I had a revelation a few years ago about liberal arts education while listening to a presentation by a religion professor at a small liberal arts college. He described his work over a couple of years with a small group of Muslim students to develop a new, introductory religion course on Islam. As I listened to his engaging story, I was reminded of what I believe deeply about the challenge we have in the 21st century when most of our students are more worried about education for a career than about learning that stretches the imagination and offers them the skills, knowledge, and values to live in a complex world. What this faculty member taught me is that to genuinely embrace liberal learning, we each need to pay attention and practice extreme patience, deep humility, and a suspension of disbelief鈥攁ll attitudes and characteristics that are rare in our culture (and in our colleges).
He told a story of how he鈥攐n the cusp of retirement鈥攕et out to learn as an amateur. He admitted the mistakes he made in describing Islam to students. He described his childlike efforts to learn a bit of Arabic. He described being corrected in class by one of the Muslim students. He talked about misconceptions of the Islamic faith and tradition that he (and we) needed to debunk. What I learned from him was that education in the liberal arts鈥攁 core pillar of our mission at Augsburg鈥攊s about so much more than what we learn; it is about why and how we learn. Liberal arts learning鈥� whether in the traditional disciplines or in professional studies鈥攊s about the love, patience, and humility it takes to learn to pay attention.
Simone Weil has said, 鈥淎ttention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.鈥� A liberal arts approach to education鈥攏o matter the subject or topic鈥攊s well-suited to cultivate attention 鈥� 鈥淎nd attention, like listening, engenders genuine and lasting learning.鈥�
Brad Sullivan, who teaches at Western New England College, has recently challenged all of us who care about education to consider attention as a topic of focused inquiry. Sullivan鈥檚 argument is that the ways of knowing most conducive to the purposes of a liberal arts education鈥攇rounded in a historical perspective and having their genesis in personal engagement, inquiry, and critical consideration鈥攁re inextricably bound up with the cultivation of attention. 鈥淓xperience-centered, inquiry-centered liberal arts learning helps them to cultivate and practice the kinds of attention that will make them intelligent observers, diligent critics, and thoughtful actors on the stage of human life.鈥�
As this issue of Augsburg Now illustrates through the stories of our faculty and students, we know and practice this sort of liberal learning at Augsburg College with all of our students鈥攏o matter their age, area of study, or life experience鈥攁nd we are dedicated to making this learning more and more accessible to all those who desire and need this rare education to live meaningful and productive lives in the world. What a joy it is to share in this noble work and to celebrate those here at Augsburg who offer examples for all of us of the vocations to teach, learn, and pay attention.