoomi University.