Excellent Sheep: the Miseducation of the American Elite & the Way to a Meaningful Life by William Deresiewicz

Frankly, I couldn’t completely grasp what the author said in this book. It seems like background knowledge is needed to understand the author’s criticism of several political figures. As I don’t know enough about American culture and politics, my understanding of the author’s contention was inevitably quite limited. However, I couldn’t help but agree with the author’s criticism of higher education in America. Many problems with higher education in America are also happening in Korea.

As I am a quite practical person, a college education focused on practicality and preparation for certain jobs doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable. I have to confess that I didn’t know why liberal art education is necessary during my college period. In recent years, I got to know why such education matters. As I had to attain certain credits in the liberal art classes as a college student, I took the classes but most classes were not helping me learn how to think philosophically, understand humans, and deepen my insight on humans and the world. They were usually focused on the transmission of knowledge in certain fields, and I had very little interest in most liberal arts from the first.

Looking back on it now, the fact that I didn’t get many good experiences in liberal art education was, in some parts, related to my personal tendencies, such as my narrow preference and interest. But, other factors besides myself, definitely existed. The teaching method was manneristic in many cases, and a few professors, especially senior ones, looked not interested in ‘teaching’ itself, which made some liberal art classes really felt like a waste of time to me. More fundamental or integrated classes regarding humanities, encompassing psychology, religion, and philosophy, would have been more helpful to me in those days, and if such classes had been performed in a form of group discussion and energetic interaction, they could’ve helped me grow and develop as an independent adult sooner than I became to be.

In college life, other things such as peer community, circle activity, and various book reading, can be more important than classes themselves. My college years have gone about twenty years ago, and it was immature and hard times in my life like many other people.

 

Written by Shim G.

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