Westmont Magazine Is Science a Liberal Art? 

What role do the sciences play in a liberal arts education? The Fifth Annual Conversation on the Liberal Arts tackled this issue in February when 30 scholars from colleges and universities across the country attended the conference sponsored by Westmont’s Institute for the Liberal Arts.

Sessions addressed both theoretical and practical questions: How do the sciences help us interpret the meaning and value of our lives? How do we teach the sciences as a part of a liberal arts curriculum? How do we overcome the persistent cultural divide between scientists and humanists?

Speakers included leading theoretical physicist S. James Gates from the University of Maryland at College Park and Cambridge literary scholar and historian of science Dame Gillian Beer, among others. Psychology Professor Thomas Fikes from Westmont participated in a panel discussion.

For more information about the Institute for the Liberal Arts, see the Westmont Web site: www.westmont.edu/institute.