O Humanities, Where art Thou?
A Classics professor considers the humanities throughout the ages, and invites former students to weigh in on these fields in today’s world.
The humanities — disciplines including philosophy, literature, and history — have experienced a significant decline over the past few decades. These fields, traditionally central to developing critical thinking, empathy, and cultural understanding, now find themselves in an increasingly precarious state.
The American Academy of Arts & Sciences reports that “the share of new bachelor’s degrees awarded in the humanities has been shrinking since 2005 (when the field accounted for almost 15% of bachelor’s degree). By 2022, the humanities accounted for just 8.8% of bachelor’s degrees — the smallest share since a more comprehensive accounting of humanities degree completions became possible in 1987.”
This wasn’t always the case. In the 1970s, three-quarters of first-year students viewed college as essential to developing a meaningful philosophy of life and only one-third prioritized financial well-being. Consequently, many more students majored in humanities in the 1970s. One bright spot is that overall enrollment in humanities courses today (excluding foreign languages, which has seen a precipitous decline) still appears relatively healthy.
Why are fewer students majoring in the humanities today? The primary reason seems to be that a humanities degree is perceived to be less likely to result in employment. The perspective that higher education is primarily a gateway to a career is validated by surveys indicating that students’ top three reasons for attending college are to improve employment opportunities, make more money, and get a good job.
During the Renaissance, the humanities began to be viewed as subjects to be studied rather than practiced, leading to the rise of academic disciplines like literature, history, and philosophy. Higher education today has mostly continued with the Renaissance approach to the humanities, though there is a recent movement to reintegrate the ancient and medieval approach of teaching practical skills and providing students with opportunities for civic engagement.
To get a sense of what effect the study of the humanities has had on Beloiters since I arrived at the school nearly three decades ago, I asked former students who majored in Classical Philology and Classical Civilization to reflect on their experiences while they were at Beloit, and on what these experiences have meant in their careers and lives after graduation.
Aaron Wenzel ’03
Morris, Minnesota
- Then: Classical Philology and Anthropology double major
- NOW: Assistant Professor of English, University of Minnesota Morris
Second, the humanities (and history in particular) have given me a greater sense of perspective on the modern world and current events. The big question that attracts me to studying the ancient world is, why is our world the way it is? I think much of it can be attributed to debates, conflicts, and choices that the ancient Greeks and Romans made, and understanding their worlds helps me see that what’s happening today is part of a much larger story of humanity. To paraphrase Prokopios’ preface to The Secret History, I find a sense of consolation in knowing that we’re not the first humans to live through exhilarating or challenging times. Humans have gotten through difficult times before and we’ll do so again. When you study humanities, you learn there’s really no such thing as “unprecedented times.” There’s always a precedent, and we can learn from that.
Third, the humanities have helped give me a set of values to live by, or confirmed values I had before coming to Beloit. I know this sounds pretentious, but in many ways, I consider myself a Platonist. Virtue, informed by knowledge, is the highest good. Fame, recognition, popularity, wealth, and power are not intrinsic goods and are not worth pursuing for their own sake. These are values I try to live out and I have found happiness and meaning in doing so. I have also found these values tend to put me at odds with many people in the modern world, though not at odds with many of my neighbors in this rural, conservative county in western Minnesota!
Devon Sweeting ’16
Oak Park, Illinois
- Then: Classical Civilization and Anthropology double major; French minor
- Now: Law Firm Compliance Coordinator at Katten Muchin Rosenman, LLP
The learning and unlearning that occurs in humanities classes presents a different approach to society and the self that hopefully continues for a lifetime. Not to say there aren’t real tangible skills within the humanities. Research tools, media literacy, and basic human communication are all key parts of the coursework. There’s a level of pattern recognition that comes from learning multiple languages and from sitting with visual art and literature that carries through to seeing how stories have been told throughout the ages. In studying history and art, you build skillsets that can be applied broadly, the ability to move from one field to another without losing the threads between them. We were required to constantly explain ourselves to our peers and to the faculty in every format possible. And god knows it shows in the conversational skills of the Beloiters I am still in contact with, in the comfort they have in writing emails and giving presentations. All of this goes back to the work we did in our humanities classes. The sense I get from the people I work with and know socially is that communication is the primary skill derived from humanities studies.
