Matt Micciche, Head of School
Friends School of Baltimore
The world needs what our children can do.

Friday, August 15, 2014

In Defense of the Humanities

I found this article on the continuing need for the humanities in the 21st Century. by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times to be very insightful.  For many educators (perhaps especially those of us who teach in the humanities) it has been distressing to see the broad devaluation of fields such as History, English, and Philosophy in recent years.  The focus on generating a return on investment for the huge sums of money involved in attending college (or, for that matter, independent schools) has led many people to adopt an overly-utilitarian view of education.  While this phenomenon may be a logical and predictable result of a struggling economy and escalating education costs, it does not, in my mind, capture the value that the humanities add to society as a whole.  As Kristof points out, it is only in the marriage of "hard skills" like computer programming with "soft skills" such as philosophical discernment that civilizations flourish.  One without the other is insufficient.