The Value of the Humanities

Another popular discussion is the future of the humanities.  Thanks to the American economic downturn, the humanities find themselves in need of defense.  After all, they rarely create new jobs or generate significant revenue.  They are about personal cultivation, which is fine and all so long as you don't need to be supported by welfare as a result (or so the pundits say).  Perhaps the most common adjective you'll hear to describe the humanities is impractical.  After all, how can you make money with a philosophy degree?  The intimate study of philosophy may bring great joy, but practicality in American capitalism so often means to make money, good money.  Not only do the humanities not guarantee a good income like the sciences and engineering, but they don't even add anything of quantifiable measure to society!  Or so this is the common argument I hear by some engineers and scientists.

It is not a lie that the humanities rarely result in immediate work specific to the degree.  But does this stop graduates of these fields from dedicating some of their time to the arts?  Not always.  And if it does, perhaps that is an indication that the student was not particularly passionate about the field in the first place and, perhaps, went to college because it was expected of him or her.  Sure, the study of history or philosophy may not have a measurable impact on the world, but these people do have an impact on others.  They get people thinking.  They get people talking, debating, and sometimes help others grow intellectually.  There is something intrinsic about matters of the human condition that make for better conversation than the potential uses for a new, faster femtosecond laser. 

Happiness is not easy to quantify and measure.  Yet many students enter the humanities and liberal arts (hopefully) not expecting a $60,000 salary upon graduation.  No, they choose their major because they have an interest in the field.  The study of the humanities makes them happy.  This is a valid reason, perhaps the most valid reason, to choose a major.  Intellectual cultivation should not be limited only to the rich.  But we also cannot deny that most people go to college in America to make more money than they would without a college education.  For this reason, humanities and liberal arts programs ought to work with students to create realistic personal and career goals.  With enough work and preparation, any college degree can be useful.  Some will rarely lead to a lucrative career, but money is not a requirement of happiness.

Oh, and let us not forget the importance of reading- and writing-intensive courses on learning.  Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa write in Academically Adrift that students who take courses that require at least 40 pages of reading a week and 20 pages of writing over the course of the semester perform better on the Collegiate Learning Assessment than students with less rigorous reading and writing.  In my entire science degree, I never had to read or write that much, even in my required humanities courses.  Thankfully I had my humanities degree to fill that void.  There was a noticeably difference in writing quality and overall communication skill between senior students in my two majors.  Now think back to the various qualifications you've read for different jobs.  How many of them did not require excellent written and verbal communication skills?