Liberal Education and American Democracy

This course will take up two related questions: first, what is liberal education, and second, is it possible to get one in the United States? The phrase “liberal education” suggests that we can be liberated by our educations – freed from the narrow prejudices of our neighborhood or country or regime. But is that really possible when we are always educated in and by our neighborhoods and countries and regimes? Democracies, like all regimes, create both opportunities and limitations on the educational possibilities of their citizens. Can its tensions, between vocational training and liberal learning, and between equality and excellence be reconciled? What does it mean to be educated for freedom in a democracy? We will consider these questions through a series of foundational texts on education and the regime by political philosophers.

This reader was developed by Dr. Rita Koganzon and Mr. Dallas Terry.

Want to speak with Dr. Koganzon or Mr. Terry? We’d be happy to introduce you.

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