Forum: Are humanities vital for an educated workforce?

Liberal arts and its role in the education of the state’s students were put on trial Saturday before a crowd of educators and industry leaders.

The forum, sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s The Program in the Humanities, was planned to answer this nagging question: Can we still afford the luxury of a liberal arts education?

The question has proven relentless since January 2013, when Gov. Pat McCrory lobbed what felt like a grenade at the University of North Carolina system. On a national radio program, McCrory attacked the “educational elite” who had taken over universities and offered courses with no direct path to jobs. He vowed to press for legislation that altered university funding by funneling state money “not based upon how many butts in seats but how many of those butts can get jobs.” He invited those interested in taking women’s studies courses to do so at private, not public, universities.

Faculty felt McCrory’s comments as a punch in the gut.

On Saturday, university liberal arts educators did what they do best: host a reasoned and civil discussion. More than 100 people, mostly graying and largely believers in liberal arts education, filled a banquet hall at the university’s alumni center. They spoke lovingly about their time spent studying theater and debating politics. They bristled at the implication that reading fiction is indulgent.

“We are not mice being trained to run through a maze,” said Marianne B. Gingher, an English professor at UNC-CH.

UNC system President Tom Ross tried to frame the debate over liberal arts education, explaining the financial questions pushing the issue to the forefront. The cost and economic value of such an education have made the question tougher to parse as the nation clumsily recovers from a recession that thwarted job prospects for recent college graduates.

Ross was unequivocal on this: “Liberal arts aren’t designed as a pathway to a job, it’s a pathway to a career.”

But those who wished for an easier route from a humanities-based education to a job were reassured by Michael Tiermann, a top official at Raleigh tech company Red Hat.

Of the jobs open at his company, 60 percent were focused on technical skills, while the balance needed a broader education that prepared candidates to think and communicate.

“What best connects us,” Tiermann said, speaking of the staff at his company, “is a broad-based education that can cross boundaries productively. We recognize this and hire accordingly.”

This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Forum: Are humanities vital for an educated workforce?."