Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Liberal Education. Linguistics in the Undergraduate Curriculum, Appendix 4-H

The goals of liberal education are to deepen the understanding of the nature of humankind and of the human condition. In the last half century, fundamental changes have occurred in perceptions of how the human species relates to the rest of the universe, due to developments in science and the creation of the cognitive sciences. There is now the danger that even the best liberal education will focus too narrowly on the humanities and ignore science as irrelevant. The cognitive sciences could help create a new curriculum in which natural science plays an essential role because cognitive sciences: (1) have numerous deep ties with both the natural sciences and the humanities; (2) are young enough to be more easily influenced to play an important educational role than other, more established sciences; and (3) demand significantly less specialization and are more accessible to undergraduates than the traditional sciences. Linguistics already has a theoretical framework more sophisticated than any other cognitive science and has a highly articulated, well-defined subject area in language. Imaginatively conceived courses on language and linguistic theory could begin and sustain necessary changes in our conception of what is normal in a liberal education. (Author/MSE)