LIBERAL ARTS II

The knowledge is not able to change the people. The fundamental change in the people can only occur when the people possess the wisdom to see into the essence of the things. I personally believe that the wisdom can be achieved through reading the liberal arts.

University of Chicago is said to be the kingdom of Nobel Prizes.

It is a great achievement of Robert Hutchins, the father of educational perennialism that University of Chicago became a kingdom of Nobel prizes. University of Chicago, which had fixed itself at a low class university ever since it had been founded in the year 1890, changed when Robert Hutchins became the chancellor in 1929, making the students to read 100 pieces of liberal arts as a part of cultural studies. As a result of the liberal arts education, it came to be that there are many Nobel Prize winners who are alumni of University of Chicago.

University of Chicago was established by John Davison Rockefeller who was a great rich in America. The university was known to be a low class university for the dull people. However, starting from 1929, the university began to drastically change. They began to have Nobel laureates from their university and later, swept the Nobel Prizes. There are 88 Nobel laureates who were produced by the University of Chicago as from 1929 to 2000.

1929 is the year when Robert Hutchins who is a great zealot for liberal arts, became the fifth president of University of Chicago. It is the year when the Chicago plan begun whereby the four years of educational curriculum was dedicated to reading of liberal arts and the students would not be allowed to graduate unless they had read the 100 pieces of liberal arts much till they could even memorize every word in them. If it were not for the Chicago plan, could the university have become the kingdom of Nobel Prizes as it is now? 

I hope you will find it out by yourselves.

Just as the spear that targets the sun goes the highest, the reading of liberal arts can be most effective when it aims at change for the best standard.

Reading of liberal arts that do not involve a fierce self-conflict to destroy the past self is nothing more or less than accumulation of knowledge.

If you want a change in your brain, read at least five books of liberal arts in a year, with all your strength, deeply read, and take notes. Then you will experience a change in your brain and the know-how from the best liberal arts is going to come to life in your heart and brain.

Most importantly, liberal arts target the people who have the image of God. The true aim of the liberal arts are to make happy geniuses, hence has to be read in accordance with the bible.

It is established in pedagogy that a man is born a genius naturally.

But why are you not a genius?

The reason is simple. You have never been educated by a genius. Till now, you have been educated by the people who are normal. What if this continues? Your children will become like you. Now, allow your child to meet a genius. Allow him to be indulged in to the world of liberal arts that has been written by the history changing geniuses who poured their lifetime strength to write one.

Dr. Ha Tae Hyun, Ph.D.

Director

DOAN Education Institute (College)