From my perspective, the liberal arts education is one of the most important foundations for civil discourse and civic engagement in our democracy. There is a basic assumption built into the liberal arts education: that one perspective is never enough because truth is not something we can fully grasp, but rather something that we must pursue through disciplined study.

When we mix in the foundational assumption from our Christian faith that all things are connected, the place of a liberal arts education in our democracy becomes even more urgent. The issue is this: in order to make a reasoned moral judgment in an environment as complex as our society, one must understand the various ways in which issues are connected and be able to imagine how changing something in one arena will affect things in another. Without some understanding of the various ways in which things connect, and some understanding of how to communicate how we see things as connected, civil discourse tends to become polarized and we are placed in a world of shouting matches and politics based merely on a set of positions rather than on sound moral principles.

I believe a liberal arts education is critical to the development and maintenance of civic discourse – and civil discourse – and that participation in the political process by people who are liberally educated is one of the most important applications of a student’s education here at GC.