I was pointed by RISD Director of Public Engagement Peter Hocking to this essay on The Goals of a Liberal Education by Prof. William Cronon of the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Cronon’s essay outlines ten qualities in people that come from a well-composed liberal arts education:

1. They listen and they hear.
2. They read and they understand.
3. They can talk with anyone.
4. They can write clearly and persuasively and movingly.
5. They can solve a wide variety of puzzles and problems.
6. They respect rigor not so much for its own sake but as a way of seeking truth.
7. They practice humility, tolerance, and self-criticism.
8. They understand how to get things done in the world.
9. They nurture and empower the people around them.
10. They follow E.M. Forster’s injunction from Howard’s End: “Only connect…”

His tenth point on “only connect” is the magic secret sauce of what he describes as the key — which is “to see the connections that allow one to make sense of the world and act within it in creative ways.” It is about establishing the ability through mastering 1 through 9 to achieve “the freedom to connect.” This feels like true intellectual freedom to me.

**2008 RISD Honorary Degree Recipient Yo-yo Ma’s 4 tenets seem to dock well with Cronon’s framework.