Roosevelt Montás Discusses Higher Education on the VVK Podcast
Professor Roosevelt Montás. Photo by Inbal Sivan
Roosevelt Montás, Laura Y. Chang and Arnold Chavkin Professor in Liberal Education and Civic Life at Bard College, was a guest on the VVK Podcast where he discussed the value of a liberal arts education. The episode “Teaching People to Think, Not Just Work,” covered the role of higher education at the intersection of the humanities and technological change. Montás believes the most crucial skills graduates can pursue are “cultivated judgement, critical thinking, [and] listening, thinking, empathetic, and imaginative skills that a liberal arts education produces.” At the same time, “[those skills] matter beyond the marketplace… the ultimate questions of a liberal arts education [are] not just how you’re going to make a living, but how you’re going to live your life.”
Montás described the Chang Chavkin Center for Liberal Education and Civic Life, of which he is executive director, as “aimed at revitalizing this idea of higher education as … a place where human virtues [of truth-telling, rational demonstration, and the authority of truth and evidence] are presented, examined, and cultivated.” The Chang Chavkin Center is focused on the connection between liberal education and civic life, and supports faculty in building general education programs for students in all disciplines.
Post Date: 05-13-2026
Montás described the Chang Chavkin Center for Liberal Education and Civic Life, of which he is executive director, as “aimed at revitalizing this idea of higher education as … a place where human virtues [of truth-telling, rational demonstration, and the authority of truth and evidence] are presented, examined, and cultivated.” The Chang Chavkin Center is focused on the connection between liberal education and civic life, and supports faculty in building general education programs for students in all disciplines.
Post Date: 05-13-2026