SLS Mirror - July 2019 SLS MIRROR JULY 2019, Volume 13, Issue 7 | Page 4

Le ’ s Talk
LIBERAL STUDIES: LOOKING AT THE FUTURE OF CREATIVE EDUCATION
The School of Liberal Studies (SLS) under Pandit Deendayal Petroleum
University (PDPU) offers courses that are truly liberal in nature. In this
editorial, I intend to infuse among my readers a thorough understanding of
Liberal Studies as a novel academic discipline. Liberal Studies, which is also
known as Liberal Arts, offers a simultaneous bouquet of Arts, Social Sciences
and Humanities subjects. According to the traditional mode of learning, a
learner is supposed to learn a particular set of subjects under the broad
categories of Arts,Science or Commerce. Contrary to the traditional mode of
learning though, the broad arena of Liberal Studies gives scopes to
a learner to select a wider range of subjects based on his/ her inclinations. It further lets a learner grasp
what he/ she really wants to learn rather than pushing a bevy of irrelevant subjects down his/ her throat.
Through the pursuance of Liberal Studies, the learners further get into the habit of understanding and
respecting a variety of subjects and cultures, a process that helps them to become learned and
thoughtful individuals.
Liberal Studies offers opportunities in the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels. In the
undergraduate level,the specializations could be communication, humanities, public policy,inter -national
affairs, management, psychology, environmental studies and the likes. There are full-time as well as
part-time programmes offered by various universities in India and abroad.
The undergraduate programme in Liberal Studies demands the selection of major and minor papers.
Some universities call it core and elective papers. To bring further clarity to the table, it can be said that
a learner can take International Relations as the major paper along with Economics or Public Admin -
istration as the minor paper. Further, the learner can also take two electives to enhance their gamut of
knowledge.
The Liberal Studies or Liberal Arts curriculum requires a learner to develop research papers as an
integral component of education. Further, the classroom experience should ideally consist of dis -
cussions, role-play exercises, in-class assignments, tests and other allied activities. The objective of
such a system is to encourage the learners to generate their ideas and improve their innovative powers.
It further focuses on developing their perspectives on various schools of thought on culture, religion,
philosophy and the likes.
Liberal Studies education gives multi-dimensional career prospects and hence does not prepare a
learner for a specific career only. Some of the key skills that people learn through Liberal Studies are
written and verbal communication skills, reasoning, critical thinking and business knowledge.The
possible career opportunities include those in economic consultancy, government administration, sales
and marketing, media production, technical writing, social science research and other ancillary fields.
In India, other than PDPU, only a handful of universities offer Liberal Studies as a separate academic
discipline. Those varsities are mostly private or deemed. However, since the last few years, there has
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