OSUN Open Educational Resources
Document Type
Teaching Tool
Publication Date
Winter 2025
Abstract
Transcending Boundaries: Integrating Scientific Perspectives in Liberal Arts Education confronts the enduring divide between the sciences and humanities, a split famously critiqued by C.P. Snow in his essay "The Two Cultures". While liberal arts education now includes natural sciences alongside humanities and social sciences, many Core Curriculum courses still fail to resonate with STEM students. These students often find such courses disconnected from their academic interests, perceiving them as irrelevant or lacking transferable skills.
This guide aims to bridge that gap by providing practical strategies and class exercises that integrate scientific thinking into the broader liberal arts framework. Drawing on philosophy of science, it encourages students to reflect on foundational concepts such as the distinction between data and evidence, the interpretative nature of scientific observation, and the interconnectedness of scientific and humanistic inquiry. These practices foster intellectual humility, critical thinking, and a deeper appreciation of the complexities underlying both natural and social phenomena.
Rather than proposing a radical overhaul of curricula, Transcending Boundaries demonstrates how classical texts and philosophical debates remain relevant to scientific inquiry. It promotes Karl Popper’s notion of the unity of method, arguing that fostering a scientific mindset—characterized by analytical rigor, openness to challenging assumptions, and epistemological awareness—benefits all students, regardless of their discipline. By doing so, this guide not only makes Core Curriculum courses more engaging for STEM students but also enriches the educational experience of humanities and social sciences students, encouraging a more holistic and integrated approach to learning.
Recommended Citation
Božac, Zlata, "Transcending Boundaries: Integrating Scientific Perspectives in Liberal Arts Education" (2025). OSUN Open Educational Resources. 28.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/osun_oer/28
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
