Liberal Art

A Harvard student group will host a conference on "the post-graduate value of an undergraduate liberal arts education" from March 19 to 21, an organizer for the group said yesterday.

James M. Redwin '78, a member of the Undergraduate Conference on Education, said about 100 students from 40 colleges will attend a panel discussion and a series of workshops during the conference to "discuss the position, worth and problems of a liberal arts education in a period of economic insecurity."

Edwin O. Reischauer, University Professor and a member of the panel, said yesterday that "the conference is a good thing," since "it's important for students to express their ideas on the subject."

Reischauer said he will emphasize at the conference that "the importance of liberal education cannot out-run modern society."

"Today, generalists rather than specialists are more necessary than ever," Reischauer said.

David Reisman, Ford II Professor of Social Sciences and an adviser to the conference organizers, said yesterday that Harvard is an ideal location for the conference.

"But I am unsanguine about the conference in terms of what it can effect," he added.