In todays world, parents have bee raising their children to view other people with

hostility and suspicion. Although a closed mind may not be their intention, children have a
tendency to follow their parents examples. Even if children are not specifically taught to
question those different from them, they will naturally develop a tendency to act distant and
uncomfortable around people who are not the same as them. Both art and the humanities are
important because they allow people to open their minds and connect with not only other people,
but also themselves.
The arts include subjects such as social sciences, religion, history, and culture. Art allows
us to better understand other people and cultures that are differen from our own. Art history
courses have been created for the purpose of discussing art, in addition to allowing students to
learn about the historical developments of different art forms, and how art has changed over
time. A piece of artwork, whether it is a painting or a classical music piece, can introduce a
discussion topic between various people. The Sistine Chapel in Italy has become a place for both
tourists and natives to go, and although talking is not permitted within the chapel, sparks
conversations among a variety of people outside of the chape. The chapel itself is decorated with
frescoes, or watercolor paintings on the wet plaster of a wall or ceiling, painted in the Sixteenth
Century by Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Michelangelo. An
introduction, allowed by a piece of art, leaves room for a space where people have the
opportunity to share their individual views and ideas on the topic at hand.
Through art, people are brought together to promote healthy and stable societies with a
common goal, such as ending human suffering. Images that portray other cultures and traditions,
such a those of Native Americans or Africans, can help people better understand one another.
These pieces of artwork representing different cultures can even allow us to understand our own

nation. For example, American images, such a American Gothic, help people better
understand American ideals and values. Following the tragedy at the World Trade Center on
September 11, 2001, Thomas E. Franklin took what is now an iconic American photo: a
photograph of three firefighters raising the American flag at ground zero, as a symbol of
freedom. Wilfred M. McClay, the SunTrust Chair of Excellences in Humanities and professor of
history at the University of Tennesseebelieves that art allows individuals to explore the capacity
for goodness and depravity within themselves, and connect us with our civilizations past
(2009, para 5). Indeed, people of different beliefs and different cultures are also frequently
brought together by art. The Cornerstone Theater of Los Angeles is a great example of an
organization that promotes cultures being connected to one another. Founded in 1986, the
Cornerstone Theater is a multi-ethnic theater company. Many of their performances are created
with the mindset of building a bridge between African Americans and Latinos in Los Angeles.
The use of art to bring together different cultures is important because it allows people to become
more open-minded.
Art allows each generation to define and redefine culture as they see fit. The Religious
Reformation began as a result of the creation of the printing press, and recentlyhistory has
repeated itself with art due to a spur in technology including computers and social media.
Because of the new technology, young adults in America have become accustomed to a certain
extent of individualization and self-expression. Applications such as Instagram allow people to
edit and post photographs on the Internet. Instagram gives individuals an opportunity to edit
their pictures as they desir, but also choose the variety of photographs they post. Some people
post pictures of themselves (selfies), others of food or animals, and some even of the
environment in which they live. The youth of today uses not only on application such as

Instagram, but also other forms of technology such a video games. Video games meet our
expectation of personalization because each player is in control of what happe. Video games
now outsell both movie and music recordings combined (Cameron, 2010). Movies and music
are made for the entire population and therefore are not adaptable to ones personal wants,
therefore not reaching the expected level of individualization Young people today also have
developed a tendency to avoid concerts and other live performances, because they no longer
reach the expectations of personalization that we have become accusto to in our everyday lives.
While both technology and art allow a level of individualization, unlike art, technolog
does not allow insight into human behavior. Sarah Piper, a Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical
Communication and Communication Studies double major at James Madison University,
discusses how arts are known to create an aesthetic experience,which allows all of the senses
to be engaged when learning (Piper, 2011, para 4). Allowing students to do hands-on work
also helps them use all of their senses. Incorporation of the arts in education allows students to
connect with one another along with their physical environment, through project-based learning
and multi-student collaboration. The physical learning experience created through art helps
students learn and appreciate the values of communication and teamwork.
In higher education, both physical art and the humanities are important because they
allow students to understand different cultures, and allow them to expand their minds and learn
through different means The humanities are branches of human knowledge concerning with
human beings and their culture (McClay, 2009, para 9. Humanities are defined by the MerriamWebster Dictionary as the branches of learning (as in philosophy, arts, or languages) that
investigates human constructs and concerns as opposed to natural processes (as in physics or
chemistry) and social relations (as in anthropology or economics). To say the least, the

humanities include all branches of learning that are not related to science, technology,
mathematics, or engineering.
Helping change the world for the benefit of the greater goo is just one of the many ways
in which humanities have helped students and other citizens better focus their attention. Through
the humanities, peoples capacity for empathy may increase, as well as cognitive growth and the
expansion of social bonds. Cognitive capacities allow arts skills to be transferred to other
subjects such as reading and mathematics. Without humanities in education, children frequently
develop learning problems such as ADH. According to the governments PCAH: Selected
Studies About the Benefits of Arts Education, there is a high correlation connecting arts
participation to high test-scores and grades in math and reading. Learning without humanities
and social sciences in a schools curriculum goes against the natural grain of the way a child
learns
Humanities, social sciences, and other forms of art help develop critical thinking and
problem solving skills. The humanities help people better understand their own lives and what
they are dealing with. Rhodessa Jones, the Co-Artistic Director of Cultural Odyssey, a theater
company in San Francisco, ran the Madea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women. Joness
workshop allows women to express their feelings and the pain of being incarcerated (Cultural
Odessey, 2014, para 1). The incarcerated women learned how to take the negative aspects of
their lives and make them positive instead. Studying the humanities helps people form their own
opinions. Law, foreign languages, and philosophy are all needed to help understand and control
the world around us. Humanities allow people to become more active citizens in improving their
communities. Human ethics, such as knowing right from wrong or how to act properly in
different situations, play a huge part in alleviating wartimes and other hostile situations.

Using the humanities to find peace allows one to achieve fulfillment in ones life. In
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, John the Savage stated, I want God, I want poetry, I
want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness, I want sin. Although many believe the
world would be better off without hardships, nobody would ever truly have live without taking
any risks. A lack of humanities would cause one to never actually have any experiences, and
never b aware of the experiences they missed out on. The humanities allow us to question how
we live and how we wish we could live. Humanities help guide us to leading better, fuller lives.
McClay wrote:
Science teaches us that the earth rotates on its axis while revolving around the
sun. But in the domain of the humanities, the sun still also rises and sets, and still
establishes in that diurnal rhythm, one of the deepest and most universal
expressive symbols of all the things that rise and fall, or live and die.
Through his sun analogy, McClay meant that science teaches us how our world works, but
humanities teach us why it works. Humanities do not teach us why things work according to
theories and laws of science, but how things are interpreted through many different perspectives.