Humanities
April 3, 2019
In recent years, schools have been placing a larger and larger emphasis on STEM classes for their students, and less and less of an emphasis have been place on humanities classes. This isn’t surprising, as STEM classes prepare students for high-paying jobs like engineering or the medical field, while the humanities are akin to a job desert. However, by ignoring the humanities and overemphasizing the STEM field, schools are missing the purpose of the U.S. public school system in the first place. It was never to prepare kids for future jobs (though it certainly has been an added benefit), but rather to output well-rounded citizens that can meaningfully contribute to society and cast an educated vote. By undercutting the humanities in favor of STEM classes, these school districts are creating poorly-rounded students and ultimately stunting them when they leave high school and enter the real world.
A poor English education, simply put, puts out poor writers. Even in the STEM fields, scientists are expected to write about their research to publish in a journal, and poor and unpolished writing skills can mean the difference in acquiring funding for that scientist’s endeavors. No matter the job, it is necessary to be able to convey ideas to others effectively. The neglect of an English education could be disastrous for that student beyond high school.
History teaches us about the past, but more importantly, it teaches lessons that can be applied to the modern day. George Santayana once said,“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Without knowing of Germany in 1930s, how are we to recognize the growth of a fascist movement? In addition, without knowledge of why the world is the way it is, how can one be expected to be an informed voter?
Each of the other humanities has an important function: geography provides necessary context for geopolitical problems, philosophy teaches us about who we are and seeks to answer the deeper questions we all ponder at times, government and political science language studies interconnect people from around the world, the arts provide a place for the expression of human creativity.
Ultimately the humanities serve two purposes: to educate about the world around us and to explore what makes us human. To ignore any of these subject areas is to ignore a massive part of the world and humanity.
