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Views from the Choir Loft

Does a Liberal Arts Education Have Any Value?

Fr. David Friel · May 11, 2014

O MANY VOICES in the world today would have us believe that the goal of life is to receive specialized training, find a job that pays well, live comfortably, and enjoy retirement. There are many issues with that approach, but let’s just start with the first. When did the Western obsession with specialization take control?

In America, much of higher education has been reduced to mere career training. Students enroll in programs that have an absurdly narrow focus, and they are required less and less to broaden their studies. This is a far cry from the ideal of true “education,” which involves the process of being drawn out of oneself to wrestle with ideas and confront challenges.

The only fields of study that hold merit, we are increasingly being told, are those in applied sciences, particularly STEM-related studies. Studying anything that won’t directly translate to employment is seen as futile, purposeless, or even poor judgment. What about languages? What about music? What about philosophy & theology? What ever happened to the value of a liberal arts education?

I recently read a thoughtful article about liberal arts education in a newspaper opinion piece. The author (Leslie Anne Miller, a trustee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art) writes this:

It is time to recognize the importance of a well-rounded education and not lose sight of our rich cultural heritage, which has added such a critical dimension to life in this country. Without the visual arts, music, theater, architecture, and the like, future generations will have no sense of culture. Liberal arts degrees teach students how to communicate, think, solve problems, and be team players. Understanding the “why” is imperative; we know the “how” and “what.”

Had I not entered the seminary after high school, I likely would have gone to college to study journalism, literature, or something similar. My course of studies would have been fairly narrow and very much directed to helping me succeed in a particular professional field. One of my life’s blessings for which I am most grateful, though, is that I entered the college seminary and received a first-rate liberal arts education. That was not something I ever would have chosen on my own, but it opened my mind and heart in many unexpected and thrilling ways.

There is a place for vocational training, to be sure. But, is there not also a place for the liberal arts? We who are interested in the arts & culture & liturgy ought to encourage young people to take up the liberal arts. Life, after all, is about more than technical training and entry-level salaries.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
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    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
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No concession should ever be made for the singing of the Exsultet, in whole or in part, in the vernacular.

— ‘Fr. Augustin Bea, S.J. in the years immediately before the Second Vatican Council’

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