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Humanities: THE HUMANITIES

The Humanities encompasses a broad spectrum of disciplines. The Humanities classes include those in the liberal arts that promote critical thinking, analysis, and creativity. Majors may include: English, History, Religion, Art History, Philosophy, Languag

Humanities Subjects

What is Anthropology?

Anthropology is the systematic study of humanity, with the goal of understanding our evolutionary origins, our distinctiveness as a species, and the great diversity in our forms of social existence across the world and through time. The focus of Anthropology is on understanding both our shared humanity and diversity, and engaging with diverse ways of being in the world.

https://anthropology.ucdavis.edu/undergraduate/what-is-anthropology

 

What is Archeology?

Archaeology is the study of the ancient and recent human past through material remains. Archaeologists might study the million-year-old fossils of our earliest human ancestors in Africa. Or they might study 20th-century buildings in present-day New York City. Archaeology analyzes the physical remains of the past in pursuit of a broad and comprehensive understanding of human culture.

Types of Archaeology

Archaeology is a diverse field of study. Most archaeologists focus on a particular region of the world or a specific topic of study. Specialization allows an archaeologist to develop expertise on a particular issue. Some archaeologists study human remains (bioarchaeology), animals (zooarchaeology), ancient plants (paleoethnobotany), stone tools (lithics), etc. Some archaeologists specialize in technologies that find, map, or analyze archaeological sites. Underwater archaeologists study the remains of human activity that lie beneath the surface of water or on coasts. Cultural Resource Management, known as "CRM," refers to the work archaeologists do to follow federal and state laws.

Around the world, archaeological methods are similar. But archaeology in the Americas is a subfield of anthropology—the study of humans. In other parts of the world, archaeology is an independent field of study or part of historical research.

https://www.saa.org/about-archaeology/what-is-archaeology

The Importance of Art

Why study the Classics?

Classics, the study of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as their wider Mediterranean context, is a wide-ranging discipline. It incorporates elements of history, archaeology, art, religion, mythology, philosophy, gender and queer studies, and numerous other disciplines. At its heart are the two main languages of the ancient Mediterranean world, Greek and Latin, and the literature written in those languages by the ancient Greeks and Romans.

 

 

 

Why Study History?

Why study history? The answer is because we virtually must, to gain access to the laboratory of human experience. When we study it reasonably well, and so acquire some usable habits of mind, as well as some basic data about the forces that affect our own lives, we emerge with relevant skills and an enhanced capacity for informed citizenship, critical thinking, and simple awareness. The uses of history are varied. Studying history can help us develop some literally “salable” skills, but its study must not be pinned down to the narrowest utilitarianism. Some history—that confined to personal recollections about changes and continuities in the immediate environment—is essential to function beyond childhood. Some history depends on personal taste, where one finds beauty, the joy of discovery, or intellectual challenge. Between the inescapable minimum and the pleasure of deep commitment comes the history that, through cumulative skill in interpreting the unfolding human record, provides a real grasp of how the world works.—Peter Stearns

 

What is law?

It may seem obvious, but what is law? Law, or legal studies, comes into contact with almost every area of human life, touching upon issues relating to business, economics, politics, the environment, human rights, international relations and trade. It is telling that the first academic degrees developed were all related to law. As a law student, you can expect to learn how to tackle some of the most problematic – indeed, often seemingly irresolvable – conflicts and issues in modern society and morality. In providing a framework through which to examine and understand different societies and cultures, law degrees are a useful way to prepare not only for specific legal careers, but for a broad range of professional roles – and indeed, for life in general.

Linguistics is the science of language, and linguists are scientists who apply the scientific method to questions about the nature and function of language. Linguists conduct formal studies of speech sounds, grammatical structures, and meaning across all the world's over 6,000 languages.

 

The Science of Linguistics | Linguistic Society of America

https://www.linguisticsociety.org › resource › science-ling

What is world literature?

World literature is the totality of all national literatures. The formation of literature in different countries happened not at the same time, which is connected with the emergence of writing and artistic creativity.

 

Each nation`s literature has its own artistic and national features. World literature is very important for the studying, still the literature of one country develops together with other national literatures. They enrich each other borrowing certain literary elements. There are a lot of scientific works on world literature, which explain the peculiarities of this phenomenon. As a concept, world literature emerged only in the 19th century when the literary connections of different countries had spread and strengthened.

The term “world literature” was introduced by Jogann Wolfgang von Goethe. He used the word “Weltliteratur” in 1827. Goethe studied the characteristic features and interrelationships of different national literatures, the tendencies of their development and their achievements. He studied the works of famous writers which presented different literary phenomena of different historic periods.

He claimed that literature shouldn`t be restrained by national boundaries. In 1894 the world saw the first book about world literature – “The history of world literature”. The world literature emerged because of the development of global economic and cultural relations. This global literary process was also caused by the rapid development of national literatures. In the history of world literature we define several stages of its development such as the literature of Bronze Age, Classical literature, Early Medieval literature, Medieval Literature, Early Modern and Modern literature.

World literature is the cultural heritage of all humanity. It is essential to study world literature as it helps us understand the life of different people from all over the world, forms our world-outlook and acquaints us with the masterpieces of literature.

Why is Performing Arts Important in Education

The importance of performing arts in education cannot be overemphasized, but it is usually overlooked. A lot of focus is placed on the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) framework despite the many benefits of performing arts in schools.

It has been proven that people involved in performing arts are able to engage the mind, emotions, and body in ways that allow them to properly flow through real-life situations with empathy, understanding, emotional intelligence, and confidence, as well as to communicate with their varying counterparts.

https://rhodesschools.org/why-is-performing-arts-important-in-education/

Philosophy is the study of the nature of existence, knowledge, truth and ethics. It involves consideration of the most fundamental questions about who we are, and examines philosophical thought across the breadth of history right up to the present day.

 

What can you do with a philosophy degree? | Student

https://www.timeshighereducation.com › student › subjects

 

What is Poetry For?

http://pacpx.alamo.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hft&AN=158774733&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 

 

What is Religious Studies?

Religious Studies

All the religious traditions teach about ultimate values and their relationship to our worldly lives.  How religious thinkers — and the scholars who study them — develop their ideas about human rights, law, and gender relations from primary sources, and how this changes over time, is an essential part of the academic study of religion.  Some of the traditions are the oldest extant bodies of thought.  The religions of the world are an ancient and living source for values.  The courses in religious studies focus on the study of sources, history, nature, and the relevance of religion.