Or Shakespeare’s sonnets?” STEM students focused on robotics, engineering, technology and computer science may be asking themselves those very questions as they sit in a lecture hall for a Humanities class. What do they “do”? Facebook Twitter Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment. Use our website to find information about degrees and career paths from around the world and speak directly with admissions officers at the schools and universities that interest you. They foster social justice and equality. Why Humanities Are More Important Than Science. “What the humanities teach, what literature and art and music and philosophy and history teach, is that the correct description and analysis of human life is not a scientific affair.”. We use speech and communication every day. Provided you consistently apply logic and reason to your decision, you may change your mind, convince someone else, or keep your own opinions. Through the work of humanities scholars, we learn about the values of different cultures, about what goes into making a work of art, about how history is made. Eric Metaxas is an Evangelical speaker and bestselling author. You can learn more about the subjects covered in Humanities studies in Humanities Source Ultimate, a new full-text database from EBSCO. Bringing Clarity to the Future The world is not black and white—it’s big, nuanced, complicated, and filled with every shade in between. 4.9 (546) Allan Brooks. Prospective and current students interested in the humanities, as well as their parents, often have many questions about the value of a Humanities degree. The humanities teach important thinking and reasoning skills, including creative thinking, critical thinking, reasoning, good question asking, logic, skeptical weighing of evidence, and insight. Get the latest library news and insights from EBSCO in your inbox, Why It's Important to Study the Humanities. Through the work of humanities scholars, we learn about the values of different cultures, about what goes into making a work of art, about how history is made. 1. The humanities encompass the study of human expression, experience, and flourishing, at both the individual and societal level. The most important religion is humanity. Why Study Humanities? From an academic standpoint, the humanities include the study of history, philosophy and religion, modern and ancient languages and literatures, fine and performing arts, media and cultural studies, and other fields. Why are they so important? They give you perspective. The humanities give you permission to see the world through a different lens, while still understanding facts. Here are some reasons why humanities could be beneficial to you, whether you are interested or just curious why classes like these are taught in institutions. Colleges are full of engineering students who may not immediately see the value in studying literature, art, the classics, philosophy or religion. Learn more about studying the humanities. If the humanities are so crucial, why are they so undervalued? What's really important is to keep an open mind, and a broad range of interests. Your education in the humanities gives you the power to understand another perspective, even if you don’t agree with it. Why the humanities are important. If you think about the humanities as the study of what makes us human, that includes not only our history, but our values and how we choose to live. Executives of Microsoft recently wrote, “As computers behave more like humans, the social sciences and humanities will become even more important. Why? Top writers. The irony of the humanities’ declining prestige is that what they teach seems to be urgently needed in a polarized culture. Here is a guide for thinking about a degree in a humanistic discipline. This skepticism is especially important when it comes to claims about humanity, about what we … The article advocated for the slow and methodical study of subjects that celebrate our humanity, to counterbalance the general population’s obsession with instant gratification – granted by such entities as the lightning-speed technology behind a Google search. The field of the humanities, as the word suggests and as I’ve incorporated through my studies, is very much about the human. As many KO students wonder what career they should pursue after college, they likely gravitate to the subject they did best at in school whether that’s art, science, English, math, history or any other variations of those broad topics. It appeals to people by having tech designers understand humans—and to understand humans requires, you guessed it, a deep knowledge of the humanities. I wrote this at the request of a colleague of mine here at Stanford. The arts and humanities include disciplines such as history, design, religion, law, archaeology, English literature, modern languages and “those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods.” (Bennett, 1984). The humanities are also important when it comes to personal development. He argued that our present culture prioritizes speed and definitive answers over thinking and asking complex questions. Give yourself the time and space to think, draw your own conclusions, and learn from the past. Samantha. “Why do I have to study Impressionism? It is in the humanities that students will connect almost every field of specialized study that they have mastered thus far and see the important connections across the disciplines of their programs at the College. For Students, By Students: Using Social Media to Ensure a Future for the Humanities. From philosophy, history and literature to music, art, sociology, psychology, and anthropology, the humanities are as they sound: the study of what makes us human. 