Filed under: Newman
“…a well-beaten ground like the junction of three roads, or a cross-roads open to all” (318F).
From personal experience, liberal arts really is a crossroads. I love finding connections in my classes that I would never expect. The little surprises are what I love about college. The knowledge is like a puzzle I have to put together. I enrolled in a regular rhetoric class my second semester, not knowing it was an emphasis on Japanese literature. The course and professor pulled me away from accounting and towards liberal arts. I independently researched Japanese horror films that semester, presenting my work towards the end of the year at a conference in Houston. Afterwards, I put my research to rest.
The next semester I continued to fulfill my requirements. I enrolled in a sociology class where the focus was on what multi-media represented about a specific culture. I immediately resurfaced my J-horror research and continued for another semester. I presented my new work once again at the Houston conference and was invited to present in Oklahoma City.
(presenting in Oklahoma)
The following semester I wanted a break from Japanese literature, and until recently I thought I had isolated myself from the topic. But of course, I had to find another area where the roads crossed. I had taken a linguistics course which connected Japanese literature, but did not realize the crossroads until this semester.
And now I reach the present where I’m now taking a Japanese language course and Introduction to Buddhism in order to increase my knowledge about Japanese culture. The linguistics course helps tremendously with pronunciation in both classes. I’m taking these courses to further my current research, but in doing so, I found an unlikely connection. I never thought that Buddhism and Victorian literature would relate, but the readings have proved me wrong.
“The study of the Veda…can thus be compared with the Trivium; while two, viz. astronomy and metrics, belong to the domain of mathematics, and therefore to the Quadrivium” (318F).
I love that all of my classes are connected–there’s some type of relation that ties all of the knowledge together. Finding these crossroads has fueled my motivation through college.
Filed under: Newman
Newman’s idea of pursuing knowledge for its own sake is a wonderful idea… theoretically. His ideas of liberal, philosophy, and knowledge are what most students assume upon entering college. The students have left high school to practice and study their passions, which is the reason I left accounting to become an English major. But as Peter T. Flann explains in his 1984 Annual Address, Newman’s ideas are impractical, “The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake remains a noble occupation for those who can afford it… But public universities exist to serve society” (306). This is why the University of Texas is protected in the Texas Constitution. Liberal arts majors can continue studying on their own will, but they are given additional requirements. At first the requirements may seem a waste of time, but they go back to community through the research that is conducted in the classes.
But to defend Newman, he never said for a person to limit themselves to what they want to study. He explains, “All branches of knowledges are connected together, because the subject-matter of knowledge is intimately united in itself” (308). So whether knowledge is its own reward or if knowledge is to benefit society, why limit ourselves to one subject matter? We should expand our knowledge of sciences and languages. Rather than seeing the requirements as a burden or obstacle, see them as an opportunity to explore and unite new knowledge.
