Big Think

Patrick Gavin commented on the Humanities on February 18, 2008, 4:12 PM

I might be a bit biased, as I am by profession a humanities librarian, but I%u2019ll give my take on this question anyway. Why humanities, the idealistic answer: our democracy depends upon a well-educated, critically-thinking population. Study in the humanities provides the chance for students to practice thinking analytically, critically, and speculatively (necessary to cultivate productive, responsible, and civically-minded members of our society). Why humanities, a practical answer: - According to a study by the National Commission on Writing, %u201Cproviding writing training [to college graduates employed by states] costs taxpayers nearly a quarter of a billion dollars annually.%u201D- In the private sector: %u201CBusiness professionals and instructors often view writing skills as one of the most important qualifications that employees should possess. However, many business employees, including recent college graduates, have serious writing deficiencies, especially in their ability to use Standard English. As a result, American businesses spend billions of dollars annually to remediate these writing deficiencies%u201D (College Board, the National Commission on Writing for America%u2019s Families, Schools, and Colleges, 2004).Maybe with a bit more focus on the importance of the humanities, we can rectify these problems before sending our graduates out into the professional world. It%u2019s not necessarily easy to identify all of the directly-transferable job skills for any given job%u2026how one might master those skills might even be more difficult to identify. Maybe we should focus on providing an education that ensures our graduates at least have the skills necessary to read something, analyze it thoroughly (from multiple points-of-view), and produce a coherent response to it%u2026Should we accomplish this, my bet is that any other requisite skills will be acquired much more easily.