humanities

humanities

Exploring the Significance of Humanities in Contemporary Society

1. Introduction to Humanities and its Evolution

The humanities reveal the symbolic systems that societies use to engage with complex problems and the complex ways in which societies interact, adapt, change, and create new forms of greatness. Twenty years ago, and when we venture into these ostensibly simpler discussions, fifty years ago, we spoke of how the contributions of the humanities to our personal and collective lives were of value, how they are the juice of history, the landmarks, and the tools that allow us to look at who we are as a society and what we can be. The 21st-century approach reflects recent financial and economic problems on a worldwide scale. To be sure, we still think that the humanities are, as they always have been, essential in this context. Indeed, they are far more crucial now. Far from heralding a generation of disinvestment in these 17 disciplines, however, such circumstances should impel us to make an even more forceful case for the value of the knowledge about ourselves and about others that the humanities uniquely carry.

In a broader perspective, the humanities are the key knowledge areas that are involved in the study of human societies and cultures and the relationships between them. The humanities encompass fields such as classics, modern languages, literature, history, economics, anthropology, archaeology, ethics, ecclesiastical teaching, theology, language, law, music, philosophy, political science, psychology, religious teaching, sociology, philosophy of history, geography, political geography, urban geography, regional sociology, environmental economics, area study, communication studies, and public relations. The study of the humanities can lead to a more fulfilling, economic, meaningful, and culturally exciting personal life, and can make an important contribution in the 21st century to meet many of the issues that are facing European societies through overcoming the language barriers, teaching others about our common heritage – tradition, history, style, and sophistication, and to encourage more people from different racial or ethnic and economic backgrounds to enjoy and profit from the important artistic and cultural resources.

2. The Interdisciplinary Nature of Humanities

In ancient times, there was a discipline – named knowledge or wisdom – which nowadays cannot be found in university curricula but is the subject matter of philosophy. The uniqueness of wisdom back then was that it knew one certain truth observation of the world, as all the knowledge of people and the world was allowed in and encapsulated within wisdom. Later, as our knowledge expanded, the embedding of the notion of knowing everything led humanity to differentiate this knowledge from wisdom, and consequently, into separate disciplines. Some humanities were created relating to those novel areas of studying the world by people, as did other studies that took people’s scientific minds into other paths, which led to the emergence of the other disciplines. However, during Ancient Greece, all novel knowledge was produced relative to the epistemic capabilities of humanity.

The interconnectedness of humanities is also channeled through people, so when it is studied by them. Philosophy, for example, is a very central humanities discipline that concerns itself with fundamental issues about existence, knowledge, reason, and ethics. People – they as individuals, they as a community or societies, and they as nations – engage with these issues throughout time and in different situations. People also compound these fundamental human questions through art, religion, language, to mention a few other disciplines that are essential when understanding human beings. When philosophy is studied, these interfaces with the other humanities are present and just add to the richness of studying these disciplines.

3. The Role of Humanities in Shaping Cultural Identity

The studies of cultural memory, which also involve the written culture, often implicitly return to theories of knowledge that date back to Immanuel Kant. Given the increasing number of new types of cultural expressions, namely visual communications, photography, graphic arts, and movies, it appears necessary that our historical hermeneutic questions demand new interpretative paradigms, not only adjusted from a theoretical and philosophical point of view, but also closely tied to digital preservation tools. Such changes are especially sensitive in the case of media, and hence performances, for instance, relative to radio, television, and movie art facts. The structural evolution that the theater in the digital environment is subjected to in the field of the so-called performing digital arts has paved the way for an innovative way of conceiving scenic virtuality.

The universality of humanities and the importance of its presence in contemporary society lead us to the question of the role played by these studies in contemporary culture. The definition of culture is not easily given. For the purposes of this analysis, we consider culture to be “the way of life of a social group, including all its forms of expression.” This concept encompasses the rules guiding the actions of the social group in both the material and spiritual dimensions. Matthew Arnold described literature as the process of “seeking to know the best that is known and thought in the time.” In this view, literature is a refined expression of the refined thought of the time. It captures and conveys the emotions, aspirations, and knowledge of society. The role of the humanities in contemporary society is to act dynamically, in a questioning way, as the expression of the gears of knowledge and human reflection. To accomplish this mission, the humanities should not assume a marginal status in relation to society nor shirk from the challenge of questioning the legitimacy and relevance of their activities.

4. Humanities and Social Justice

Humanities encompasses the study of human activities and their adjudicated record to inspire thoughtful leadership and to bring understanding to complex issues. Understanding the breadth of human activities and expressions involves the immersion of every student in humanities-based study. Such breadth fosters intellectual growth and enriches the human spirit. Scholars of humanities need to be well educated in their complexity in addition to being broadly learned. Careers in humanities producing lay readers, generalist specialized skills, critical writings, and peer-reviewed articles will expose scholars as disciples of restless and curious research from anthologies read in the latter half of their careers by the humanities canon. Prestige, citing, and rank are not only built upon these necessary and diverse activities but also are important for the field of the humanities in supporting its vital instructional compass.

As readily accessible knowledge becomes more personalized, fragmented, and lacking in authority, the trend towards multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in higher education becomes more pronounced. Highly visible as academic offerings, collaborative and relationship-based research groups have emerged. Interdisciplinary programs emphasize collective, synthetic knowledge, integrating disciplinary approaches to similar questions. In an active and hopeful future for the humanities, the concept of “multidisciplinary meets interdisciplinary” provides a useful navigation tool. For the public good and the purpose of the continent’s leading colleges and universities, conjoining multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies suggests a promising path for the role of the humanities.

5. The Future of Humanities in the Digital Age

Humankind has come to the threshold of transformation. The Internet envelops the entire world and facilitates digital connections at the level of billions in more than 7 languages. There has been a tremendous proliferation of intellectual wealth and, according to the Hewlett Foundation, we create more words in a couple of years than during the 2000 preceding years. Until recently, a dialogue between regions, cultures, and people was limited to those able to cross seas and borders. Currently, the Internet allows for visual and interactive access to any written work preserved at the Biblioteca Nacional de España or on the National Library of Russia website. So, if humanistic themes often refer to the past, democratic access to historical and cultural heritage is no longer just a utopia or privilege of a few. The collective intelligence of interconnected network users is more precise than a given individual, within limits, and the Internet will be an irreplaceable source for humanities studies, at least for the immediate future.

The new age of information we live in provides excellent tools and opportunities for the development of humanities. Individuals all over the globe have access to online education from prestigious institutions. This lays the foundation for the development of culture and people who will be able to benefit from cultural heritage. Digitization allows for better preservation of that heritage, transcending problems such as lack of physical space for all pieces of art. Virtual museums also provide tools for the blind to see visual arts and allow for interaction in a theater with actors because of multilingual support. Moreover, robots may protect archaeological places and territorial cinema and TV series promote tourism. These are just a handful of things which would not be possible without digital advancements. Technology contributes to culture, entertainment, and also presents new options for its funding.