One hears a lot these days about the decline of the humanities. Elizabeth Corey at Baylor University in the journal First Things offers important insights about this decline.
One problem is jobs—there are fewer jobs at lower pay for humanities graduates than there are for those in the sciences and other fields.
Dr. Corey goes on to say, however, that the real problem is that those who champion the place of the humanities in academia do a poor job of explaining why they are important. So one hears, for example, that “studying humanities strengthens analytic reasoning” or enhances our ability to “think outside the box” or that studying humanities helps us understand “what it means to be human.”
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!
The real motivation for liberal learning, Corey says, is simple……IT IS LOVE! Maybe it was that special high school English teacher or a family friend with a rich intellectual background.
In my case it was an older graduate student who took a liking to me and had an interest in my development. He became my mentor. What I caught from him was a vision—a vision of a vibrant life lived in front of my eyes. I wanted something of what he had.
Freud once said that the young student learns first because of love for the teacher and later from love for the subject.
If we possess a religious faith we probably recall that it originated in encountering some particular person. MY mentor was intellectual, religious and a SAVVY FINANCIAL ADVISOR! WOW! WHAT A COMBINATION! He lit up my whole person!
When I speak of the value of the humanities and want to share their riches with others I try to remember how I fell in love.
