THE EDUCATION OF THE 21ST-CENTURY PROFESSIONAL INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ISSUE, VNU JOURNAL OF SCIENCE

Since the inception of computational technologies in the 1940s, astonishing digitaltechnological progress is transforming everything. Society has experienced a revolution inthe acquisition, processing, and communication of digital information. Technologicalimprovements have transformed early large machines into compact devices that enable,mediate, support, and organize our lives. The Internet and the web, new multi-modal, mobileconnecting devices, and the cloud, in combination, are having a far greater impact andadoption speed than any previous technology; and these digital technologies will continue toaccelerate.This paper highlights the importance of combining liberal arts skills with digital fluency inthe education of the 21st-century professional. This is the single most important aspect thatwill identify a person as “literate” in the century of information. The transformativeexperience of the liberal arts has traditionally led to successes across many different fieldsand it stands to make an even greater impact in the information economy. The core practicesthat have made liberal arts education so successful over the centuries cannot be replaced bytechnology. Instead, liberal arts education will interlock perfectly and reciprocally withcontinued technological advancements. This is the essence of what we are trying toaccomplish at Keuka College. In this paper, we present a brief summary of technologyevolution and its implications for the labor market, and introduce Keuka College’s initiativefor educating professionals in the globally connected digital world of the 21st century.