A Defense of a Liberal Arts Education in the Age of A.I.
5/21/20261 hr 3 min
What’s really driving the humanities crisis in higher education? As enrollment and reading decline, I asked Jennifer Frey, a professor of philosophy, what it was like to run a liberal arts program that was gutted. I wanted to know whether she thinks the age of A.I. could bring back the kind of education she says is fundamental to human formation.
- 00:00 - Intro
- 2:08 - Why study the humanities?
- 5:00 - Do the humanities mean more morality?
- 15:00 - Shakespeare vs. John Grisham
- 24:07 - The Tulsa Honors College
- 34:43 - Left-wing critiques and specialization
- 44:10 - Is conservatism a friend to liberal arts?
- 56:32 - Why the humanities are crucial in the age A.I.
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Jennifer Frey· Guest0:29
So what you hear people saying now, "Well, because AI is changing the workforce, we now need the humanities for these soft skills that are now incredibly important."
Ross Douthat· Host0:41
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Frey· Guest0:41
And, um- I've, I've, I may have said that to myself, contemplating my own children's future, yes. Yes. This is the, exactly the wrong case.
Ross Douthat· Host0:49
Okay. [upbeat music] Jennifer Frey, welcome to Interesting Times.
Jennifer Frey· Guest1:10
Thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled to be here.
Ross Douthat· Host1:12
So I am, like you, I think, a book person. And I feel like for basically, if not my entire life, at least my entire adult life, I have been living in the shadow of the decline of