By: Virginia Boles -- Staff Writer
Shakespeare, Milton, Aristotle, Austen, Du Bois, Dostoyevsky, Beethoven, Einstein . . . names that we, as UCLA students, are at least familiar with. Why are we familiar with them? Because they have created the greatest achievements of our intellectual heritage, be it in literature, philosophy, music, or the sciences. These men and women have confronted basic questions of the meaning of life and of beauty, the nature of the cosmos and of human society, and the principles of right and wrong. Every human being must, at some point in his or her life, confront these questions. For much of the history of Western Civilization, from ancient Greece and Rome, through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment, and up until perhaps sixty years ago, exploring such questions were the primary objective of an education. This kind of education is traditionally called a Classical, Liberal Arts education. “Liberal” comes from the Latin adjective liber, which means “free.” It is understood that studying these perennial human questions - why life exists, what truth and beauty are, how a society should be organized – makes a person more free. Nurturing/fostering/developing insight into these ideas, and being familiar with the great achievements of one’s culture, is enriching.
However, it is possible for a student to graduate with a B.A. or a B.S. from UCLA without having ever comprehensively studied these ideas, these figures, or their works. As a research institution, UCLA professors often focus on the latest discoveries and techniques in their field, or fill their lecture halls with post-modern interpretations of literature, sociology, and history. The general education requirements, which are UCLA’s attempt at giving their students a well-rounded education, are a mere a parody/vestigial organ/shadow/ of a true classical, liberal arts education. Often, they do not provide a “general” education by a long shot: a student can fulfill his or her “Historical Analysis” requirement with a class on “Joan of Arc and Gilles de Rais.” As important as these figures may be, to pretend that they constitute a general education in history is ridiculous. And yet, that can be the only history class that a non-history major takes at UCLA.
Enter Daniel Lowenstein. A registered Democrat professor who worked for Jerry Brown hosts a dinner for UCLA students celebrating Constitution Day, Professor Lowenstein directs a new center at UCLA promoting the study of Western civilization and the liberal arts. Seems contradictory? In fact, not at all. In 2009, UCLA Law Professor Lowenstein founded the Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions, abbreviated “CLAFI”. Its purpose is to help UCLA students get a comprehensive, traditional liberal arts education, studying the greatest literature, philosophy, art, music, history, and science of, primarily, the western intellectual heritage.
CLAFI is founded on three principles. First, “an educated citizen in a democracy should have a sound understanding of the history of free institutions and their underlying principles.” Second, “a central purpose of a university is to assist and encourage students . . . to confront basic questions of the meaning of life, the nature of the cosmos and of human society, and the principles of right and wrong. The study and appreciation of history, literature and other arts, philosophy, religion, and social science are of value in themselves and are also integral to consideration of these basic questions.” Finally, “the study of the great works and achievements of Western and other civilizations, combining respectful criticism with the presumption that we have much to learn from our greatest forerunners, is a valuable if not indispensable means for the study of the principles of free institutions and the fundamental questions we face as humans.”
Many mistakenly consider a liberal arts education to be a rigid, regressive examination of the works of dead, white, oppressive males. (Sorry Jane Austen and W. E. B. Du Bois, the critics seem to have overlooked you in our canon.) The more important emphasis in a liberal arts education, however, is not who is studied, but what is studied. This education liberates the mind, endeavoring to give students an understanding of the principles and achievements that have built Western society. As a professor at Dartmouth College put it, “The goal of education is to form the Citizen. And the Citizen is a person who, if need be, can re-found his civilization.” It is fitting that we focus on Western civilization because the nation in which we reside was founded in that tradition. However, this does not undermine the value of studying other civilizations. There is no political agenda behind UCLA’s Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions. CLAFI simply tries to foster and facilitate a better understanding of the foundations of our American society.
As its opening event of the 2011-2012 academic year, CLAFI hosted a (free!) dinner in the Faculty Center for UCLA students on September 29th to celebrate Constitution Day. While students sipped coffee and ate a chocolate mousse dessert, Prof. Charles Kesler of Claremont McKenna University gave a talk on the idea of limited government under the U.S. Constitution. Over fifty students were present at the event, including both North and South campus majors, liberals and conservatives.
CLAFI also offers upper-division and Fiat Lux courses. Currently, Prof. Lowenstein is offering a course entitled “Justice and Public Responsibility in Literature.” Using the Socratic method, Prof. Lowenstein facilitates the discussion of eighteen students, covering works ranging from classics such as Sophocles’s Antigone and Shakespeare’s Othello to modern works such as Taking Sides by Ronald Harwood and Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley. In most UCLA discussion sections the TA praises every comment put forth by a student, even when that comment is irrelevant or unintelligent. “Discussion” is an abuse of the term since no comment builds off of the one that came before it. The seminars offered by CLAFI, however, offer a refreshing intellectual exercise. Students must support their comments with evidence from the text, rather than sharing their impressions and feelings about the work. If a student’s point is too vague, he or she is asked to refine and clarify their point. Students are expected to follow the discussion and respond to one another. Students learn to be intellectually agile, to think critically, and to express their ideas articulately. They stimulate their powers of reason while steeping their minds in the classics.
