why study humanities essay

why study humanities essay

The Importance of Studying Humanities

1. Introduction

As an expression of the human mind, humanities are the keys to answering questions of this nature.

It has been said that you cannot learn about the future without knowing the past. This statement brings out the first reason for the importance of the humanities. Society today is hardly the same as that of a century ago. People live longer, the medical field has made outstanding discoveries, and there is less suffering in the world due to advances in the social and physical sciences. And yet, looking at these disciplines from a historian’s viewpoint a century from now, it is likely that cellular biology and genetics are all but obsolete. How do we account for the changes if we do not know the history of how we got here? How do we make sure we do not repeat the mistakes of the past?

So why is it that the study of humanities is not the most popular or well-received type of learning in academia? Could it be that in today’s high-tech, fast-paced world, it is the science and math-oriented disciplines that are the most sought after and respected? If this is true, then the implications are alarming and far-reaching.

The study of humanities can best be described as the manner in which people throughout history have expressed their values, feelings, knowledge, and ideas. As for it being the tradition in which there are a wide variety of disciplines or subjects, this is, in fact, true. Music, philosophy, art, religion, history, and language, to name a few, are all types of the humanities and thus share in the same common goal: that of understanding and expression of both the individual and society.

2. Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills

Analyse your students’ basic critical thinking. It is important to note that students are not logically, or their thinking is not rational, all the time. Throughout this reflective analysis, it has become evident that often, students do not understand the material they are being taught, a concept from Macpherson’s article which she examined shown from a quotation where a student said ‘I don’t even know what it means and I’m the one who wrote it’. This student and students like him do not understand the material they are being taught, a beginning level of critical thinking to understand. At other times, their thinking is subject to outside pressures from groups or individuals that can lead to episodes of conformity and to accepting uncritically a particular view of the world. We need to create learning activities that will help students resolve their moments of blurred understanding to come away with clear concepts and to question freely and independently of outside influence. This has a strong link to the Socratic Method and is indicative of the type of thinkers we hope to produce. This then raises the problem of assessing whether students are using these critical thinking skills.

Please read through and ensure you understand all these points. Before you start writing, map your ideas visually, using a diagram much like this: the more complex the reflective process, the more complicated the diagram should be. The essay should map out such a diagram, starting with an analysis of students’ basic critical thinking, moving through learning, critical thinking and assessment activities that aim to improve this area, and concluding with reflective students that are equipped with high level critical thinking skills. Take note of these points and ensure that your essay follows this pattern.

3. Fostering Cultural Understanding

Studying the different branches of humanities necessarily allows for a well-rounded awareness of how traditions develop ongoing adaptations and how they change and mix with other traditions. Study of another culture can be developed from an understanding of its literature, art, and religion that are viewed in historical context. Literature often reflects the changes and conflicts a culture has faced and provides a record of the experiences which have helped to form the present day society. The World Wars, for example, produced a wealth of literature where poets and authors conveyed their sentiments of disillusionment, anger, and patriotism. An understanding of this part of our own culture is linked to the comprehension of time in recent history and its effects on today’s society. Study of the languages of other cultures can also provide access to understanding with many of the same methods applied in studying the words of our own language. An understanding of a culture’s religion, myths, and art provides the clearest glimpse into the thought processes and motivations of ancient societies and of our ancestors. By viewing these belief systems in context we can examine what has led to changes in cultural mindset and what has been maintained over time. In today’s world of increasing global communication it is more important than ever to understand cultures unlike our own. Discrimination and hostility between diverse cultural groups are most often due to ignorance as to the beliefs and customs of others. A study in humanities provides an internal examination of their own culture and how it has shaped their ideas and beliefs.

4. Developing Empathy and Compassion

It is vital to cultivate empathy and compassion in the minds of young students. Setting a good example is an agreeable method, modeling empathy and explicating to students what we are doing and why we are doing it. Students are at a stage of life where they’re learning about the world and questioning what is right and what is wrong. Encouraging students to think about the feelings and perspectives of others is a way to increase the probability of moral or pro-social action. In a world where self-interest and the pursuit of material wealth are common, it is important not to undervalue the importance of leading students towards actions that are considerate of the well-being of others. After all, many professions require frequent helpers and care providers can only be effective if they are concerned for the people that they are helping.

Empathy, our ability to identify what someone else is thinking or feeling and to respond to their thoughts and feelings with an appropriate emotion, is an indispensable human skill. Sympathy and compassion are two feelings that go hand in hand with developing empathy. We can not only understand what someone else is feeling, but we are inclined to respond to those feelings with an appropriate emotion. In better understanding the relationship between what another person is thinking and what they are feeling, or thinking about doing, we are in a better position to provide a concerned response when they experience misfortune or make a poor decision. So, in essence, when empathy is present, we are more likely to experience the feelings of another and are driven by that feeling to take action which will improve another person’s situation.

5. Promoting Personal and Societal Growth

Culture will not lie in the consumer goods on which men and women spend their livelihoods: it will lie in the good of man, in the way of looking at life, the sense of what matters and what does not, the simplicity in the things that can make us great and the complexity in the things that will not deceive us. During times of great social change, culture is a difficult thing to justify. It will not save lives, or feed the hungry, it will not overcome disease or take away suffering. It will give a reason to live, it will feed the hunger for a better existence, it will overcome the desire for the primitive and the mere survival. Now, in some confused manner, it is trying to answer the cry of “why bother?” And in soul-searching times, this cry is often heard and giving wrong answers to an urgent question can stop the question from ever being asked again.

The difficulty for a thoughtful person is not that he might not change the world for the better, but how. There is a good chance that he will tend to culture in the belief that that is the most advisable thing to do. At least if culture, which is the study of perfection, is to be a study of anything, it is to be a study of how the world may be best designed, and of how we can bring about a state, not merely of things, but of things worth having.