The domain of the humanities covers courses that have to do with the Culture, History and Arts of a people. Such courses include but are not limited to Literature, Language, History, Classics, Religion and Philosophy.
These courses hardly use the methodology of the natural sciences. They depend mostly on rationalization, evaluation and arguments mostly done from the background of culture and human interest.
It is often ridiculously claimed that these disciplines in the humanities do not readily place ‘bread and butter’ on the table. In other words, their utility cannot easily be quantified, unlike what obtains in applied sciences. Thus many misconceptionist believe that humanities and arts are not relevant to the present developmental process. Meanwhile, the preoccupation of the humanities and arts certainly involves more than the satisfying of taste and feelings, as they constitute the pivot on which culture and civilization are based.
Humanities and arts try at one point or the other to satisfy human feelings and tastes. It therefore means that the humanities themselves are only fulfilling some of the imperative of the product of human intellectual enterprise, which is the satisfaction of tastes and feelings. Perhaps, this function falls within the purvey of the intrinsic function of education.
A major importance of education in the humanities and arts lies in the fact that it satisfies certain needs of man, which are beyond the physical and material needs which science and technology are concerned with.
Importance of Studying Humanities and Arts
The importance of studying humanities and arts encompass the full range of human thought and creativity, including languages, religion, philosophy, and the broad spectrum of the human endeavors (including the performing arts and the visual arts).
The study of humanities and arts explores the commonalities and differences in self-expression that humans have exhibited through the ages and continue to demonstrate today. The humanities and arts have always been and will continue to be the basis of human cultures and source of our perceptions of different cultures.
The importance of studying humanities and arts is often questioned in a progressively technological society, where a large focus is placed on science, technology, engineering and maths subjects.
However, the cultural knowledge and critical thinking skills possessed by humanities and arts graduates ensure they are sufficiently prepared to ‘meet the needs of the current and future labour market.
1. Critical thinking skills
No matter what walk of life you come from, what industry you’re interested in pursuing or how much experience you’ve already garnered, critical thinking skills is importance.
Even if you want to be a better critical thinker, it’s hard to improve upon something you can’t define. Critical thinking is the analysis of an issue or situation and the facts, data or evidence related to it. Ideally, critical thinking is to be done objectively meaning without influence from personal feelings, opinions or biases and it focuses solely on factual information.
The most importance of studying humanities and arts is the critical thinking skills that allows you to make logical and informed decisions to the best of your ability. “The ability to think critically is more important now than it has ever been,” If people cannot think critically, he explains, they not only lessen their prospects of climbing the ladder in their respective industries, but they also become easily susceptible to things like fraud and manipulation.
In the era of fake news, contrasting data, and so much information to process every day, critical thinking is the only way to make sense of this world. It helps you decide what to believe in. In other words, it’s “thinking about thinking” identifying, analyzing, and then fixing flaws in the way we think.
2. Improves Performance in Other Subjects/Fields
Education systems are moving towards the concept of ‘steam’ science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics. These might be different subjects, but art enjoys a component of every subject.
3. Promotes Creativity and Innovation
Undoubtfully, another importance of studying humanities and arts it allow students to think. It teaches some remarkable life lessons by allowing students to imagine, aspire, and dream. It encourages students to think out of the box and come up with innovative ideas.
Students get a chance to utilize their skills efficiently and establish themselves as competent individuals. There is nothing more powerful than having a clear perspective on life. After all, people with a potent mindset are likely to climb the stairs of success.
4. Leadership Skills
There are a number of broad skill areas that are particularly important for leaders. These include strategic thinking, planning and delivery, people management, change management, communication, and persuasion and influencing.
Humanities and arts graduates also pursue careers as leaders. A research open that of professional leaders had a humanities degree. Leaders with a humanities background work in a variety of sectors, the most popular of which include:
- sport and entertainment (26%)
- communications (21%)
- non-profit (18%)
- education and training (17%).
5. Social skills
Not all of the skills humanities graduates possess are exclusive to their degree though. The ability to research, analyze data and present results in a written format can be developed across a range of disciplines. Where Humanities and arts graduates differ is the context in which they apply these skills.
