Evergreen Provost Michael Zimmerman

Note: Provost Michael Zimmerman and Arts Advisor Pablo Schugurensky ’84 will facilitate an Evergreen Traveling Seminar in Seattle on March 14, titled Pushing Back Against the “STEM” Tide: The Value of A Liberal Arts Education. If you are in area and wish to attend, reserve your seats soon. Participation is limited to 25.  

‘Long before Michael Zimmerman joined Evergreen as Provost, he was a nationally respected voice in the often strident conversation about the value of a liberal arts education in an increasingly technology-driven world. Michael chairs the Washington Consortium for the Liberal Arts, a role that allows him to champion the restructuring of the conversation from the oppositional – liberal arts versus STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) – to a nuanced discussion of curricular balance on a continuum of knowledge. It starts with a respectful insistence on accurate definitions.

With a first stop at the dictionary, Michael reminds us that “STEM disciplines are in fact a part of the liberal arts, they are not apart from the liberal arts.” “The liberal arts are not liberal,” he continues, “with liberal being traditionally defined as covering the breadth of human knowledge, if we exclude STEM from them.”

Read the full article, “Who says liberal arts majors can’t make a good living?” in Marketplace Education.

Greeners: What do you think about American education today? Did your Evergreen liberal arts education prepare you for the fast changing world in which we live? Add your comments below.