By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
Professor of linguistics & Chairperson of the Department of English
Faculty of Arts
Kafrelsheikh University
When I decided to go into the humanities track at high school, it came
as a big surprise to family and friends. I remember the first day of
study; our geography teacher, who did
not seem to be in love with her career, blamed us for choosing that dead end path.
"You silly," she said, seemingly joking. "You would end up
working as teachers!"
What our teacher did, and perhaps the majority of people still
do, was establishing a correlation between academic majors and job market;
pursuing a career and pursuing a degree have long been identically perceived.
The market value of degrees steers us blindfolded and masks the true value of
humanities as vehicles for understanding ourselves and the world around us. How
can we redress a balance in our life between humanistic and scientific aspects
so as to have highly cultured citizens who simultaneously and responsibly have
successful career, enjoyably pursue their academic interests and confidently
have a humanistic perspective on the unprecedented challenges of modern
life?
Soft skills
I am always amazed by the brilliant oratorical and argumentative skills
of many politicians, public servants, CEOs and common people, most of whom have degrees
in humanities and arts. Imagine the world without such a spectacular array of
arts and humanities: history, philosophy, music, literature, criticism, ethics,
comparative religions, anthropology, archaeology, teaching, etc. Arts and
humanities make us more empathetic, resilient and understanding of everything around
us. They help us become more aware of who we are as humans. Classic education
mainly taught humanities and arts for cultivating one's character and moral values. Further, studying classical and modern
languages and literature marvelously expand and diversify our worldview. Humanities also teach us how
to think critically, weigh the pros and cons, understand other people' s views,
and figure out faulty reasoning. Arts and humanities have long been two
essential branches of liberal arts along with mathematics, natural science,
etc. Their ultimate purpose is to cater for the individuals' intellectual and affective needs that are
necessary for leading a mentally healthier life and augment their tolerance and
wisdom.
A fake dichotomy
The gap between humanities and arts and STEM ( Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics) has basically contributed to underestimating the
humanities and arts. It is true that STEM
has made miraculous advances that turns the world into a completely
different one . However, it makes the world vulnerable to unprecedented threats
: intensive farming, climate change, loss of identity, wars, weapons of mass
destruction, immigration, famines, pollution, water scarcity, uncertainties,
obesity, unfair global trade system, human
trafficking, drugs, poverty, unemployment, and the list goes on and on.
Accordingly, the world has become more than ever a ruthless place, crushing our
souls and turning deaf ears to the thunderous cries coming from school
children, teenagers, and young generations to stop stealing their future and
rights of living in a sustainable world. Amid the chaos, uncertainties, and
madness we live in, arts and humanities, which are usually looked upon as
fields of theories , should be called on and have their say. They could send us
a lifeline to create a safer, more virtuous and sustainable environment by
setting strategic futuristic plans promoting intellectual reforms, unleashing
imagination, fighting against all forms of injustice and setting the tone for a healthy
relationship between humans and nature
Giant tech companies and humanities
Latest reports on employment opportunities in top tech companies show
that people with background in humanities and liberal arts are steadily
increasing. Creative engineers and
artists are among the top hired people .
Talent is being correlated to employment. More surprisingly or even
dramatically, Google and Apple, for instance, have hired people with no
university degree at all.
The game is changing
Arts and humanities are integrating in almost every science,
including natural sciences. There is always a room for cultural variations in
understanding the pillars of science. Psychology, for instance, is mandatory
for the progress made in economics, agriculture, information technology,
politics, etc. The current digital revolution would not have been that
effective or game changer without humanities. Think about the human behavior
online and how does that promote marketing, consumer spending, designing emoji
characters, faces, translation, and apps. Think about our ability to copy
people' s behavior and feel empathetic to them. This is simply because we have
mirror neurons in our brains. Technology industry has exploited that in herding
people to be fully consumed in digital and consumerist life. Translating one's
humanities and arts background in STEM-related fields would yield better
leadership and creative skills, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, among many other badly needed strengths.
Digital humanities
A very promising and fulfilling line of research forging links between
computer sciences and humanities is gathering increasing momentum day after
day. Digital tools have augmented research in humanities and arts, leading to
asking new research questions, employing more representative, comprehensive and
multi- modal data, compiling corpora and archives, processing and interpreting
data more efficiently and reliably. More importantly, the user-friendly digital
tools have made it extremely easier than ever for scores of individuals in the
broad community to ambitiously and passionately contribute to research in
humanities, arts and natural sciences. Citizen science and research
contributions have become a key part of scientific projects. The
outcome proves to be so rewarding.
Finally, I do not argue against STEM. I also understand fully the deep
concerns and even the fears parents experience when it comes to the career path
of their kids. Life is much greater and more complicated for any science to
address. In order to be qualified for the jobs of the future, soft skills which
arts and humanities nurture are desperately needed. Automation is putting our traditional
cognitive and manual skills at risk, sweeping many careers into oblivion year
after year. Let's make arts and humanities be integrated into STEM fields and
make all our primary and effective armory for a tough, unprecedentedly
challenging future.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق