“The edge will go to those institutions that can effectively employ imagination, metaphor, and most of all storytelling.” So says Michael Malone in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, where he makes the case that a humanities education is relevant and of urgent import to 21st century business models.

Malone urges us to find the risk-takers among us in academia and to “leap at the opportunity” to repair the rift between the world of science and that of literary intellectuals. At Scripps, our Core program feeds the thinking, questioning, and creativity necessary in both cultures. In fact, at Scripps, we purposely and loudly argue against such a false distinction. I agree with Malone that we are facing a revolution in education and that insular approaches will not serve our students.

However, in my experience at Scripps, it is an imaginary controversy that buying into would shortchange our students. That’s why I want to take a moment to salute Scripps. We recognized long ago the vital necessity of interdisciplinary education, and the Scripps classroom experience is rich with dialogue drawn from many disciplines.

I support Malone’s assertion that higher education is most effective when students receive a broad education rich with the rigorous study of multiple subjects, and I was delighted to read his well-written piece capturing the value of the humanities, in particular.

Malone quotes Steve Jobs as saying, “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough – it’s technology married with the liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields the results that make our heart sing.”

If you have the opportunity, take a look at “How to Avoid a Bonfire of the Humanities” in the Journal. The heart of intellectual thought belongs to the liberal arts — we lead with the worthy goal of educating citizens who are exceptional communicators, can solve complex problems, and who can think critically and creatively.