The central tension that Boyer discusses in his chapter is the benefits of combining the liberal arts with career and vocational schools to make a new type of learning, the “Enriched Major” idea. Boyer states, “Courses alone do not bring coherence. Faculty must provide the enlightening and integrative foundation so essential to a successful undergraduate experience,” (page 226). Boyer believes that education needs to take another step into looking at what education students are getting, and providing a learning experience that extends beyond the classroom. This, he argues, is what makes students prosperous people.
Boyer’s “Enriched Major” idea is that people will benefit more by getting a deeper understanding of what they are actually learning in the major, by taking a closer look into the history, social, and ethical involvements. This is described by Boyer as “By an enriched major we mean encouraging students not only to explore a field in depth, but also to help them put their field of special studies in perspective,” (page 223). Rather than facing a major and accepting it without question, Boyer argues that the best thing to do is ask detailed queries about the education being received. The “Enriched Major” idea also involves different learning techniques, which responds to a key tension in the vocation vs liberal arts debate is to combine the two ways of learning into one large program.
