창의융합 시대 인문교양교육에 대한 비판적 고찰 및 제언: 영문학의 사례를 중심으로

Abstract

This study critically discusses the current state of liberal arts education in Korea in the era of creative convergence. Specifically, this study examines whether the demands of the times for fostering creative convergence talent are effectively being met through the nation’s liberal arts education. Today, all Korean universities cry out for “interdisciplinary convergence” as an antidote to the crisis of higher education; however, even professors in the same department put up a firm fence around their major field of study in the real world. Widely using co-teaching methods across disciplinary boundaries can help to tackle this problem. Moreover, this study proposes how the humanities can be renewed afresh in resistance to the fiercely pragmatist trend blasted on universities and societies more broadly, how to appeal to students (or the public) more effectively, and what to do with the humanities more immediately, focusing on the case of English literature specifically. It is necessary to have students (or the public) recognize that the humanities are studies that can not only change human beings in the long term, but also meet students’ ‘practical’ needs in the short term as well. This study discusses and proposes a plan for promoting both together, reinstating the intrinsic value of the humanities, and stressing and drawing social utility from such a value. In this context, this study sheds new light on the ‘problem-solving ability’ that can be developed through liberal arts education as an important agenda. Lastly, it shows the ways in which the humanities scholars can better aid and guide the students on the job market through long-term efforts to normalize the humanities fields and higher education more generally.