“I only want to take the classes that I need.”
As an Academic Advisor, I hear this phrase over and over. Students come in to me to help them plan their semester and register for their classes, and they have a very clear vision of what they want. They don’t want to waste any time or money, they want to get their degree as quickly and efficiently as possible. They’ve been told that a degree is the thing that will unlock their future. Their diploma will be the paper key to unlock a career, and with that, money, stability, maybe even happiness.
They’ve seen politicians and commentators emphasize STEM education as the only thing worthwhile. In my parents’ generation, everyone needed to become an Engineer. By the time I was in college, everyone needed to Learn To Code. Now, everyone needs to go into Healthcare or AI.
They’ve seen Colleges and Universities pivot hard into Career & Technical Education programs. They’ve heard people sneer in comments sections on social media that college students should only pick majors that are “useful,” that they shouldn’t take out student loans for “useless” majors. They’ve gotten notifications from their Financial Aid office that a course they registered for is outside of their major and therefore may be ineligible for their state aid.
Is it any wonder that they “only want to take classes they need?”
For some students, they mean they only want to take the classes that are required for their major, because that is what financial aid will pay for, and that is what will get their degree. They don’t want any frills, they want to take the requirements and that’s it.
But there are some students who mean that they do not want to take any courses that they feel do not directly connect to their major. Most degrees require some humanities or social sciences to fulfill general education requirements, and they want to see if they can get out of those courses. I’ve had Computer Science majors ask why they needed to take an Intro to Psychology course, Psychology majors ask why they needed to take a Literature course, and Business majors object to taking a History course. They don’t understand why they need to take these courses, and so they don’t want to take them. They don’t think they need to. Which is why I was so happy to see Nahla Ake state the problem with this kind of thinking so directly: the students don’t know what they need.
Back in an early episode of TNG, Wesley and Picard share a shuttle ride. Wesley is going to take some exams for Academy credit, and Picard asks if he read the book on Philosophy that he’d lent him. Wesley points out that Philosophy won’t be on his Academy exams. He only wants to take what he needs. Picard replies that the important things won’t be on the exams, and that Wesley should open himself to new ideas found in art, philosophy, and literature. Wesley’s journey at the end of TNG and in Prodigy would not have been possible if he focused simply on math and engineering. Teenage Wesley understood the value of studying space and time, but adult Wesley recognized that thought was also important.
Similarly, when Sylvia Tilly introduces Theater to the cadets, Darem and Genesis scoff and question why this is important. Both of them have stated that they hope to be captains someday, and do not see the value of learning theater or literature. They only want to take what they need. They halfheartedly accept Tilly’s suggestion that theater will be helpful to them, but they don’t really buy it the way that SAM does. Later on, as the grumbling continues, Tilly says to the class “Don’t be the Captain that tears down, be that Captain that lifts up.” When she said this, I reflected on two Captains in particular that Tilly served under on Discovery: Lorca and Pike.
Gabriel Lorca was very much the Captain who tears down. He bullied Stamets, he intimidated Tilly, he barked at Saru and the bridge crew, and ultimately he betrayed Discovery. The only members of the crew he was seen to have a somewhat good working relationship with were Burnham and Tyler. He only liked them because they gave him something he would need. His interests were solely focused on war and power, and he had no use for creating relationships with people beyond the transactional.
In contrast, when Christopher Pike first sets foot on Discovery, he introduces himself on a personal level, cracks a few jokes, and asks everyone for their name. He respects them all. He shows he has knowledge of things like art, religion, and philosophy, and that comes in handy when they encounter the village, the Sphere, and Tenavik. He is motivated by a desire to help Spock, one of his officers who he cares about. Throughout his year on Discovery, Pike builds relationships with the crew, and in Strange New Worlds he is shown to be a much more relaxed Captain, regularly hosting dinner parties and cooking for and with his crew. Pike is the Captain who lifts up, and it is because his character is more well-rounded. He can relate to people on a personal level, encourage them to bring their own personality and unique skills to the table. Pike realizes that you never know what you might need, so it’s best to be open to a lot.
And that is what the Liberal Arts is for. There are some problems that can only be solved by bringing in a number of different perspectives, different disciplines, different ways of thinking. You never know what you might need some day, and so you need to have multiple ways of looking at things. Lorca’s toolbox is limited. Pike’s is expansive.
Though they fight her throughout, in the end the cadets understand what Tilly is trying to teach them. There is value in art, in literature, in reflecting and in applying the things we learn in the arts to our lives. “I only want to take what I need” tends to be something students say at the beginning of their college journey, but at the end, I tend to see students who are disappointed that their degree doesn’t have the space for them to explore more topics. As the camera pulls back at the end of the episode, and Reno congratulates her friend Tilly, it’s clear that these cadets have grown their toolboxes.
And that is why the Liberal Arts matters.
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