Humanities Blog Post: Are the Studies of Humanities important?
By Markus Jack
Humanities, what is that? Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. I believe the studies of Humanities are important to study because it is important for a healthy democracy and community. I believe studying humanities will open many opportunities for future success. A reason why studying Humanities is so important is communication. Learning English is one of the most important things in the world because so many different countries speak it. You always see exchange students come to our country to try and learn our language because it is so important to them to learn it. Also, reading and writing are crucial too. Learning how to read has helped me drastically in school which makes me motivated to further extend my knowledge in Humanities. Writing is a skill that is important in many parts of life. In her January 2018 article Devaluing a Humanities Education Ultimately Devalues Humanity Itself, writer Mandy Pipher talks about her experience at Oxford University. She feels that students at her school think having an English Degree isn’t as important as a Math or Science Degree. I agree with what Many Pipher is arguing about. I believe there are so many opportunities with an English degree. Some examples include teaching in K-12 classrooms, a writer, a publisher, teaching English abroad, private tutoring, and social media management. In the video “Why We Don’t Study Humanities”, Margarita G has a similar thesis for the importance of the Humanities for society. She believes that people tend to think of getting an English degree as a joke. In movies an English degree is portrayed as an easy degree to get. 20 seconds into the video a woman asks a man what you can do with an English degree. He goes onto saying “you can think deep thoughts about being unemployed”. The Dead Poets Society is such a great example of how important English is in our daily lives. The teacher in the movie tries to inspire the students by looking at things from different perspectives and to help pursue their dreams. The overall message of the video is being able to understand poetry which can lead you to understanding movies and allow you to read your family and friends moods and beliefs. I wish more people would see this video and for the people who saw this I’m hoping they were as impacted as I was. Humanities is so important for our daily life and can help with so many different aspects. Being able to communicate through speaking, listening, reading, and writing will allow you to become more successful in life. In conclusion, I believe studying Humanities is important not just for me, but it will benefit everyone. Before our class discussed this, I never realized how important Humanities is to me and how much we need Humanities in our society and our daily lives.
