Scott Williams, PhD, joined his colleague James A. Foster, PhD, University of Idaho, in Nature’s Correspondence column touting the benefits of liberal arts courses in a scientific education. The authors note that a well-rounded education would help students define and tackle social as well as scientific issues – and to communicate them effectively.
The full correspondence:
Routinely including liberal-arts courses in scientific education can help students to define and tackle social as well as scientific issues — and to communicate them effectively (see, for example, G. Mulgan Nature 602, 9; 2022). Scientists can then be better equipped to act as interpreters and advocates when interacting with policymakers and the public.
Scientists should be thinkers, basing their work on carefully described problems derived from broader perspectives (G. Bosch Nature 554, 277; 2018). That can help them to see how their research touches the lives of fellow citizens. And because the broader public increasingly holds them accountable, an ability to communicate clearly is essential, particularly in fields such as medicine, environmental science and technology.
We recognize that our proposal might not sit comfortably with the present educational climate, in which admittance to scientific training programmes is based heavily on research experience. Such expectations reward early differentiation and specialization, but not necessarily the quality of questions asked, their context, and the underlying reasons for studying specific topics in our interconnected world.
Nature 603, 578 (2022)
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