Islam and the Liberal Arts

The aim of this event is to consider how the liberal arts education might be conceptualized through an Islamic intellectual framework. While the liberal arts are traced to ancient Greek and Roman cultures, many global knowledge traditions, including Islamic ones, have also emphasized holistic education, intellectual breadth, and cultivation of character.

The liberal arts can be understood as disciplinary areas and forms of knowledge necessary for the education of a free citizen: someone capable of thinking critically, participating meaningfully in civic life, and developing a broad understanding of the world. The discussion will examine how Muslim philosophers, scholars, and polymaths engaged many of the disciplines associated with liberal arts education. Attending to this history might help us find deeper meaning in the liberal arts educational model as well as recognize it not merely as a Western academic tradition, but as a broader human project connected to stewardship and the pursuit of wisdom.