If you would like notices of CLAFI’s public lectures, seminars, or classes, or if you would like to become more involved in CLAFI’s growth at UCLA, please contact either Prof. Lowenstein at lowenstein@law.ucla.edu, or the affiliated student organization, “CLAFI@UCLA” at clafi.bruin@gmail.com. You can also visit CLAFI’s website, www.clafi.ucla.edu.
Virgina Boles is a fourth-year Greek and Latin Major. She can be reached at thebruinstandard@gmail.com
However, it is possible for a student to graduate with a B.A. or a B.S. from UCLA without having ever comprehensively studied these ideas, these figures, or their works. As a research institution, UCLA professors often focus on the latest discoveries and techniques in their field, or fill their lecture halls with post-modern interpretations of literature, sociology, and history. The general education requirements, which are UCLA’s attempt at giving their students a well-rounded education, are a mere a parody/vestigial organ/shadow/ of a true classical, liberal arts education. Often, they do not provide a “general” education by a long shot: a student can fulfill his or her “Historical Analysis” requirement with a class on “Joan of Arc and Gilles de Rais.” As important as these figures may be, to pretend that they constitute a general education in history is ridiculous. And yet, that can be the only history class that a non-history major takes at UCLA.
Enter Daniel Lowenstein. A registered Democrat professor who worked for Jerry Brown hosts a dinner for UCLA students celebrating Constitution Day, Professor Lowenstein directs a new center at UCLA promoting the study of Western civilization and the liberal arts. Seems contradictory? In fact, not at all. In 2009, UCLA Law Professor Lowenstein founded the Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions, abbreviated “CLAFI”. Its purpose is to help UCLA students get a comprehensive, traditional liberal arts education, studying the greatest literature, philosophy, art, music, history, and science of, primarily, the western intellectual heritage.
CLAFI is founded on three principles. First, “an educated citizen in a democracy should have a sound understanding of the history of free institutions and their underlying principles.” Second, “a central purpose of a university is to assist and encourage students . . . to confront basic questions of the meaning of life, the nature of the cosmos and of human society, and the principles of right and wrong. The study and appreciation of history, literature and other arts, philosophy, religion, and social science are of value in themselves and are also integral to consideration of these basic questions.” Finally, “the study of the great works and achievements of Western and other civilizations, combining respectful criticism with the presumption that we have much to learn from our greatest forerunners, is a valuable if not indispensable means for the study of the principles of free institutions and the fundamental questions we face as humans.”
Many mistakenly consider a liberal arts education to be a rigid, regressive examination of the works of dead, white, oppressive males. (Sorry Jane Austen and W. E. B. Du Bois, the critics seem to have overlooked you in our canon.) The more important emphasis in a liberal arts education, however, is not who is studied, but what is studied. This education liberates the mind, endeavoring to give students an understanding of the principles and achievements that have built Western society. As a professor at Dartmouth College put it, “The goal of education is to form the Citizen. And the Citizen is a person who, if need be, can re-found his civilization.” It is fitting that we focus on Western civilization because the nation in which we reside was founded in that tradition. However, this does not undermine the value of studying other civilizations. There is no political agenda behind UCLA’s Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions. CLAFI simply tries to foster and facilitate a better understanding of the foundations of our American society.
As its opening event of the 2011-2012 academic year, CLAFI hosted a (free!) dinner in the Faculty Center for UCLA students on September 29th to celebrate Constitution Day. While students sipped coffee and ate a chocolate mousse dessert, Prof. Charles Kesler of Claremont McKenna University gave a talk on the idea of limited government under the U.S. Constitution. Over fifty students were present at the event, including both North and South campus majors, liberals and conservatives.
CLAFI also offers upper-division and Fiat Lux courses. Currently, Prof. Lowenstein is offering a course entitled “Justice and Public Responsibility in Literature.” Using the Socratic method, Prof. Lowenstein facilitates the discussion of eighteen students, covering works ranging from classics such as Sophocles’s Antigone and Shakespeare’s Othello to modern works such as Taking Sides by Ronald Harwood and Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley. In most UCLA discussion sections the TA praises every comment put forth by a student, even when that comment is irrelevant or unintelligent. “Discussion” is an abuse of the term since no comment builds off of the one that came before it. The seminars offered by CLAFI, however, offer a refreshing intellectual exercise. Students must support their comments with evidence from the text, rather than sharing their impressions and feelings about the work. If a student’s point is too vague, he or she is asked to refine and clarify their point. Students are expected to follow the discussion and respond to one another. Students learn to be intellectually agile, to think critically, and to express their ideas articulately. They stimulate their powers of reason while steeping their minds in the classics.
If you would like notices of CLAFI’s public lectures, seminars, or classes, or if you would like to become more involved in CLAFI’s growth at UCLA, please contact either Prof. Lowenstein at lowenstein@law.ucla.edu, or the affiliated student organization, “CLAFI@UCLA” at clafi.bruin@gmail.com. You can also visit CLAFI’s website, www.clafi.ucla.edu.
Virgina Boles is a fourth-year Greek and Latin Major. She can be reached at thebruinstandard@gmail.com
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