As a leader of the Annapolis Group, I want students and their parents to know that the liberal arts are thriving, and that this type of education is more important than ever in these troubled times. A quick scan of the headlines reveals the array of complex issues that we all need to understand, including international relations, religion, civil liberties, cloning, technology, business ethics, and global warming. The best education for an unpredictable future provides the capacity and the tools to gather, interpret, challenge, and create knowledge; to combine ideas in new ways; and to communicate effectively. The best education creates the foundation for a life of continuous learning, of honor and meaning, and engagement and service.

A tall order? Yes. But that's exactly what liberal arts can provide a student. This type of education is called liberal arts, because it liberates the mind. The liberal comes from the Latin, liber, meaning free—freedom from ignorance and intolerance and cultural isolation.

What Are the Liberal Arts?

The term liberal arts does not refer to politics (as in liberal or conservative), and the arts part doesn't mean artistic. Today's liberal arts curriculum ranges from the social sciences (anthropology, economics, psychology, sociology) to the natural sciences (biology, chemistry, geology, physics), to the humanities (English, history, philosophy, classics, foreign languages, mathematics), as well as music and art. Although every student does not pursue all of these areas, a typical core curriculum reflects the attitude that a well-educated person should be exposed to a broad base of knowledge.

This core curriculum equips students with the indispensable tools of intellectual discourse and discovery—the ability to read and think critically, to reason quantitatively, and to write clearly and precisely. Grounding in the liberal arts offers a window on history, culture, and human beings, on methods of intellectual inquiry, that transcends any particular subject, problem, moment in time, or job. Theory complemented by practice allows us to both know and to do, to understand why and appreciate how.

Hands-on learning is an essential feature and can involve collaborative research with faculty, service learning, internships, study in a foreign country, and real-world field projects in the local community and beyond. About 40 percent of Skidmore College students study abroad for at least a semester.

Connecting ideas across areas of study is a liberal arts hallmark. At Skidmore, we set a tone of interdisciplinary study with our signature first-year course, "The Human Experience," taken by all students in the first semester. The course explores the complex experience of being human from multiple perspectives—as biological organisms, as socially constituted beings, as creators of culture.

Liberal arts colleges vary greatly, but typical characteristics are small classes, serious independent study and research, and classes taught by experienced faculty members rather than graduate students. Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, have strong traditions of undergraduate collaborative research in the sciences. Colorado College, in Colorado Springs, sends a high proportion of students off campus to study in international and domestic urban programs. St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, takes advantage of its Adirondack setting as a teaching laboratory, just as Barnard College uses New York City and Trinity College uses Hartford, Connecticut.

Making a Living

The corporate world's appreciation of liberal arts graduates continues to grow. Perhaps it is no surprise that 38 percent of CEOs majored in liberal arts, as Fortune magazine reported a few years ago. Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett Packard, attributed her studies in medieval philosophy for sharpening her analytical skills—not her studies in economics.

Business executives appreciate long-term outcomes of a college education, the preparation not simply for a job but for a long and varied career. According to a study commissioned by Hobart & William Smith Colleges, business leaders value liberal arts grads for their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, strong writing and speaking skills, self-discipline, exposure to diverse ideas, and global perspective. And they hire them because it makes good sense in a global business environment marked by constant change. Rather than developing a trade good for one particular job, liberal arts graduates develop a broad base of knowledge and skills that prepare them for evolving challenges over the long haul.

"A liberal arts education provides an opportunity for students to explore a wide range of cultures and social issues, as well to develop specialized knowledge," says Bernard Kastory, a former senior vice president at Best Foods and a professor of business at Skidmore. "The breadth of the curriculum fosters broad thinking and creativity. I've also found that students from liberal arts colleges bring well-developed communication skills to their jobs."

And, of course, many liberal arts graduates find tremendous success in jobs that seem far afield from their majors. Skidmore graduate Jeff Treuhaft was an arts major who went on to launch and develop Netscape Communications and is now the vice president of an Internet services company. Diana Gilson was a sociology major who wound up as a neonatal physician. "I always wanted to be a physician but I chose sociology [as an undergrad] because I thought it would help me relate to my patients," she says. Peter Wan, a 1995 Skidmore graduate with a double major in biology and music, is now making his mark in the financial sector as an equities trader. "A solid liberal arts education provided me a foundation of skills, thought processes, and disciplines that I have adapted to my present occupation," says Wan. "My education will help me appreciate and tackle the opportunities throughout life."