Humanities Faculty

Question: Why is it so important to study humanities subjects?

The answer to this question is, to say the least, multifaceted. The Humanities encourage us to think creatively. They teach us to reason about being human and to ask questions about the world we live in. Is there anything more important than that? It’s not just a shallow glance either because the Humanities help us understand others through their languages, histories and cultures, they foster social justice and equality. Looking at the world in this way helps to reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual and intellectual sense of the world. Crucially the Humanities teach empathy. I believe that this is one of the most important elements because, through empathy, the Humanities help us to understand that the world faces both anthropogenic and physical challenges.

Humanities students develop many skills while they study the subjects. Humanities teach us to deal critically and logically with subjective, complex, imperfect information. We learn to weigh evidence skeptically and consider more than one side of every question. Humanities students build skills in writing and critical reading. All important abilities whatever you end up doing in the future, and skills well regarded by universities.

In summary the Humanities develop informed and critical citizens. Without the Humanities, democracy could not flourish.