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"In Defense of a Liberal Education brilliantly and provocatively argues that the university is much more than a vocational school. The flight from the liberal arts is leaving us impoverished. Zakaria's book couldn't have come at a more valuable moment." --Malcolm Gladwell
About the Author
Fareed Zakaria has been called "the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation" (Esquire). He is the Emmy-nominated host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, contributing editor for The Atlantic, a columnist for the Washington Post, and the best-selling author of The Post-American World and The Future of Freedom. He lives in New York City.
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138 of 141 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsZakaria's best book--and his most important2 April 2015
By
NYCreader
- Published on Amazon.com
Format: Hardcover
Fareed Zakaria has written some very good books before, including The Future of Freedom and The Post-American World. Those were like his TV show on CNN--smart, knowledgeable discussions of politics and global affairs, helping readers understand what was going on in the world. This book is different. First of all, it's shorter and simpler. Second, it's more personal. The whole first chapter, for example, is about his own childhood and education, and throughout he talks directly to the reader in a conversational tone, often about his own experiences. And third, the subject of the book is education--what it really is and how to get it. He argues that a liberal education--studying a broad range of subjects, including the humanities such as history, literature, and the arts--is the best way to train one's mind and even character. Instead of using school to get facts or pre-professional training, this kind of education teaches you to read, to write, and to learn, all of which allow you not only to retool yourself over time, but to live a conscious, self-aware life. The book moves on from that to discuss education more generally, as well as the qualities of young people today, and what all that says about the state of the world and its future.
The obvious target audience is students and their parents, and in fact the book grew out of a commencement speech he gave a while back. But it's one of those plain, wise talks that sticks with you, because it says important things well. Why do I say it's his most important book? because what he's really doing is explaining how he developed the mental tools to write his other books, and offer the commentary that he does every week on his show, in his column, and in his talks. In this book, he's not offering readers fish--he's trying to teach them how to fish, so they can catch the slippery little buggers themselves. Zakaria haters will scoff, and there are obviously a lot of those. But ignore them: if you've watched or read him and wondered how he became so well-informed and thoughtful, this is his answer--and he makes it completely clear that it applies to everybody. It's a must read not just for his fans, but for anybody who cares about education and living a full, rich mental life.
I work in higher education and my husband has been hearing me rant about the decline of actual education about communication, thinking, and analyzing in favor of expensive four-year vocational degrees. That sparked his interest in this book, which has expanded his understanding of the pitfalls of lowering the education expectations for our nation.
5.0 out of 5 starsQuick, interesting Read on the value of a liberal arts education.8 Oct. 2016
By
PC
- Published on Amazon.com
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
I'm someone who studied science but really valued the liberal arts education I received in college. Mr. Zakharia succinctly and eloquently makes the case for the importance and value of a liberal arts education even after it seems to be under attack in this new global and tech heavy world. A liberal arts education helps us to be better thinkers, learners, and problem-solvers, and allows us to always evolve and grow in an ever changing world.
81 of 89 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars"Start a Tech Company and take it Public." (or get a degree in electrical engineering.)6 April 2015
By
Bassocantor
- Published on Amazon.com
Format: Hardcover
IN DEFENSE OF A LIBERAL EDUCATION strikes close to home--a little TOO close. The author presents 3 specific advantages of a liberal education. Such an education helps one to: (1) Learn how to WRITE; (2) Learn how to SPEAK; and (3) Learn how to LEARN. The author points out that even in the high-tech world, these skills are of great value. That is, it's not just how fast or how well you can code, or how quick you are in designing that new circuit. Fareed quotes several top business executives who consider the above skills the primary predictor of career success.
I know from personal experience how critical these "liberal arts" skills are. I work in a "techie" field, with lots of smart people who graduated from fine universities. They are VERY smart and VERY capable. I have discovered, however, that nearly 100% of my bright colleagues can neither write well or present themselves well. Their technical degrees did in fact, lead to well-paying jobs, but with a very narrow focus. So narrow, in fact, that hardly anyone can write a short "white paper."
I have sadly found that the stereotype of the socially-challenged engineer is often true. (A clerk at an office products store once asked me, "Are you an engineer?" When I answered "Yes," she fell down laughing.)
Fareed presents a nice overview of American collegiate education, even discussing the "Great Books" program of John Erskine and Mortimer Adler. He explains why American colleges have abandoned this form of learning, in pursuit of more vocational skills. The emphasis has shifted to those majors that promise immediate, high-paying jobs, based on a particular (and narrow) job qualification.
All in all, IN DEFENSE OF A LIBERAL EDUCATION is an insightful read. The author gave me a lot to think about. The Kindle edition worked well, with no formatting problems.
Personal note: From the aforementioned Mortimer Adler, I learned how to read a book in his book titled--what else? How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading (A Touchstone book).
5.0 out of 5 starsMust read for parents, grandparents of college-bound students!12 Oct. 2016
By
ccw
- Published on Amazon.com
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
An ideal lens to address the diminishing importance of liberal education in the United States, Zakaria weaves together a narrative that is personal, logical and well supported. Many thanks for the initiative in writing this book.
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