How useful are the humanities, and to what end? (Johann N. Neem, Process)
An historian asks about the ways the humanities are suitable for modern society.
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03, 2017
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03, 2016
Gambling on the meaning of nothing
Gambling on the meaning of nothing: how much do we really understand one another, even as friends? Minaccio, a witty man and a gambler, once lost his cash and his coat, too, playing at dice (he was truly poor), and sat weeping at the doorway of the tavern. A friend saw him distraught and in [...]
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03, 2016
How humanities teach us the art of life (Arnold Weinstein, New York Times)
How the humanities teach us the art of life. A professor of literature asks about life's greater meaning, which the humanities may provide. According to the author, "The humanities interrogate us. They challenge our sense of who we are, even of who our brothers and sisters might be."
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03, 2016
In Canada, the liberal arts are still relevant (iPolitics)
In Canada, the liberal arts are still relevant, for their relationship with STEM fields fosters innovation and enterprise. From the post: A March 2016 report from The Business Council of Canada surveyed 90 Canadian employers who said when hiring entry-level employees, skills in teamwork, communication, problem-solving and collaboration were more sought-after than technical expertise. (with thanks to [...]
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03, 2016
What employers want from college graduates (AAC&U)
What employers want: employees with liberal arts and humanities sensibilities. What employees lack: these sensibilities .... The article states: that "employers overwhelmingly endorse broad learning and cross-cutting skills as the best preparation for long-term career success. However, employers also give students very low grades on nearly all of the 17 learning outcomes explored in the study, including [...]
22
03, 2016
Lao-Tzu advises Confucius on the art of life and ruling
In a political season, Daoist thinking on keeping the measure of things. ------------------ Whoever thinks what matters is to get rich is incapable of renouncing salary. Whoever thinks what matters is to get famous is incapable of renouncing reputation. Whoever is too fond of sway over others is incapable of letting another man take the [...]
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03, 2016
Edna St. Vincent Millay on human fallibility
Her sonnet meditates on human degradation, and self-degradation, in the new Iron Age. From "Epitaph on the Race of Man" Here lies, and none to mourn him but the sea, That falls incessant on the empty shore, Most various Man, cut down to spring no more; Before his prime, even in his infancy Cut down, [...]
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03, 2016
Better scientists with liberal arts (Loretta Jackson-Hayes, Washington Post)
We become better scientists, the more we value the liberal arts. The author recounts how the liberal arts "unlocked" for her the true value of education, and her students in turn became more adroit at their science and their ability to communicate their ideas to others. She writes: Our culture has drawn an artificial line between art [...]
8
03, 2016
Why read the classics
Why read the classics: Italo Calvino (1923-1985) explains the nature of a classical literary composition, which has various means of speaking to us throughout the different times of our lives. If the books have remained the same (even though they too change in light of a different historical perspective), we ourselves have certainly changed, and the encounter [...]
6
03, 2016
The Clarion Call for STEM (New York Times)
The clarion call for STEM: state legislatures and politicians -- from both parties -- stress education in the sciences, rather than in the humanities and arts: taxpayers should subsidize, the argument goes, those courses of study most likely to produce better taxpayers. "When it comes to dividing the pot of money devoted to higher education, [...]