Adler Memorial Lecture: Cicero and the Liberal Arts for Civics

Jed Atkins, Director and Dean; Professor of Civic Life and Leadership, School of Civic Life and Leadership, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This lecture explores the relationship between civic education and the liberal arts by turning to the first writer to have used the term “liberal arts”: the Roman philosopher, rhetorician, and stateman Cicero. A study of Cicero’s work reveals challenges and opportunities for offering a liberal arts education with a substantial civic dimension.