ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author explores the need to redesign educational systems in light of technological change. If we could design a curriculum and higher educational setting fresh from a new start, what would college look like? Should it be designed around employment demands, personal happiness, or both? Given automation and artificial intelligence (AI) trends, many believe that higher education needs to be more tech-focused for the future of work. But instead of investing scarce resources in re-tooling schools with more technology that surely will become outdated, why not focus on what students really need by returning to the roots of liberal education? Surprisingly, workplace skill demands and individual happiness trends actually interrelate: Future work success and personal fulfillment are both tied to free thinking. Only by thinking freely can we nurture creative and critical minds, which is how we build our individual identities, as well as expertise for the workplace. Consider St. John’s College, America’s third oldest higher educational institution founded in 1696. St. John’s “Great Books” curriculum and educational culture may just be a model for how to future-proof students in our century of rapid technological and lifestyle changes by freeing their minds from creative work and fostering individual purpose in life.