4. The critical and creative thinking skills learned through humanities studies form a basis for understanding the human experience. That’s why they’re there. Q: YOU OFTEN SPEAK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMANITIES BEYOND THE WALLS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. She simply asked me to give her my thoughts on why the humanities are important, and, in particular, what the humanities teach students that they cannot be taught in other disciplines. Although there are plenty of reasons one can offer on why medicine and the humanities can go hand in hand, I want to present what I feel is the most important, yet notably overlooked reason. Humanities courses help us understand our neighbors: Most of us come from parts of America where the … Why? Join the team and advocate! It blends us all together like a bunch of different fruits made into a smoothie and allows us to grow as individuals and improve our society. Studying humanities provides you with a skill set crucial to making decisions that will affect individuals and society as a whole. By Eric Metaxas, Christian Post Contributor Follow | Friday, April 15, 2016. His most useful university course? It's’ also critical that we think about it. Dr. Rich: To study the humanities is to study what it means to be fully human. What is it about the humanities that make them so interesting? Why the Humanities Are More Important Than Ever Kenneth R.R. Why It's Important to Study the Humanities While technology keeps the world moving at a quick pace, slowing down to appreciate the humanities is an essential lesson for all students and helps them to become well-rounded individuals. It makes room for misguided opinions, drives wedges into reason. Often pitted against the sciences, the humanities and sciences go hand-in-hand in understanding the world around us. Harris: The humanities are crucial to a healthy democracy, just as they also provide opportunities for fulfilled and gainful employment and an enriched life. Why are the humanities important and why should we study these disciplines? Published: August 16, 2014 16:39 By Anju Chhatwani Religion is a broad entity that should add some higher purpose to … Humanities foster social justice and equality. A quote from the article, attributed to cultural critic Leon Wieseltier, summed up the sentiment well. Or the Industrial Revolution? Opinion. All rights reserved. Humanities enrollments dipped from 17.2 percent of all degrees in 1967 to around seven percent in the early 1980s. It is this interdisciplinary approach that makes the humanities … He liked the way he could invoke a feeling with the appearance of a word. Their efforts preserve the great accomplishments of the past, help us understand the world we live in, and give us tools to imagine the future. Think about Steve Jobs—his focus was on the integration of the humanities with technology to make better products. HOW DO THE HUMANITIES BENEFIT US AS A SOCIETY? Why STEM Students Need Humanities Courses. © 2020 EBSCO Information Services. 4. I strongly believe that the study of humanities is important because not only does it allow us to understand the world in which we live but it also gives us insight into everything and brings clarity to our future. It encourages you to use reason, not emotion, to arrive at conclusions. Critique a single-subject approach to teaching the Humanities providing examples from the case studies to support your arguments. There are many reasons that humanities is taught. Essay: Why the arts and humanities are important. 781 In order to complete my degree in the Honors program at my school, I am required to take a final 1-credit Honors seminar during my senior year, which I did this past semester. How we like to look at art. Every Faculty on the University campus has value and is important in its own way. The opposite of humanities is ignorance. Understanding the importance and beauty of diversity in society are just a few reasons why humanities are important now more than ever. How does Facebook make you feel good? To study the humanities opens a door. A lot of great works of literature fall into that category. Humanities gives people a sense of where they derived from and a feeling of belonging, no matter what their background may have been. Make no mistake, the Humanities are indeed important. Let’s take a closer look at four reasons why the humanities are critically important to us now. It’s how we get along—or don’t. Because it’s hard to put a value on how we process the human experience—it’s hard to determine your career trajectory with a humanities degree. Learning never stops. It allows you to empathize with someone, even though you disagree—and forces you to challenge your own beliefs. Every area has something of value to teach us. Calligraphy. Not everything can be reduced to a data point. I’ll list here nine arguments that the humanities are important. April 19, 2019 April 19, 2019 Madeleine Pelletier. The humanities are difficult to quantify, which is precisely why they’re more important than ever. Some of the reasons why humanities is important includes: Helping us understand others through their languages, histories and cultures. Gros Louis Kenneth R.R. How are we to understand how to make choices moving forward if we choose to ignore the choices of the past and present? But have you ever stopped to think about language, how it functions, and how it allows billions a... MASTERSTUDIES makes it easy for graduate students to find the right degree. 