The Humanities

A discipline worth the effort

I spent much of my life teaching Humanities at a local university, a career I loved. Many students enjoyed the course literature and our field trips to various art venues and other cultural events. Yet, a number of individuals still carried the often-preconceived notion that literature, philosophy, cultural awareness, history, and so on were far less important than their career-related core courses, such as marketing, computer science, and business management.

A societal philosophy that rankles me to no end is that general education courses are less valuable than what is esteemed to be core, or major, courses. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard that “Once your gen eds are out of the way, you can focus on the really important work,” and that general education courses are to be gotten “over with.”

But the truth is, the Humanities is important. Courses such as philosophy, English literature, and history are paramount to understanding issues such as racism, colonialism, diversity, war, peace, identity, cultural tolerance, and so on. The Humanities teaches the essence and universality of the human condition and life lessons through critical thinking. Through the Humanities, people can better understand the world and their place in it.

When I taught Shakespeare’s Othello, almost all of my students were originally scared of reading anything by this famous writer. Before dipping into the play, some even thought the work useless. But through studying this drama, followed up by watching a film version of the work, students were riveted by the life lessons related to topics such as envy, dishonesty, malice, fidelity, trust, as well as thinking critically about the hazards of jumping to conclusions.

Not only does the Humanities give us information, but such a discipline helps us steer a path toward a meaningful life.

Art of all kinds – including music, literature, writing, visual art, film, and dance – is vital in helping people understand the voices and echoes of the human experience. Studying history helps enlighten us about how human concepts and historic events are intertwined.

That being said, the Humanities is not more important than any other courses. Reading literature is not superior to core career classes. I believe each topic – from algebra to history and philosophy to accounting to economics to law ethics – are vital in shaping a person and preparing them for the work world and for coping with the breadth of societal and world events. The key is to be inclusive and tolerant of others’ ideas, and the Humanities tackles challenges, such as those we continually experience.

The following watercolor that my daughter created shows how art can co-exist with science, for example. She loves science, but she also sees the importance of art. Her dual interests are illustrated by the prism and the art supplies. With her permission, I am sharing her painting with you, dear readers.