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The seven liberal arts are the foundation of the European university system and not a modern American invention.

chrisseaton 6y ago
No, only if we go back as far as the medieval ages, so not in practice, which is what I said. Wikipedia explains > Thus, on the level of higher education, despite the European origin of the liberal arts college, the term liberal arts college usually denotes liberal arts colleges in the United States. With the exception of pioneering institutions such as Franklin University Switzerland (formerly known as Franklin College), established as a Europe-based, US-style liberal arts college in 1969, only recently some efforts have been undertaken to systematically "re-import" liberal arts education to continental Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education Almost zero people in Europe will have done a liberal arts education. As a mainstream thing it's really a uniquely American idea. And again, where is this idea of the UK doing liberal arts 30 years ago from? That's a bizarre claim not grounded in any kind of reality.
- morelisp 6y ago
  I am going to repeat my original point: > Pure math makes up two of the seven liberal arts. This is utterly impossible to understand as anything other than a reference the specific medieval seven liberal arts which do historically and practically underpin the definition of the unversity as distinct from other forms of tertiary education, not the "modern" concept of a liberal arts education. Go grind your political axe elsewhere.
  - deleted 6y ago
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  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    Given that America has a literal 'Hamburger University' I'm not sure you can complain that a British university not having a pure maths department is some kind of dilution of the term. It'd be illegal to call it 'Hamburger University' in the UK for comparison, as 'university' is a protected designation here and it wouldn't meet the standards for a university, while it does in the US. (McDonald's does have the same training facility in the UK, but it doesn't claim to be a 'university' here or award 'degrees' like it does in the US.)
    - morelisp 6y ago
      If you're suggesting that the University of Leicester sans math department is at least as legitimate a university as Hamburger University, I will agree.

No, only if we go back as far as the medieval ages, so not in practice, which is what I said. Wikipedia explains > Thus, on the level of higher education, despite the European origin of the liberal arts college, the term liberal arts college usually denotes liberal arts colleges in the United States. With the exception of pioneering institutions such as Franklin University Switzerland (formerly known as Franklin College), established as a Europe-based, US-style liberal arts college in 1969, only recently some efforts have been undertaken to systematically "re-import" liberal arts education to continental Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education Almost zero people in Europe will have done a liberal arts education. As a mainstream thing it's really a uniquely American idea. And again, where is this idea of the UK doing liberal arts 30 years ago from? That's a bizarre claim not grounded in any kind of reality.

morelisp 6y ago
I am going to repeat my original point: > Pure math makes up two of the seven liberal arts. This is utterly impossible to understand as anything other than a reference the specific medieval seven liberal arts which do historically and practically underpin the definition of the unversity as distinct from other forms of tertiary education, not the "modern" concept of a liberal arts education. Go grind your political axe elsewhere.
- deleted 6y ago
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- chrisseaton 6y ago
  Given that America has a literal 'Hamburger University' I'm not sure you can complain that a British university not having a pure maths department is some kind of dilution of the term. It'd be illegal to call it 'Hamburger University' in the UK for comparison, as 'university' is a protected designation here and it wouldn't meet the standards for a university, while it does in the US. (McDonald's does have the same training facility in the UK, but it doesn't claim to be a 'university' here or award 'degrees' like it does in the US.)
  - morelisp 6y ago
    If you're suggesting that the University of Leicester sans math department is at least as legitimate a university as Hamburger University, I will agree.