• Analyze the values, cultural context, and aesthetic qualities of artistic, literary, philosophic, and/or religious works (General Education Goal 6). • Distinguish the methods that underlie the search for knowledge in the arts, humanities, natural sciences, history, and social and behavioral sciences (General Education 7). • Integrate knowledge that will deepen their understanding of, and will inform their own choices about, issues of personal and public importance (General Education…
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 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…
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.”…
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…
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.…
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…
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?…
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.…
With the questioning of the traditional educational system, many offer alternate solutions to combat these misperceptions such as the article written by Sanford J. Ungar, “The New Liberal Arts”. While liberal-art degrees rarely statistically illustrate much success,…
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.…
He evokes Tom Gillis, writer for Forbes magazine, to lead into this assertion, “The next billion-dollar company will be run by history majors who are skilled in wading through a massive jumble of facts and who have the ability to distill these facts down to a clear set of objectives that a global team can fulfill.” (Jones 28). Jones goes on to say that because of all of these skills that were acquired through liberal arts degree programs liberal arts degree holders are not at any kind of significant disadvantage compared to other degrees. Edward Conard, American businessman and author, challenges this claim in “We don’t need more humanities majors,” where he talks about the inadequacy of Liberal Arts degree holders filling in jobs in STEM-related fields, “It’s true some advanced degree holders may have earned undergraduate degrees in humanities, but they quickly learned humanities degrees alone offered inadequate training, and they returned to school for more technical degrees.” (Conard 42).…
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).…