The year is 2025, and the humanities are dying. Many students choose to study subjects in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), thus causing humanities majors to be cast aside. Today, they receive an image that they are “easy” and “a waste of money.” That is certainly not the case, as they teach important lessons that affect the rest of our lives.
What are humanities? They are classes such as history, literature, philosophy, and art. These courses focus on rhetoric and critical thinking, helping students develop awareness of society and themselves.
Why is Gen-Z avoiding the humanities? As tech continues to grow, STEM majors have had an easier time finding work than their Humanities counterparts. This can be because Gen Z developed anxiety over the stock market and high inflation, as referenced in The Economist. In a list compiled by a journalist for The Wrangler, the most universal college majors are business management, computer science, engineering, psychology, and finance. Only one would classify as part of the humanities throughout that list.
(Eric Gao)
The Importance of Humanities
In a statement, Dr. Marcellues Hall, an English Professor and DEI professional, said, “[humans] survive together… We spend our entire lives in our body and mind only to die a stranger unto ourselves. An exploration into the heart of humanity goes beyond an understanding of the collective consciousness. It takes us deep into the core of who we truly are.” Humans are a herd species. The humanities were a respected field during most of human history. Kelly Buchan (S) thinks that “it helps us understand our common humanity by looking through history and seeing how the world has progressed one step at a time!”
By looking at the past, students can see that it is not only science and innovations that drive change. James Hay (S) attests to this sentiment: “Simply because something is new or innovative does not make it better.” This drive for innovation and development in STEM leaves behind thousands of years of human history and classical ways of thinking in the past. Hay also stated that modern-day ways of thinking put “[society] on a temporal plane rather than a spiritual plane. It becomes a loss-gain concept rather than a truth concept.”
It is not only a way of thinking but also how it applies to all fields. Every academic pursuit requires writing and critical thinking, and Brie Byers (S) thinks that “[humanities] is a good intersection of academic intelligence and emotional intelligence.” It is vitally important to continue to study humanities. Byers believes that we need to “have people in power to promote the ability to read and write and synthesize and analyze and approach situations from an interdisciplinary point of view is integral to ensuring that the humanities don’t die.”
The humanities are vital for the continuation of human survival. Policies must be implemented to promote the humanities and ensure their survival instead of pushing them to their end.