Christopher Mazza ’20
Tallinn, Estonia
- Then: Classical Civilization major; History minor
- Now: Treasury Manager at Wise
I did appreciate the freedom and scope I was given to shape my four years, even if, looking back, I might have made different choices. On Classics I can be more specific. Having a knowledge of past civilizations and the problems they’ve faced, and seeing how it mirrors or rhymes with today’s news is quite grounding, in a nihilistic way. Being exposed to these cultures heightened my awareness of the systems, structures, and cycles at play in our world and how we as human actors get swept up in them.
Classics was one of the few things I was passionate about, though passions can change. I never desired to study philosophy as an undergraduate, but nowadays it is the one thing I wish had explored more back then. Though it is likely that philosophy would not have meant as much to me back then versus now later in life.
Patricia Lord ’06
Dunsmuir, California
- Then: Classical Civilization major
- Now: Executive Director of the Siskiyou County Arts Council
In particular, the study of other languages I am sure has changed the structure of my brain, just as math and music have, despite the fact that I was never a very good student of any of those things. However, we study to change ourselves, not to be instantaneous masters. Right?
Slow ’13
Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Then: Classical Philology major
- Now: Multimedia visual artist, community facilitator, and consultant
Credit: Annabelle Marcovici Well, history DEFINITELY repeats itself. That is more obvious now than ever. Knowing this, we can see that history can empower us to ACT for the benefit of ourselves, everyone else, and the planet. My study of the humanities — including AP European history in high school, as well as the Roman history class I took with Aaron (Wenzel) — sharpened my ability to track patterns of events and ideas, formulate them into convincing narratives, and speak a message that I feel passionate about.
The ability to use our understanding of how and why things happen to convey lessons that apply to our current experience is a valuable tool. I know my ability to make connections across time and space, through my learning of history and culture, is one of the reasons I got an internship after college as a museum educator at The Stark Museum of Art (in Orange, Texas). They were impressed by my ability to see the connections between the ancient past and the current day. I live in Minneapolis in an intentional community called Sprout House, and I’m a consultant for an ecovillage where people are seeking to live in harmony with the land in northern Minnesota.
Amelia Green ’16
Chicago, Illinois
- Then: Classical Philology and Anthropology double major
- Now: studying jewelrymaking at the Jewellers Academy in London (U.K.)
The humanities have made me a more open and tolerant person. I am willing to consider challenges to the way I view things and able to incorporate new knowledge into my understanding of the world. I am able to look outside of myself and experience genuine appreciation for new experiences that introduce alternative viewpoints and cultures, and challenge opinions I might have had that were erroneous or simply ill-educated. For instance, I’ve taken up belly dancing, and learning about Egyptian culture through dance and western views on it has been a delight. It has also shown me how easy it is to accept stereotypes without thought. The biggest impact studying the humanities has had on me is the way it has increased my breadth of understanding of the world and my place in it, and my belief that there are always opportunities to learn more.
A Return to Humanitas
“They will tell you the liberal arts are meaningless and useless. I tell you they are the only things that are meaningful and useful.”
— John Wyatt, Beloit College professor of classics and comparative literature (1971-1996)
This paradigm shift in higher education— from college as primarily a place for intellectual exploration to a gateway to a career — has required me to rethink what I do in the classroom. When I first began teaching nearly three decades ago, the ideal was to study the humanities for their own sake. While that remains, to some extent, foundational for me, I’ve come to understand that this generation of students is navigating a different world, one in which the financial stakes and costs of a college education are higher than ever. My role, therefore, has to change, moving beyond a purely Renaissance model of scholarly pursuit and to re-embrace the ancient concept of humanitas as a form of practical training.
In my courses on the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean world, I ask students to place such concepts as democracy, slavery, philosophy, and imperialism into their historical contexts and trace their development over time. In my classes today, I am more explicit than ever about the transferable skills we are developing. In reading ancient texts, we analyze their narrative and rhetorical structures to become better storytellers and communicators. We don’t simply study historical and cultural events; we explore their long-term evolutions to gain a wider perspective on the world we currently inhabit.
The empathy that Aaron, Patricia, and Amelia talk about isn’t a happy accident, but an essential moral value we seek to deliberately cultivate by considering the perspectives of others across time. I see in the responses of these alumni an element of hope. By inculcating the enduring aesthetic, ethical, and practical powers of a humanistic education, it is my hope that we can ensure that these disciplines, and those who pursue them, not only survive but thrive.
He has been on the faculty at Beloit College since 1997.
