The 2012 article, “My Gloriously Useless Degrees In the Humanities”, focuses on the unstable nature of the job market, and its contribution towards the negative outlook on arts/humanities degrees. This article comes one year after the occupy wall street movements, people during this time were angry, and questioned the distribution of wealth in America. The author, Katrin Park, does not seek to answer the questions brought upon by the Occupy movement, but rather she recognizes that her argument has a platform, and that it may resonate with a similar audience. To create a foundation for her argument, Park displays her familiarity with the Kairos in which her article is born out of. I found her establishment of the articles’ kairos in paragraph…
In the article, “Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia, Gioia presents a claim that shows the decline of interest in the arts, specifically literature, in the newer generation of Americans. Within the piece, Gioia provides accurate statistics, a quote from a notable professional, and reports from trustworthy sources. Gioia makes an attempt to shift America’s attention to the downfall of participation in the arts. He seems to direct his argument mainly at the modern group of individuals. Starting off with introductory paragraph, Gioia begins to list positive changes in American society, such as college attendance ballooning and access to information skyrocketing enormously, but then quickly drops to one negative: “the interest young Americans showed in the arts – and especially literature – actually diminished.”…
In paragraph 4, Gitlin asks his readers, “How shall we find still points in a turning world? How shall we learn to govern ourselves?” By asking these broad questions, he persuades his audience to think of the liberal arts as a solid foundation for understating today's society. Throughout the rest of his article, the author discusses these questions to give his audience an idea of what liberal arts in about. In a world where information is constantly throw around and always changing, humanities will be a solid basis to help interpret what the information…
The Department also offers a minor in Art. Courses in the Department of Fine Arts, Design and Liberal Studies combine critical thinking and social awareness with practical skills in communication technology as well as oral, written, and artistic expression. The variety of majors and minors available in the department enables students to combine programs that qualify them for careers and graduate school, enhance the quality of their lives, and prepare them to become citizens of the global community. The Department accomplishes the mission and goals of the university by supporting a broad liberal arts core and providing challenging and enriching degree programs. Students are guided and mentored through faculty advising, department-sponsored student organizations and performance groups, and a variety of internship…
In “The New Liberal Arts” by Sanford J. Ungar, he explains seven misperceptions about the liberal-arts to a college-based audience including students, professors, and administration. He explains the importance and relevance of a liberal-arts education. Ungar claims that the liberal arts is a better investment because it prepares students for career placement by giving them skills in communicating effectively, thinking creatively, and understanding comprehensively. Ungar successfully…
Before Humanities 210, how would you have described the philosophies that influenced your processes for decision making, thinking, and developing preferences? How would you have described your level of conscious choice of and commitment to these philosophies? What helped form or develop the belief in that philosophy? After class discussions, have you had any realizations or made any changes in regards to the philosophies that influences your decisions, actions, or preferences?…
Every day the world gets bigger and bolder with more innovations and technology. Major fields like Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math have so much room to grow. Despite the growth of these geeks, we have forgotten the country is built on nerds. Nerds who started with humanities and grew from there. In response STEM is created to prepare young adults to think only on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.…
Aldous Huxley's extreme story puts the lives of people during the 1930s in a perspective that most wouldn't think to perceive it from. He presents many different social and political problems of the 1930s in his novel Brave New World. The despair and isolation that citizens and countries felt during this time of poverty is ironically twisted into a world of euphoria and ignorant bliss a world where everyone is happy. He shows the lengths government would go for the sake of power, production, and peace often putting these values over the people they have sworn to protect and people as a whole losing all sense of true morals. By using metaphors, imagery and diction Aldous Huxley creates an outrageous novel the makes the reader dig deeply into the thoughts…
Sarah Braun, a 2007 Monmouth College graduate, is living proof that curiosity can take you anywhere. The showcase of Braun’s adventurous lifestyle and attitude was a wonderful way for us incoming college freshman to see the many opportunities that can be possible if one only strives hard enough and applies themselves within a liberal arts curriculum. Braun’s thesis of curiosity can take you anywhere applies to our recent reading of the book Curious by Ian Leslie. As Braun mentioned within the convocation, Leslie describes diversive curiosity as, “follows no particular process or method, but slides from one novel object of attention to the next” (Leslie). Braun explained that it was this type of curiosity that led her to some of her passions.…
Education, in the 21st century, refers to certain core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem solving that advocates believe schools need to teach to help students thrive in today’s world. (Education Week, 2010). Students are encouraged to think critically and creatively, nevertheless, there are schools throughout the state of Kentucky that exclude the arts from their core curriculum which eliminates a creative outlet for students. Arts integration in public schools provide students the tools they need to think creatively and ameliorate their state mandated testing scores. The arts provide students with developmental skills that aid in the improvement of their fine motor skills, language development,…
The academic system of current society attempts to prepare students for working in the real world. The majority of students are encouraged to pursue studies in areas such as business and technology because it will ensure a high paying job and promote economic growth. Lately, students have begun to question whether studying the humanities are worth the tuition costs, and if a technical or science based major is a better option. Martha Nussbaum, in her essay “ Education for Profit, Education for Democracy”, brings attention to how “the current focus on education as a form of career training fails to teach students the skills necessary to participate in the political process” (61). Liberal arts schools aim to strengthen a student’s range of knowledge through the studies of arts and humanities.…
-----The summer semester for Humanities is coming to an end and I can personally say on my behalf that this was a learning experience that I will not forget. I know it sounds cheesy but this class was different in comparison to the other classes that I had previously taken before; in this class I was able to learn about several cultures their art, rituals, places of worship and music. I said this class was different because I had never actually spent that much time looking at other cultures nor taking the time to actually understand them, but for this summer class I was given the task to do it, and it soon didn’t feel like I was doing homework anymore because I was actually enjoying the work I was doing and the reading I was doing on the course…
Humanities in STEM Many undergraduate students will claim, “the humanities are a waste of time” or “the humanities will not help me with my career”. Yo-Yo Ma in “Behind the Cello” and Tamar Lewin in “As Interest Fades in the Humanities” both discuss what the humanities may have to offer. The humanities educate degree seeking students on many things that are essential to every career. Without being educated in the humanities, students are missing out on skills and information that are not taught in the STEM subjects such as foreign language, culture, history, literature and philosophy.…
Liberal arts are credited with covering a broad array of learning. This allows for a diverse level of knowledge, and gives another option for looking at things. Not only do the liberal arts open up a person’s mind to these components, but it also gives a person…
Students are like snowflakes; they are unique in their own way. It would be really boring if they were all the same. According to Howard Gardner, students can learn in eight different intelligences. The eight intelligences include: linguistic, mathematical, spatial, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Each person has their own way of learning and perceiving information based on their strengths (Multiple Intelligences, 2013).…