Awards

• Winner of Frederic W. Ness Book Award 2012 (United States)
• Winner of Frederic W. Ness Book Award from the Association of American Colleges and Universities 2012 (United States)

Overview

In a world where the value of a liberal arts education is no longer taken for granted, Mark William Roche lucidly and passionately argues for its essential importance. Drawing on more than thirty years of experience in higher education as a student, faculty member, and administrator, Roche deftly connects the broad theoretical perspective of educators to the practical needs and questions of students and their parents. Roche develops three overlapping arguments for a strong liberal arts education: first, the intrinsic value of learning for its own sake, including exploration of the profound questions that give meaning to life; second, the cultivation of intellectual virtues necessary for success beyond the academy; and third, the formative influence of the liberal arts on character and on the development of a sense of higher purpose and vocation. Together with his exploration of these three values-intrinsic, practical, and idealistic-Roche reflects on ways to integrate them, interweaving empirical data with personal experience. Why Choose the Liberal Arts? is an accessible and thought-provoking work of interest to students, parents, and administrators.

Full Product Details

9780268040321

Table of Contents

Reviews

Writing with students, parents, faculty members, and administrators in mind, Roche argues for the importance of a liberal arts education and outlines its three important values: intrinsic, practical, and idealist. He shows how this education is valuable for learning for its own sake, cultivates intellectual virtues necessary for success beyond college, and has a formative influence on character and the development of a sense of higher purpose and vocation. Book News Inc.

Explaining the value of a liberal arts education to someone who does not have one can be difficult. First, one must explain what liberal arts education means and then explain its value. Roche does an admirable job of explaining both. . . . The book is clearly written, nicely crafted into four thematically organized chapters, well argued in a reasonable and balanced manner, and convincingly supported by a substantial body of research. It will prove valuable reading for anyone concerned with the state of the modern university and the future of the liberal arts. -- Choice Writing with students, parents, faculty members, and administrators in mind, Roche argues for the importance of a liberal arts education and outlines its three important values: intrinsic, practical, and idealist. He shows how this education is valuable for learning for its own sake, cultivates intellectual virtues necessary for success beyond college, and has a formative influence on character and the development of a sense of higher purpose and vocation. -- Book News Inc. Explaining the value of a liberal arts education to someone who does not have one can be difficult. First, one must explain what liberal arts education means and then explain its value. Roche does an admirable job of explaining both. . . . The book is clearly written, nicely crafted into four thematically organized chapters, well argued in a reasonable and balanced manner, and convincingly supported by a substantial body of research. It will prove valuable reading for anyone concerned with the state of the modern university and the future of the liberal arts. Choice Writing with students, parents, faculty members, and administrators in mind, Roche argues for the importance of a liberal arts education and outlines its three important values: intrinsic, practical, and idealist. He shows how this education is valuable for learning for its own sake, cultivates intellectual virtues necessary for success beyond college, and has a formative influence on character and the development of a sense of higher purpose and vocation. Book News Inc.

Explaining the value of a liberal arts education to someone who does not have one can be difficult. First, one must explain what liberal arts education means and then explain its value. Roche does an admirable job of explaining both. . . . The book is clearly written, nicely crafted into four thematically organized chapters, well argued in a reasonable and balanced manner, and convincingly supported by a substantial body of research. It will prove valuable reading for anyone concerned with the state of the modern university and the future of the liberal arts. Choice Writing with students, parents, faculty members, and administrators in mind, Roche argues for the importance of a liberal arts education and outlines its three important values: intrinsic, practical, and idealist. He shows how this education is valuable for learning for its own sake, cultivates intellectual virtues necessary for success beyond college, and has a formative influence on character and the development of a sense of higher purpose and vocation. Book News Inc. Writing with students, parents, faculty members, and administrators in mind, Roche argues for the importance of a liberal arts education and outlines its three important values: intrinsic, practical, and idealist. He shows how this education is valuable for learning for its own sake, cultivates intellectual virtues necessary for success beyond college, and has a formative influence on character and the development of a sense of higher purpose and vocation. --Book News Inc. Explaining the value of a liberal arts education to someone who does not have one can be difficult. First, one must explain what liberal arts education means and then explain its value. Roche does an admirable job of explaining both. . . . The book is clearly written, nicely crafted into four thematically organized chapters, well argued in a reasonable and balanced manner, and convincingly supported by a substantial body of research. It will prove valuable reading for anyone concerned with the state of the modern university and the future of the liberal arts. --Choice

Writing with students, parents, faculty members, and administrators in mind, Roche argues for the importance of a liberal arts education and outlines its three important values: intrinsic, practical, and idealist. He shows how this education is valuable for learning for its own sake, cultivates intellectual virtues necessary for success beyond college, and has a formative influence on character and the development of a sense of higher purpose and vocation. -- Book News Inc.

Author Information

Mark William Roche is the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Professor of German Language and Literature and Concurrent Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. From 1997 to 2008, Roche served as dean of Notre Dame's College of Arts and Letters. His books include Why Literature Matters in the 21st Century and The Intellectual Appeal of Catholicism and the Idea of a Catholic University (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003).

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