Every Undergraduate Should Study the Humanities

Here in Canada many universities have a liberal education requirement for undergraduate degree programs. Even as a nursing student, I was required to take four courses each in three areas: Fine Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences. Of course, many of these requirements (especially the science courses) could be achieved with courses we already had to take anyway. We did have two electives - one in Fine Arts & Humanities (I chose a course on film studies because I was interested in drama), and another in Social Sciences (I chose a political science course because it was one of only a very few available options).

Here, most undergraduate degrees are four years owing to the liberal education requirement. We don't do a one-year industry placement unless your program requires practicum (as my nursing program did), and then your practicum is integrated with the rest of your studies.

You know I do not follow the reasoning in this post at all.

One of the snipers had a degree in Biology so all students in the Sciences lack an understanding of human rights and need education in the humanities?

Scientists have no understanding of human rights?

Those with degrees n humanities become better people?

It all seems very muddled thinking to me.

Adolf Hitler had artistic ambitions, he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna but was not successful.

Joseph Goebbels had a degree in Philology which involved the study of language, historical sources and literary texts.

There are, of course, many other examples.

Which subjects are included in the Humanities?

History, Religion, Geography (as a humanity rather than science subject), Literature, Classics etc.are all Humanity subjects.

I'm not sure of the logic of the argument or how it would change anything.

I am afraid I think the quote from the Guardian is bunkum.

There is absolutely no evidence that scinece students lack a knowledge of human rights or are in anyway handicapped mentally by not having studied humanities.

Lots of dictators, and torturers have had degrees in arts subjects. Many have had no education on arts or science.

I am sorry, this quote is someone making a generalisation from a sample of one.

Allira

Which subjects are included in the Humanities?

History, Religion, Geography (as a humanity rather than science subject), Literature, Classics etc.are all Humanity subjects.

I'm not sure of the logic of the argument or how it would change anything.

Good old Canada! What is not to like!

M0nica

I am afraid I think the quote from the Guardian is bunkum.

There is absolutely no evidence that scinece students lack a knowledge of human rights or are in anyway handicapped mentally by not having studied humanities.

Lots of dictators, and torturers have had degrees in arts subjects. Many have had no education on arts or science.

I am sorry, this quote is someone making a generalisation from a sample of one.

It was not the Guardian that wrote that about liberal education. It was my idea.

Liberal education sets science and technology within broad human experience. (Please read Ag nurse)Broad human experience is what the humanities give us . Clearly the IDF snipers were inhuman. If they had known more about human nature and human feelings they may not have been so evil.

Magenta8

Adolf Hitler had artistic ambitions, he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna but was not successful.

Joseph Goebbels had a degree in Philology which involved the study of language, historical sources and literary texts.

There are, of course, many other examples.

There are always some bad apples. Besides I don't think Nazi art contains any works of art that are honest concerning the human condition.

agnurse

Here in Canada many universities have a liberal education requirement for undergraduate degree programs. Even as a nursing student, I was required to take four courses each in three areas: Fine Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences. Of course, many of these requirements (especially the science courses) could be achieved with courses we already had to take anyway. We did have two electives - one in Fine Arts & Humanities (I chose a course on film studies because I was interested in drama), and another in Social Sciences (I chose a political science course because it was one of only a very few available options).

Here, most undergraduate degrees are four years owing to the liberal education requirement. We don't do a one-year industry placement unless your program requires practicum (as my nursing program did), and then your practicum is integrated with the rest of your studies.

Just quoting you because it's worth it.

So those who have studied humanities and then perform inhuman acts are “a few bad apples” whereas those who have studied sciences and perform inhuman acts are representative of the whole.

There really is nothing of logical thinking here.

Lathyrus3 Wed 10-Sept-25 09:25:02

"You know I do not follow the reasoning in this post at all.
One of the snipers had a degree in Biology so all students in the Sciences lack an understanding of human rights and need education in the humanities?".

I think you have misunderstood.

Surely it means, people with a degree in Biology (and Medicine) make better snipers because they know about anatomy and physiology.

Graduates with an aimless Arts degree can only kill their enemies by boring them to death.

Caleo

Allira

Which subjects are included in the Humanities?

History, Religion, Geography (as a humanity rather than science subject), Literature, Classics etc.are all Humanity subjects.

I'm not sure of the logic of the argument or how it would change anything.

Good old Canada! What is not to like!

I'm confused.
What does Canada have to do with this?

butterandjam

Lathyrus3 Wed 10-Sept-25 09:25:02

"You know I do not follow the reasoning in this post at all.
One of the snipers had a degree in Biology so all students in the Sciences lack an understanding of human rights and need education in the humanities?".