3. 5. As a result, it is obvious that it is important to study Humanities. Marist College. How does online shopping make you feel—how does your UX with your online shopping cart make you want to buy more? See all those cool fonts on your smartphone? Bringing Clarity to the Future But I’m also recurringly struck by the ways in which we consistently and necessarily … Verified writer. Ignoring these choices and these stories sets us—all of us—up for failure. Verified writer. Use an example to illustrate your response. While you read them, try to think of what you would fill in as number 10. But Sophia Gilbert in a recent article in The Atlantic contends that such studies are important to keep us human in a tech-driven, fast-paced world. A short video explaining StuHum's mission. And that, I tell my students, is why … Their efforts preserve the great accomplishments of the past, help us understand the world we live in, and give us tools to imagine the future. November 10, 2016 “Why do I have to study Impressionism? Data points can be useful, but not only are they not always necessary, they’re not always possible. Put simply, how does technology appeal to people? Will I Be Able to Find a Job If I Study the Humanities? Because we all have to move forward—it helps to have folks who are thinking along the way. Both kinds of knowledge, the objective knowledge of the sciences and the social sciences and the subjective knowledge of the humanities are necessary, I believe, if we are to achieve even an approximate understanding of our fellow human beings. 1. Why the Humanities Are More Important Than Ever. While technology keeps the world moving at a quick pace, slowing down to appreciate the humanities is an essential lesson for all students and helps them to become well-rounded individuals. Gros Louis is Vice President, Bloomington and Profes- sor of English and Comparative Literature at Indiana University. Why the Humanities Are More Important Than Ever From philosophy, history and literature to music, art, sociology, psychology, and anthropology, the humanities are as they sound: the study of what makes us human. Why the Humanities are Important And why we should continue to fight for their survival. So the study of the humanities is actually of great practical importance. There are certain things that it 's believed people will be better off for knowing. It helps students gain the intellectual and emotional skills they need to understand the human realities they engage with, and it helps them gain the empathy they will need be good parents, good friends, and good citizens. Megan McCormack. This is one reason why we are promoting greater interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teaching and learning; it is a complex world and we need to understand the interconnections between and among science, the arts and humanities. Why is this important? Their slowness—a perfect 180-degree turn-around from our daily, point and swipe lives. 5 … For example, Steve Jobs loved to talk about the intersection of technology and the humanities, which include the arts. Again, the inherent benefits of studying the humanities are the skills and qualities that the study engenders. Consider User Experience, or UX—how easily you interface with technology to have an easy, friendly, productive experience with every interaction you have with technology. ... First, you should note that that there are all sorts of important questions to ask. Humanities research adds to our knowledge of the world, as scholars investigate differences between cultures […] The biggest ones are especially important because they haven 't stopped coming up. The end results? Employers, both in the private and public sector, value problem-solving, critical thinking, writing and communication skills, right along with work experience. Consider history—while you could make the argument that dates are data points, we don’t study history for the dates—we study history to think about the context of choices made in the past, and the consequences of those choices for the future. The humanities help us address the challenges we face together in our families, our communities, and as a nation. Dec 20, 2016. Allows you to interpret the world in different ways. You use some form of them every day. The humanities help us understand others through their languages, histories and cultures. Often pitted against the sciences, the humanities and sciences go hand-in-hand in understanding the world around us. How we like to envision others. 2. and encourages chaos. In an article in The Atlantic, cultural critic Leon Wieseltier said, “What we need to do is recognize the limitations of that mentality.”  He added, “The purpose of the humanities is not primarily utilitarian, it is not primarily to get a job… The purpose of the humanities is to cultivate the individual, cultivate the citizen.”. Humanities play its largest role in culture, and our understanding of it. How we like to envision ourselves. New technologies depend on the humanities to survive. For example, you might have better insight into … Why are the Humanities important in contemporary schooling? Space to think of what you would fill in as number 10 of Microsoft recently wrote “As... Providing examples from the article, attributed to cultural critic Leon Wieseltier, why humanities are important up the sentiment.. 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