Liberal Arts
Training in the liberal arts is indispensable!
“Training in the liberal arts is indispensable to making free men out of children. It prepares them for the uses of freedom — the proper employment of free time and the exercise of political power. It prepares them for leisure and for citizenship.”
We say liberal arts for ease of communication, but what we really mean is Liber Education. Liber education is the method by which we fulfil the mission of the college; all studies and experiences can be categorized within the five elements of liber education:
- Liberal Arts
- Humanities
- Manual Arts
- Abundance Mentality/Producers
- Practical Spirituality
We offer one undergraduate degree: BA in Liber Education.
Our graduates enter the post-college world with a skill set that gives them the option of not seeking a job, but rather empowers them to create a self-supporting business and living situation that is completely independent. They graduate with a set of skills wherein they can think for themselves, communicate with power and effectiveness, grow their own food, build their own home, generate their own electricity, and form a business of value to themselves and to the world. Their education makes them an asset and leader in any community.
BA in Liber Education: the “10,000 Hour” degree
| Time Spent on Degree | Program | Week/Month/Events |
|---|---|---|
| On campus study and classroom | 4,000 hours | 36 hours/week |
| Manual Arts | 3,000 hours | 25 hours/week |
| Service | 300 hours | 12 hours/month |
| Trek/Field Trips | 1,000 hours | 36 hours/event |
| Academic Break Study (home) | 1,700 hours | 21 hours/week |
| Total Hours | 10,000 hours |
The liberal arts are for learning and promoting freedom, and the humanities teach us the value of history and how to interface meaningfully with other human beings. The manual arts are the development of physical skills that lead to independence; becoming a producer provides for economic and legal independence, and spirituality reminds us to be humble and that we are dependent on a Supernatural Power.
The importance of the liberal arts to Western culture is evidenced in the fact that we still talk about them today although most people know little of their history or origin. From their Greek and Roman origins, the liberal arts and the humanities were one in the same, or rather the humanities were a subset of the liberal arts. We tend to divide and categorize all educational fields today, but that is not how it was done in antiquity.
From ancient Greece to the European Industrial Revolution, the emphasis of liberal arts education was the perpetuation of a political and financial culture of freedom primarily for the nobles and the landed gentry.
This was a taught awareness of the importance of independence, for historically, independence was what protected a man from becoming a slave. The specific purpose of the liberal arts was and is to create freemen.
A freeman is a free man or woman who possesses a high level of literacy including reading, writing, and speaking. A freeman is one who owns property and protects it. A freeman is a man or woman who possesses a skill set that allows them to be independent. A freeman is a man or woman who thinks for themselves, is financially independent, can defend themselves in the courts, can hold their own in the legislature, and who is prepared and ready to militarily defend their city or state.
