Humanities

By Deane Barker tags: education

This is a vague word, generally meaning the studies of things centered around human beings, their culture and condition.

The opposing field is science, including social sciences like law and economics.

A review of several sources produced this list of fields of studies that can fall under the banner of humanities:

  • Foreign Languages
  • History
  • Gender Studies
  • Linguistics
  • Philosophy
  • Language Arts (including Literature)
  • Performing arts
  • Visual Arts
  • Religion

Many universities refer to these fields as “the classics” now.

Students majoring in humanities has declined considerably in the last century, as students attend college more for specific vocational training than for the pursuit of knowledge. It’s obvious that, in today’s world, the humanities do not lend themselves particularly well to any field or profession outside their immediate scope.

Several resources I reviewed were vocal about the value of the humanities when compared with the sciences. The general tone was one of protest against losing the value of the humanities against science and specific vocational training.

There would seem to be a considerable overlap with “the liberal arts.” However, that term generally means to study a wide range of disciplines outside of specific vocational training. For many students, the studies outside their vocational training would likely encompass the humanities, thereby causing the conflation.

Why I Looked It Up

When I was in college, the building where I had classes in English Lit, Religion, and German was called the “Humanities Building.” I never understood what it meant.

Recently, it came up in multiple books I was reading.

Postscript

Added on

An opinion article entitled We should cheer decline of humanities degrees said this:

Literature is lovely stuff but it’s not a way to earn your bread. Universities do our young people no favours if they encourage them to devote a crucial three years of their lives and rack up piles of debt studying for unremunerative degrees. The flip side of the decline of English and other humanities is that the Stem subjects and the sorts of skills that you can learn on a degree apprenticeship are growing. That’s something we should celebrate, both as parents and as citizens. They’re much likelier to set our young people up for fulfilling, well-paid careers rather than for a lifetime of delivering parcels.

Postscript

Added on

In The Medici, the word “humanism” is used a lot. In looking into this, I found that it was an alternate term for “the humanities.” To get a “humanist education” is to be educated in the humanities.

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