The humanities beyond ‘useless’ self-reflection: on their global usefulness. From the editorial:

One of the many problems with the continuing debate about the role of the humanities in higher education is that humanists did not frame the debate. It has been framed, instead, by business schools, university administrators without humanities backgrounds, STEM advocates (again, without humanities backgrounds), and university financial officers using narrow definitions of how to interpret their bottom lines.

As a result, the debate has centered around a narrow definition of “useful” as meaning moneymaking. Nonhumanists and humanists alike who step up to defend the humanities buy into this distinction by defending the humanities, counterintuitively, as “not useful.” This is no way to win the argument for the humanities….

Enough. It is time for humanists to go on the offensive. Not by shoring up our silos or rejecting collaboration with nonhumanists. Not by insisting that the nature of the humanities is somehow unchanging across time and place and, thus, of ineffable and universal value. And not by giving in to the pressure to reduce the goals of our teaching to producing students who can manage both spoken and written communication effectively. (This is certainly an inherent product of humanities teaching, but not an isolated goal.)

Instead, we must make clear what we ourselves already understand: There is no functioning, stable, globalized world of the future without the humanities….

Functioning effectively in a globalized society — in business, politics, medicine, education, daily interactions with immigrants in one’s own community, or daily interactions with locals in the community into which one has immigrated — requires the skill of rigorous, critical, empathetic thinking.

Not just run-of-the-mill empathy. Not a wishy-washy definition of empathy that reduces it to natural feelings or emotions. Not just instinctive “people skills.” Not some kind of imagined empathy that depends on a person’s inherent ability to listen well and think from another person’s point of view. Not touchy-feely but uninformed sympathy for “those less fortunate” in other parts of the world. Instead, navigating this globalized world requires sophisticated, well-honed skills of empathy….

Can reading poetry and philosophy soothe your soul? Absolutely. Can studying religion and art history help you to explore notions of truth and beauty in order to understand how they shape your own life? Without question. Will examining history introduce you to individual historical actors who inspire (and horrify) you? Yes.

But is self-reflection the sum of what the humanities contribute to the world or to an individual’s path in life? Not even close.

In a 2013 essay titled “Globalization and the Humanities in the Twenty-First Century,” Alexa Alice Joubin, a professor in the English department at George Washington University, wrote, “In our age of globalization, understanding other peoples’ stories means the difference between being a window shopper and being an informed decision maker in international arenas.” This is the core of the humanities offensive: Scientific data alone does not inform and cannot explain all actions and decisions. The humanities provide vital tools for navigating our globalized world.

h/t Robert Townsend (@rbthisted)

On the uselessness of the humanities, see here.