Putting the General in Gen Ed

Robert Miranda in The Harvard Crimson, March 9, 2018.

"As Ross G. Douthat ’02 wrote in The Atlantic in 2005, it’s easy to leave Harvard Yard after four years without learning much of anything at all. He then spoke of Harvard’s nearly 30-year-old Core Curriculum, replaced in 2009 with the current General Education system—which now stands to be significantly overhauled itself, less than 15 years after Douthat’s portent.
...
"We can and should debate at length whether Gen Ed ought to teach Harvard students about Shakespeare and Justinian, or the merits of a canon. But one thing is certain: Many classes don’t directly reflect these debates. I won’t mince words: Harvard’s General Education system lacks general education. The focus on the specific goes against the 'Gen in Gen Ed, reinforcing the idea that the liberal arts themselves are just a buzzword."