I have been following recent debates about the status of the humanities in higher education, which makes sense since I work in the humanities in higher education. As I have, it has become evident to me that critics of the humanities think that those of us who work in them ought to be able to get our points across to our students in six or so hours of coursework, after which our students will be "informed" and "critically self-aware."
It occurs to me that no accounting student is expected to be able to serve as an accountant after only six or so hours of coursework. No medical student is awarded a doctorate and released to treat patients after a mere six hours of coursework. Chemists don't get away with it, either. Neither do physicists, nor do political scientists.
And I know that as I begin to make this point, some will comment that "Those things are hard." And they are, I admit. But how many times do you think I have seen people with degrees in those fields--and others--say that they cannot write, that writing is hard?
Look at the comments made by many of the detractors of the study of the humanities. How well do they write? How much in the way of critical reasoning skills do they display?
Suddenly, the humanities are not such easy things. And yet we are supposed to get students to master them in six or so hours of coursework.
Am I the only one who sees this as a problem?
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I don't think administrators believe that he humanities foster critical thinking skills or critical engagement with the world at all. I think they see the humanities metaphorically as "oat bran." Students resent taking these courses, but a small dose of the humanities is "good for them." They are electives to break up the monotony of a four year business degree.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, I am beginning to think that business people honestly believe that classes in corporate communications and advertising will prep them with effective writing and thinking skills. Nobody is concerned with the meaning people attach to words, to language, beyond what the advertising denotes. Nor do they care whether people can really learn to make and interpet meaning without engaging the intellectal an artistic values only taught by the humanities.