What if…
What would it be like if we became “a nation of technically competent people who have lost the ability to think critically, to examine themselves, and to respect the humanity and diversity of others”?

These are the sobering words of Professor Martha Nussbaum, renowned classicist and champion of liberal education. Would you like to live with those people or be one of them? To our surprise, Professor Nussbaum’s classical defense of liberal arts education was nothing short of a precise prediction of the S&T educational agenda in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. “Nurturing talents capable in both science and humanities” is indeed one of the top priorities in the educational agenda jointly declared by the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea and the five major S&T institutes in February 2019, and Professor Nussbaum’s foresightful words were as good as spelling out what abilities constitute “talents capable in both science and humanities” and why they matter. With an equally forward-looking vision, GIST College, as early as 2010, opened its unique liberal arts education program for science and engineering students—the Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

We at the Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences admit 200 handpicked students annually and offer an eclectic curriculum of mathematics, sciences, humanities, and social sciences to help them cultivate “fundamental” capability as future S&T talents, which we believe serves as the springboard for both further study in their select discipline and innovation across disciplines. We also take a particular pride in providing a learning environment that enables students to interact spontaneously with the faculty both in and outside of the small and close-knit classes. Such curriculum and environment combined promises to help students better learn to “think critically, to examine themselves, and to respect the humanity and diversity of others,” as well as growing “technically competent.” We welcome you to the community of the Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences at GIST.

Chair of the Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences Choi, JeongOk