I think you have misunderstood.

Surely it means, people with a degree in Biology (and Medicine) make better snipers because they know about anatomy and physiology.

Graduates with an aimless Arts degree can only kill their enemies by boring them to death.

Graduates with an aimless Arts degree can only kill their enemies by boring them to death.
The subject isn't funny but that remark was 😂

I think the whole concept is full of non-sequitur.

I think you are confusing learning about Human Rights and Humanities.

Literature is a Humanity. Hitler wrote a book.

Caleo

M0nica

I am afraid I think the quote from the Guardian is bunkum.

There is absolutely no evidence that scinece students lack a knowledge of human rights or are in anyway handicapped mentally by not having studied humanities.

Lots of dictators, and torturers have had degrees in arts subjects. Many have had no education on arts or science.

I am sorry, this quote is someone making a generalisation from a sample of one.

It was not the Guardian that wrote that about liberal education. It was my idea.

Liberal education sets science and technology within broad human experience. (Please read Ag nurse)Broad human experience is what the humanities give us . Clearly the IDF snipers were inhuman. If they had known more about human nature and human feelings they may not have been so evil.

I can see no more justification for the statements made in your reply than I can see in your original post.

I know of no evidence that shows if someone is given information on human nature and human feelings it will make them more humanitarian.

Nor have I seen any evidence that someone who is not taught these things formally will be lacking in knowledge of human nature and human feelings.

Looking back over the three degrees I have done, economics, information science and archaeology, one a science, 2 humanities subjects I cannot think of any occasion when I was taught anything about human nature or human feelings, or why I should have been so taught.

On my science degree we did formal modules on how people look for information and how to talk to them to find their real information needs and then provide that information in a form that meets their requirements. Does that count?

No, this idea that scientists, mostly born into ordinary families with siblings, aunts, uncles etc, educated in state schools, where they mix with children from lots of different backgrounds, going to further education, where they meet lots of people studying different subjects and from different background, should fail to imbibe any information on human nature and human feelings, while all the humanities students around them from exactly similar backgrounds do learn such information, is, I regret, wishful and somewhat misplaced thinking.

Allira

butterandjam

Lathyrus3 Wed 10-Sept-25 09:25:02

"You know I do not follow the reasoning in this post at all.
One of the snipers had a degree in Biology so all students in the Sciences lack an understanding of human rights and need education in the humanities?".

I think you have misunderstood.

Surely it means, people with a degree in Biology (and Medicine) make better snipers because they know about anatomy and physiology.

Graduates with an aimless Arts degree can only kill their enemies by boring them to death.

Graduates with an aimless Arts degree can only kill their enemies by boring them to death.
The subject isn't funny but that remark was 😂

I think the whole concept is full of non-sequitur.

I think you are confusing learning about Human Rights and Humanities.

Literature is a Humanity. Hitler wrote a book.

Im afraid I thought it was funny too.

😂😳

Graduates with an aimless Arts degree can only kill their enemies by boring them to death.

I could say the same about anyone with an engineering or Physics degree especially if you live with them. 😴

Plenty of people within different religious organisations/churches have performed evil acts yet most would have studied the humanities.
I’m another who doesn’t see your logic Caleo.

It is more about if only we can educate people in the way I like they will think in the same way I do.

Caleo

Magenta8

Adolf Hitler had artistic ambitions, he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna but was not successful.

Joseph Goebbels had a degree in Philology which involved the study of language, historical sources and literary texts.

There are, of course, many other examples.

There are always some bad apples. Besides I don't think Nazi art contains any works of art that are honest concerning the human condition.

Yep, Hitler was def a ‘bad apple’

The OP from The Guardian is arrant nonsense.

Galaxy

It is more about if only we can educate people in the way I like they will think in the same way I do.

Precisely - and it is a fallacy.

Seen on Facebook:

Allira

^Graduates with an aimless Arts degree can only kill their enemies by boring them to death^.

I could say the same about anyone with an engineering or Physics degree especially if you live with them. 😴

That thought crossed my mind, too 😂

Someone sitting not far from me has a t shirt similar to this one. His wife bought it for him.

I am married to an engineer who always kept quiet about his many outside interests. He acquired two more degrees in music and opera in his free time and has just retired, for health reasons, from a lifetime of singing, producing, set designing and adapting 'proper' opera, then there are the series of older houses he has restored over the years, he is a Francophile. I will bore you no longer.

If your engineer is boring, you have chosen the wrong engineer.