Liberal Arts is a comedy-drama film. The film is the second film directed by, written by, and starring How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor. The film is about a 35 year-old named Jesse (Radnor) who has a romantic relationship with Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen), a 19-year-old college student.^[1] The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2012.^[2]

Filming[link]

The film was shot at Kenyon College, Radnor's alma mater, throughout the summer of 2011.^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Liberal Arts at the Internet Movie Database

The seven liberal arts – Picture from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad von Landsberg (12th century)

The phrase liberal arts (Latin: artes liberales) refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects (called the Trivium) were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy (which included the study of astrology). This extended curriculum was called the Quadrivium. Together the Trivium and Quadrivium constituted the seven liberal arts of the medieval university curriculum.

In modern times liberal arts is a term which can be interpreted in different ways. It can refer to certain areas of literature, languages, philosophy, history, mathematics, psychology, and science.^[1] It can also refer to studies on a liberal arts degree program. For example, Harvard University offers a Master of Liberal Arts degree, which covers biological and social sciences as well as the humanities.^[2] For both interpretations, the term generally refers to matters not relating to the professional, vocational, or technical curricula.

History[link]

In classical antiquity, the "liberal arts" denoted those subjects of study that were considered essential for a free person (Latin: liber, "free") ^[3] to master in order to acquire those qualities that distinguished a free person from slaves - the latter of whom formed the greater number of the population in the classical world. Contrary to popular belief, freeborn girls were as likely to receive formal education as boys, especially during the Roman Empire—unlike the lack of education, or purely manual/technical skills, proper to a slave.^[4] The "liberal arts" or "liberal pursuits" (Latin liberalia studia) were already so called in formal education during the Roman Empire; for example, Seneca the Younger discusses liberal arts in education from a critical Stoic point of view in Moral Epistle 88.^[5] The subjects that would become the standard "Liberal Arts" in Roman and Medieval times already comprised the basic curriculum in the enkuklios paideia or "education in a circle" of late Classical and Hellenistic Greece.

In the 5th century AD, Martianus Capella defined the seven Liberal Arts as: grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. In the medieval Western university, the seven liberal arts were divided in two parts:^[6]

• the Trivium

1. grammar
2. logic
3. rhetoric

• the Quadrivium

4. arithmetic
5. geometry
6. music
7. astronomy, often called astrology; both modern senses were covered

Modern usage[link]

Mathematics, science, arts, and language can all be considered part of the liberal arts. In the Middle Ages, the liberal arts were synonymous with introductory courses in branches of the sciences, mathematics, and in the study of writing. Some subsections of the liberal arts are trivium—the verbal arts: logic, grammar, and rhetoric; and quadrivium—the numerical arts: mathematics, geometry, music, and astronomy. Analyzing and interpreting information is also studied. Experience in the liberal arts aids in the formation and expression of well rounded opinions, via critical thinking.

Academic areas that can be associated with the term liberal arts include:

In the United States[link]

In the United States, liberal arts colleges are schools emphasizing undergraduate study in the liberal arts. Traditionally earned over four years of full-time study, the student earned either a Bachelor of Arts degree or a Bachelor of Science degree; on completing undergraduate study, students might progress to either a graduate school or a professional school (public administration, engineering, business, law, medicine, theology). The teaching is Socratic, typically with small classes, and often boasts a lower student-to-teacher ratio than at large universities; professors teaching classes are allowed to concentrate more on their teaching responsibilities than primary research professors or graduate student teaching assistants, in contrast to the instruction common in universities. Despite the European origin of the liberal arts college,^[7] the term liberal arts college usually denotes liberal arts colleges in the United States. Only recently, some efforts have been undertaken to "re-import" liberal arts education to continental Europe, as with University College Utrecht, University College Maastricht, Amsterdam University College, Roosevelt Academy, and the European College of Liberal Arts Berlin. As well as the colleges listed above, some universities in the Netherlands offer bachelors programmes in Liberal Arts and Sciences (Tilburg University), as will King's College London and University College London in the United Kingdom from 2012. It is the curriculum of Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan for Bachelors, the only institute in the country which offers this program.

In Europe[link]

Liberal arts (as a degree program) is just beginning to establish itself in Europe. For example, St Mary's University College Belfast (a university of only 1000 students) offers the degree, one of the few universities in Europe which does. In the Netherlands, universities have opened constituent liberal arts colleges under the terminology university college since the late 1990s. It has been suggested that the liberal arts degree may become part of mainstream education provision in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other European countries. In 2011, University College London began a pilot liberal arts degree with 100 students.^[8] The four-year Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences at University College Freiburg is the first of its kind in Germany. It will start in October 2012 with 50 students.^[9]

See also[link]

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of General Studies
• Bachelor of Liberal Arts
• Bachelor of Liberal Studies
• Doctor of Liberal Studies
• Great Books Program
• Great Books Programs in Canada
• Liberal arts college
• Liberal education
• Master of Liberal Studies
• The Mechanical Arts
• List of liberal arts colleges

