Soumya Bhattacharya is a novelist, journalist and literary critic
January 12, 2023
In his first policy speech of 2023, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak talked about wanting to make the study of maths compulsory for all pupils up to the age of 18.
“Right now, just half of all 16–19 year-olds study any maths at all,” Mr Sunak said. “Yet, in a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job, our children’s jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before. And letting our children out into the world without those skills is letting our children down.”
Maths is a pure science. No one can argue that its study is valuable. Or that being accomplished in maths is more useful than being poor at it. But Mr Sunak’s statement also holds a mirror to a global obsession with maths, and a growing belief that being successful at that one subject will become synonymous with success in life and earning a livelihood. It speaks to the primacy of Stem (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) within the university system across the world, the largesse being granted to Stem by universities to the exclusion of every other field of study.
Amid this craze, it escapes many of us – including education administrators and academics – that the study of a certain field other than maths equips pupils to navigate their way through a world and jobs which, as Mr Sunak put it, “require more analytical skills than ever before”. That field is the liberal arts.
The study of the liberal arts hones the powers of logical reasoning, critical thinking, rational analysis, and problem solving
We can all agree that the liberal arts develop soft skills in its students. In a world in which communication is the key, a liberal arts graduate is likelier to be a more effective communicator than, say, an engineering graduate.
Much more importantly, however, the study of the liberal arts hones the powers of logical reasoning (and, therefore, analytical skills), critical thinking, rational analysis, and problem solving. An astute liberal arts graduate ought to be able to deconstruct any text or situation. When confronted with, for instance, a major global event, they should be able to place it in a historical, cultural and sociological context, spot connections and patterns between the past and the present, join the dots, break down a complicated set of circumstances and explain it with perceptiveness and fluency.
A wide range of interests, vast reading, as well as broad and deep exposure to literature, philosophy, the arts, film and popular culture – without which no liberal arts graduate is worth their salt – broadens the mind and imparts erudition. It also makes for a versatile, cosmopolitan, well-rounded human being, who is steeped in a variety of influences and can use them to untangle a knotty conundrum. Not for nothing are liberal arts graduates now much in demand in sectors like tech and AI – fields distinct from the ones with which they were traditionally associated.
The fetishisation of maths as a subject (something that has existed for ages in countries such as India and China) means that 17- and 18-year-olds who are not as proficient in it as some of their peers are somehow perceived to be lesser pupils. Worse, forcing them to study maths even if they have no knack for it results in their being unable to explore subjects that excite a passion in them, areas of study that they may really want to explore.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London. EPA
In a 2019 lecture titled "The Liberal Arts in the 21st Century: More Important than Ever", Santa J Ono, currently president of the University of Michigan and at the time the vice chancellor of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, drew attention to the book Losing Earth: The Decade We Could Have Stopped Climate Change, by Nathaniel Rich. “I urge you all to read its compelling narrative about climate change and the chance we had to save the Earth three decades ago,” he said.
“The author of Losing Earth was not a climate scientist; he was a liberal arts graduate. I would argue that his humanities background helped make his message even more powerful, because his liberal arts education gave him the critical thinking skills, and the perspective to bring home the poignancy of our lost chance to save the Earth’s environment.”
Dr Ono himself is a widely respected immunologist. He did his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, one of the finest institutions in the world. But he believes that the liberal arts courses he took at university made him a better scholar and human being. “I believe that I am a better scholar because of my liberal arts education, because it was intentionally diverse and heterogeneous, because it made me move outside of my comfort zone into areas of thought and discussion that were uncomfortable to me ... it broadened my mind, it exercised my mind,” Dr Ono said.
Maths deals only in black and white; there is only right or wrong. By nurturing complex life skills, the liberal arts teach its students to navigate a world that is in many shades of grey.
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area. Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife. Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”. He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale. Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Born November 11, 1948 Education: BA, English Language and Literature, Cairo University Family: Four brothers, seven sisters, two daughters, 42 and 39, two sons, 43 and 35, and 15 grandchildren Hobbies: Reading and traveling
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened. He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia. Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”. Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Results
1. New Zealand Daniel Meech – Fine (name of horse), Richard Gardner – Calisto, Bruce Goodin - Backatorps Danny V, Samantha McIntosh – Check In. Team total First round: 200.22; Second round: 201.75 – Penalties 12 (jump-off 40.16 seconds) Prize €64,000
2. Ireland Cameron Hanley – Aiyetoro, David Simpson – Keoki, Paul Kennedy – Cartown Danger Mouse, Shane Breen – Laith. Team total 200.25/202.84 – P 12 (jump-off 51.79 – P17) Prize €40,000
3. Italy Luca Maria Moneta – Connery, Luca Coata – Crandessa, Simone Coata – Dardonge, Natale Chiaudani – Almero. Team total 130.82/198.-4 – P20. Prize €32,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister. "We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know. “All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.” It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins. Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement. The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
