http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/all/themes/ihecustom/logo.jpgBy Devin T. Hagerty. The liberal arts are dead, or — at best — dying. That's the theme of story after story in today’s news media. Professional skills training is in. The STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields are in. Practical, vocational higher education is in. The liberal arts are out, relics of a “traditional” way of thinking that has been overtaken by the pressing demands of our dizzyingly complex digital age. As new students arrived on college campuses this fall, the message many of them heard is that majoring in history, or English, or anthropology is a surefire recipe for a life of irrelevance and poor job prospects. Read more...