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Blaich, Charles, Anne Bost, Ed Chan, and Richard Lynch. "Defining Liberal Arts Education." Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts, 2004.
• Blanshard, Brand. The Uses of a Liberal Education: And Other Talks to Students. (Open Court, 1973. ISBN 0-8126-9429-5)
• Friedlander, Jack. Measuring the Benefits of Liberal Arts Education in Washington's Community Colleges. Los Angeles: Center for the Study of Community Colleges, 1982a. (ED 217 918)
• Joseph, Sister Miriam. The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric. Paul Dry Books Inc, 2002.
• Pfnister, Allen O. "The Role of the Liberal Arts College." The Journal of Higher Education. Vol. 55, No. 2 (March/April 1984): 145–170.
• Reeves, Floyd W. "The Liberal-Arts College." The Journal of Higher Education. Vol. 1, No. 7 (1930): 373–380.
• Seidel, George. "Saving the Small College." The Journal of Higher Education. Vol. 39, No. 6 (1968): 339–342.
• Winterer, Caroline.The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780–1910. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
• Wriston, Henry M. The Nature of a Liberal College. Lawrence University Press, 1937.
• T. Kaori Kitao, William R. Kenan, Jr. (27 March 1999). The Usefulness Of Uselessness. Keynote Address, The 1999 Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth's Odyssey at Swarthmore College. http://www.honors.ucr.edu/files/SUHP2006/usefulness.pdf. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Liberal arts

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Seven liberal arts

• The Annapolis Group/College News
• The Classical Liberal Arts Academy
• Philosophy of Liberal Education
• Liberal Arts at the Community College
• A Descriptive Analysis of the Community College Liberal Arts Curriculum
• The Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts
• Academic Commons
• Trivium Education
• CatholiCity: Catholic Encyclopedia
• What are the liberal arts? at liberalartsadvantage.com
•  "Arts, Liberal". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 

Josh Radnor
Radnor in March 2010
Born	Joshua Thomas[citation needed] Radnor (1974-07-29) July 29, 1974 (age 37) Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Film Director, Writer
Years active	1998-Present

Joshua Thomas "Josh" Radnor (born July 29, 1974) is an American actor, producer, director, and writer, best known for portraying the main character Ted Mosby on the popular, Emmy Award-winning CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, for which he has received worldwide fame and recognition.

He made his writing and directorial debut with the 2010 comedy-drama film happythankyoumoreplease, for which he won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. He is producing his second film, entitled Liberal Arts, which he again wrote and directed.

Early life[link]

Radnor was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Alan Radnor, a medical malpractice lawyer, and Carol Radnor. He has two sisters, Melanie and Joanna. He grew up in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, where he attended Jewish day schools (including the Columbus Torah Academy).^[1] Radnor attended Bexley High School and later Kenyon College, where his school's theater department presented him with the Paul Newman Award, and he graduated with a B.A. in drama.^[2] Radnor received his Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts.^[2][3]

Career[link]

In 2001 Radnor was cast as the lead in The WB series Off Centre. However, the role was re-cast with Eddie Kaye Thomas before the first episode aired.^[4] In 2002 he made his Broadway debut in the stage version of The Graduate, succeeding Jason Biggs, opposite Kathleen Turner and Alicia Silverstone. Since 2005, Radnor has starred in How I Met Your Mother, his biggest role to date. In July 2008, he starred opposite Jennifer Westfeldt in the premiere of the play Finks,^[5] written by Joe Gilford and directed by Charlie Stratton for New York Stage and Film. Radnor made his directorial debut with the film happythankyoumoreplease, in which he was also the writer and star.^[6] His second film Liberal Arts, starring Elizabeth Olsen, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2012 ^[7] and later screened at Sundance London on 26 April 2012.^[8] Liberal Arts was filmed at Kenyon College.^[9]

Personal life[link]

Radnor resides in Los Angeles, California.

Radnor began dating actress Lindsay Price in August 2008; they first met a year and a half prior to that when Price guest-starred on How I Met Your Mother.^[10] The couple split in November 2009.^[11]

Film, television, and theatre credits[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Josh Radnor at the Internet Movie Database
• Josh Radnor Bio at CBS - How I Met Your Mother
• Interview with Radnor at Starpulse.com
• Interview with Josh Radnor at Sundance London

Elizabeth Olsen
Olsen at the Toronto International Film Festival debut of Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011
Born	Elizabeth Chase Olsen (1989-02-16) February 16, 1989 (age 23) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Tisch School of the Arts
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1993–present
Relatives	Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen and Taylor Olsen (sisters), Trent Olsen and Jake Olsen (brothers)

Elizabeth Chase Olsen (born February 16, 1989) is an American actress She is best known for her lead roles in the films Martha Marcy May Marlene and Silent House. Her performance in the former netted her critical acclaim and numerous award nominations.^[1][2][3][4] She is the younger sister of Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, and Trent Olsen, and has two younger half siblings, Taylor Olsen and Jake Olsen.

