Yongfang Chen '10, Liberal Arts Experiences in Newsweek

Story posted February 17, 2010

Yongfang Chen '10 and his book about the merits of the liberal arts education model are the subject of a Newsweek magazine article.

"Liberal Applications," the piece in the February 22, 2010, issue, examines the influx of applications from China to U.S. liberal arts colleges and the educational approach to encourage critical thinking.

Liberal Coverage
Yongfang Bookstore200.jpg
Yongfang Chen '10 with a display of his books at Shanghai Book City, the largest bookstore in Shanghai.

Chen and A True Liberal Arts Education have been profiled by a number of media outlets.


An excerpt from the article:

The book, which Chen wrote with friends Ye Lin and Wan Li, who also attend small U.S. colleges, touts such benefits as intimate classes (the student-to-faculty ratio at Bowdoin is 9:1) and professors who focus on teaching rather than research.
Chen, 23, explains that he was won over by Bowdoin's commitment to nurturing skills for life, rather than simply for the workplace.
"Liberal arts is about fostering your identity," he says.
"They want to cultivate your mind. You may not remember all the knowledge you've learned after four years, but they want you to know how to learn."

Read the Newsweek article.

A True Liberal Arts Education (China Publishing Group, 2009) is published in Chinese with an English appendix featuring interviews with various Bowdoin faculty and administrators, including President Barry Mills, Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster and Associate Dean of Admissions John Thurston.

More about the book here.

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