You want a revolution?

To my fellow students:

According to the article by Kofi Frimpong in last week’s The Stampede (volume 70, no. 11), it’s about time for a revolution of the humanities program at Milligan. Why should someone majoring in biology need to learn history? Why should a nursing major need to know about the struggles of the Joad family in “The Grapes of Wrath”? What possible use could writing an analytical essay about the feminist movement be to a human performance and exercise science major? How could these things possibly have anything to do with understanding what it means to be human?

Kofi wrote, “To my astonishment, all that I have been squeezed through was a bunch of facts.” May I venture to ask, what is wrong with knowing the facts? The humanities 202 syllabus clearly states that in order to pass the class, “You must know the facts.” While this may seem to be a simple regurgitation, the syllabus continues to say, “Regurgitation of data is not as important as incisive thought, but is better than nothing.”

Without knowing the facts, we cannot form our own opinions on an issue. This is true in all facets of life. If I did not know that Machiavelli wrote “The Prince” or that it is more or less summarized in the adage, “The ends justify the means,” and someone told me that a certain political leader was Machiavellian, I would be unable to develop an informed opinion about that leader.

If the objective of the argumentative writing class is “to help the student establish a well-balanced foundation of point of views in the world of telling opinions,” as Kofi wrote, then having only one essay involving the students’ individual opinions is completely accurate. If all the essays asked for only our own opinions, we would not be establishing a “well-balanced foundation;” we would be establishing a singular foundation of our own fallible and uninformed opinions.

We should learn to be objective in our thinking. Without being objective, we quickly lose sight of the potential for other human beings to contribute to our lives; we miss the entire world, which God created, and the wonders of diversity He put forth for us. Because we do not think objectively, we are blinded by our own opinions and biases. We must learn to think outside ourselves and see the ideas of those around us.

Yes, I think it’s time for a revolution, but not a revamping of the humanities program. It’s time for a revolution in the way we think. In this rapidly globalizing world, it is increasingly more important for us to know our past so that we can make informed decisions in the issues we face today. Knowing history, reading about the Joads, and analyzing the feminist movement are ways we identify who humans are. If we can identify “humans,” we can form opinions and make decisions about our world.

The classroom is not necessarily the place for the application and opinion formation that should come from the humanities program. The humanities course is a general survey of the history, literature, art, and philosophy of the Western World. While I would welcome a larger emphasis on the Eastern World and Africa, I appreciate the humanities program for what it is: a starting point. The 202 syllabus also clearly states, “Humanities 202-like its predecessors 101, 102, and 201-cannot educate you. Education is a continuing process that should extend far beyond your college graduation. What the program specifically and the college generally offer is assistance toward your goal of self-knowledge.” I believe our professors are right.