Early life[link]

Olsen was born in Sherman Oaks, California, the daughter of Jarnette "Jarnie" Fuller (b. 1954), a personal manager, and David Olsen, a real estate developer and mortgage banker.^[5] Olsen graduated from Campbell Hall School in 2007,^[6] and from the Atlantic Theater Company.^[7] She attended the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. As a child, Olsen took ballet and singing lessons.^[8] She auditioned for Spy Kids.^[9] Elizabeth almost quit acting in 2004 because of the media frenzy surrounding Mary-Kate's eating disorder.^[10] Mary-Kate and Ashley gave their little sister some tips for acting.^[11] In 2010 the girls' dad filed for bankruptcy.^[12]

Career[link]

Olsen began acting when she was 4 and made her film debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene,^[13] an independent film drama about a young woman who comes out of a cult and tries to live a normal life with her sister and brother-in-law. In addition to receiving extensive praise for her performance, Martha Marcy May Marlene marked Olsen's first nude appearance in a film. When asked about the nudity, she said that she felt that it added to the film.^[14] She has also acted in Silent House, in which she played the role of Sarah, and appeared in the music video "The Queen" by Carlotta.^[15] As of mid-2011, she was filming the movie Red Lights, which is due to be released in 2012.^[16] She is set to star in Josh Radnor's new film Liberal Arts, scheduled for release in 2012.^[17] She and Dakota Fanning are set to star in Very Good Girls, planned for a 2013 release.^[18][19]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Elizabeth Olsen at the Internet Movie Database
• Elizabeth Olsen at TV.com
• Elizabeth's Page
• Elizabeth Olsen

Richard Jenkins
Jenkins at the 81st Academy Awards in February 2009
Born	Richard Dale Jenkins (1947-05-04) May 4, 1947 (age 65) DeKalb, Illinois
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1974–present
Spouse	Sharon R. Friedrick (m.1969)
Children	2

Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974 and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. He gained wide public attention in the early 2000s for playing the deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series Six Feet Under. He has since established himself in Hollywood by acquiring lead roles in the films The Visitor and The Cabin in the Woods. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Visitor.

Early life[link]

Jenkins was born and raised in DeKalb, Illinois. His mother, Mary Elizabeth (née Wheeler), was a housewife, and his father, Dale Stevens Jenkins, was a dentist.^[1][2][3] He attended DeKalb High School. Before he was an actor, Jenkins drove a linen truck (his boss was actor John C. Reilly's father).^[4][5] Jenkins earned a degree in drama from Illinois Wesleyan University before relocating to Rhode Island. While attending Illinois Wesleyan, Jenkins was a member of Phi Gamma Delta.

Career[link]

Theatre[link]

He worked as an actor with the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island while breaking into film with a bit part in Feasting with Panthers (1974), a television movie, and continued as a celebrated member of Trinity's resident acting company and served as Artistic Director of the theatre from 1990-4.

Film[link]

Since his film debut in the television movie Feasting with Panthers (1974), he has steadily been working in film. Some of his earlier film credits include Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), and Snow Falling On Cedars (1999). He is also a frequent collaborator with the director siblings the Farrelly brothers, who have worked with Jenkins in There's Something About Mary (1998), Outside Providence (1999), Me, Myself, & Irene (2000), Say It Isn't So (2001), Hall Pass (2011) and the upcoming 2012 Three Stooges remake. He has also worked occasionally with the Coen Brothers: The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), and Burn After Reading (2008). He has also been in North Country (2005) and in Step Brothers (film) in (2008)

Although known primarily for supporting parts, he had a critically acclaimed lead role in The Visitor (2008), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award and a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.^[6] Jenkins won the International Press Academy's Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama.

Jenkins in April 2011

Jenkins co-starred in Dear John, as the father of John Tyree (Channing Tatum), and in Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard's horror film The Cabin in the Woods (2012).^[7]

Television[link]

Jenkins is perhaps best known for playing Nathaniel Fisher in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under. His character is a deceased patriarch of the Fisher family, who regularly appears to his family as a ghost or in a dream. He played the role since the show began in 2001, through to its final season in 2005. He and his castmates received their Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2002.

Personal life[link]

Jenkins married Sharon R. Friedrick on August 23, 1969, with whom he had a son, Andrew Dale, and a daughter, Sarah Pamela. He currently resides in Cumberland, Rhode Island.^[3]

Filmography[link]

[edit] Six Feet Under episodes

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Richard Jenkins

• Richard Jenkins at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Richard Jenkins at everydayyeah.com
• Interview with Richard Jenkins at The Faster Times, Davi Napoleon's Theater Talk.