Lectures For Lifelong Learners!

Despite the persistence of liberal arts colleges, some people today consider the liberal arts a luxury or a bastion of elitism. Historically, the “liberal arts” were the arts of a free people, contrasted with the “servile arts.” The ancients thought they were essential to good citizens and true freedom. That might seem like a bold interpretation of subjects like literature, history, science, and philosophy, but it was by reading the speeches and dialogues in The Columbia Orator that Frederick Douglass came to set his sights upon freedom from slavery. The liberal arts still have that power to inspire and empower today. What are the liberal arts, exactly? Why do they matter? This lecture will answer those questions and explore why the liberal arts are for everyone.