For the last two decades there has been a lot written about the value of a post-secondary degree in the “humanities”. Now, the debate has once again risen in the U.S. and Canada as a number of universities, facing budgetary declines, appear to have taken steps of cutting back or even eliminating certain humanities programs. Part of the reason is that students increasingly are fleeing to majors more closely aligned to employment, with degrees in business and commerce being the most popular. Let’s face it, most universities love to market career oriented disciplines. The humanities on the other hand normally covers such programs as French, Spanish and German, American or Canadian studies, art history, classical studies, philosophy and religious studies. In the past, such disciplines had been the bread and butter for so-called “liberal arts” colleges.
There have been plenty of arguments given for maintaining humanities programs, particularly when it comes to their ability to evoke critical thinking. Some would argue that if you want simply to work towards a career, go to MIT or a community college specializing in employment-oriented foundations. Camille Paglia, a social critic and professor of Humanities and Media Studies at University of the Arts in Philadelphia, was quoted in 2010 as to the value of the contemporary social science course. Paglia argued at the time that the current trend toward hyper-focused humanities courses (Women’s Studies, African-American Studies, etc.) has eroded the overall purpose of higher education, which she noted is to provide a “broad overview and foundation for overall learning.”
In addition, it’s no secret that most universities tend to lean left, especially when it comes to teaching the humanities and social sciences. For this reason, there has been a backlash against any form of suspected “ideology” driven teaching. Such concerns of course don’t normally exist among business and law faculties, considered as safe havens from “leftist” ideologies as they tend to stress support for the “status quo”.
There is little doubt that in today’s economy and labour market, students are increasingly considering more career-oriented programs in both Canada and the U.S. After all, the high cost incurred toward certain degrees is perceived as eventually leading to good-paying jobs. Two decades ago, scholars were still confident that the availability of liberal arts would still be there in the future. Now there are those who believe that the liberal arts, once fairly robust, are seeing a more imminent decline. The situation certainly leads one to question the role of universities as institutions of higher learning and preserving our society’s historical, cultural and linguistic attributes.
In studying the humanities, one is given an opportunity to reflect on the evolution of a society and where it may or may not be going. There is a real need to question so many aspects of modern society as it has evolved. For this reason, the sheer joy of learning has to be instilled in tomorrow’s leaders, keeping an open mind to all the possibilities. One key is the ability to quickly react to changing times and to be flexible in accepting the possibility of multiple answers and thinking outside the box. Governments and corporations need to have people equipped in critical thinking so as to provide different ways of thinking about the issues of the day, be they related to climate change or social-economic policies. It also helps to know how we got here!
Where are the writers and thinkers of the future coming from, if not from universities and the humanities? Can we really simply leave our future to the engineers, programmers, lawyers and business leaders? Back in 2010, University of Chicago philosopher Martha Nussbaum released her book Not for profit: Why Democracy needs the Humanities. I would suggest that anyone interested in this issue take the time to read her book, especially since our democracies appear to be constantly under attack by oligarchs and promoters of authoritarian rule.
FROLITICKS 