The Case for the Modern Polymath: Why a Broad Education Matters

Students will confront complex challenges like AI, climate change, and inequality. To tackle these “wicked” problems, they need polymathic thinking, which entails integrating knowledge across disciplines. Small liberal arts colleges can cultivate this mindset, fostering adaptability and diverse experiences, crucial for navigating a complicated world and achieving fulfilling careers.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Self-portrait (circa 1517-1518), Turin, Royal Library.

Students today will enter a world of unprecedented challenges that were unfathomable a generation ago. The problems our students will face include artificial intelligence, political divisiveness, climate change, access to healthcare, growing economic inequality, and countless other issues. Addressing these social and political issues will require our students to learn how to solve “wicked” problems that are complicated, incomplete, and interconnected—ones that require complex solutions. Polymathic thinking will be increasingly necessary for our students to navigate this new world successfully.  

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