The humanities: It’s not about what they are; it’s what we do

By Keira Amstutz, president and CEO of the Indiana Humanities Council.

Once, after a dance performance, Isadora Duncan was asked what the dance meant. Her

response has become famous as a terse description of art’s purpose: “If I could tell you

what it meant,” she said, “there would be no point in dancing it.”

In my role as president and CEO of the Indiana Humanities Council, I often find myself

being asked, “What are the humanities?” And sometimes, like Isadora Duncan, I think

it’d be easier to dance than answer the question.

Why? Because sometimes describing the humanities is like describing the wind – it’s

easier to say what it does than what it is. It swirls leaves on an autumn sidewalk. It teases

a little girl’s hair. It pulses through a wheat field like waves on a landlocked sea.

So, I thought I’d explain what the humanities are by explaining what you can do – and

perhaps already do – in, through and with them every day.

I don’t pretend that this list is conclusive; I know it only scratches the surface. But I hope

that it will, in its breadth and diversity, allow you to create – and, more important, put

into action – your own definition of the humanities. So, let’s get started:

Read a novel. Read a poem. Read the directions on a shampoo bottle. Read the

Declaration of Independence. Read a blog. Read an essay. Read a review of a book you’ll

never read. Read a sacred text. Read your diary. Read to a kid. Read the liner notes to an

old jazz album. Read the lyrics to a song you love. Read a libretto.

See a play with a friend. Go early. Wander through the theater. View the stage from

different angles. Peruse the program. Learn about the actors. Watch the play. Study the

set. Notice the lighting. Listen to reactions. Find a place to have coffee. Discuss the play.

Go to another play. Repeat the process.

Visit a courtroom. Visit a classroom. Visit an old teacher. Visit a park. Visit a museum.

Visit a library. Visit City Hall. Visit a college campus. Visit a craftsman’s workbench.

Visit an artist’s studio.

Look at a piece of art. Study it. Step back. Look at the piece beside it. Ask yourself: Why

are these pieces next to each other? Why is this art? Step back again. Ask yourself: Does

the size of

the room affect the way I look at the art? Step back again. How does seeing more change

the way you see the art?

Listen to a band. Listen to a debate. Listen to a well-tuned machine. Listen to a podcast.

Listen to a diner ordering dinner. Listen to a photographer describing a photo. Listen to

an architect explaining a building’s design.

Stop outside a building you pass every day; look at its design. Do you know the name for

the architectural style? Do you like it? What appeals to you? What would you do

differently? Get a book about architecture and learn about the style. Find other examples

of that style and compare them. Find examples of other styles and compare them. Take a

walk with a colleague and debate the architecture you see.

Attend a historic-home tour. Attend a lecture. Attend the symphony. Attend a gallery

reception. Attend a festival. Attend a legislative session. Attend opening night (of

anything). Attend a public forum.

Speak at a public forum. Sing in a choir. Yell “Bravo” at a concert. Ask a question. Tell

someone your family’s history. Recite a poem. Describe a work of art. Say what you

think.

Now, think about what you’ve done. You’ve examined, studied and reviewed something

made by humans or something that makes us human. You’ve thought about it, pondered

it and processed it. And you’ve talked about it, debated it and discussed it.

That’s what the humanities are.

As branches of learning, the humanities include the study of history; literature;
linguistics; philosophy; ethics; jurisprudence; comparative religion; and history, theory,
and criticism of the arts. Social sciences that employ qualitative approaches such as
cultural anthropology, archaeology, political science and international relations, and
interdisciplinary areas such as folklore, women's studies and American studies, for
example, are also considered humanities disciplines.
The disciplines of the humanities help us make connections. They connect small
questions to large questions, our neighborhoods to the world, and our time to other
times and places. An important part of our formal education, the humanities, however, go
well beyond the classroom and the campus.
-Illinois Humanities Council

Humanity in all its forms. The humanities are the values by which we live, the ideas that organize our
thinking, and all of the ways we communicate with each other. History. Literature. Folklife. Religion.
Culture. The origins of Bluegrass music. The archaeology of landfills. Kentuckians' love for their counties.
What they teach their children. Why they make burgoo. All these things are the humanities. -Kentucky
Humanities Council

The humanities help us understand ourselves and our worlds, and they help us
communicate that understanding to others. You are practicing the humanities when you:
• Hear someone's story, tell your own, or try to place those stories within the larger
story of your family, community, or state;
• Imagine yourself in someone else's shoes—including those of another culture or
time—or help someone else to experience life in your shoes;
• Discuss the meaning of a film or book or event;
• Question the history of an idea, or place, or people;
• Ask whether an idea is true, or a value is sound, or an action is ethical; or
• Examine an artifact to learn about its creator or meaning.

Linguistics is the science of language. It is not about learning a new language; rather, we study everything about
language itself, ranging from how speech is produced to the relationship between language and the human mind /
brain, and the role language plays in society.

Philosophy.
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such asexistence,
knowledge, truth, beauty, law, justice, validity, mind, and language. It is described as the love of truth,
wisdom andintelligence by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance
onreasonedargument.When man asks and seeks answers to questions such as:
Who am I? Where have I come from? What is themeaning of life?
What can I do to remain an effective, responsible member of the society? , man is trying to see himself
ashuman. Thus, he is searching for truth and wisdom. This is the philosophical approach in achieving the
ultimate goal of thehumanities, which is to make man more human

Humanists believed only in the present existing world. They did not believe in thetheory of divine
creation of the universe by a supernatural power. According to them, if there is a benevolent God
supervising humanity, then why is it that a majority of thehuman population is in the throes of misery
and suffering? If there is a just God above us,then why is there so much injustice on the earth, against
the poor and deprived sectionsof society?

The concept of Beauty ( Aesthetics)

The principal enunciated above regarding the ethical or moral values of the Renaissance hold also for
aesthetic values, at least in the sense that these values are rooted in human nature. Art in all its forms,
but especially literature, is the most excellent product of the human mind. Following the lead of the
Greek and Roman artists and authors the mastersof the Renaissance glorified man human nature. The
exemplars of style, of form, and thelike were from classical masterpieces. In cases where the vernacular
was used in literature,such as in Dante¶s inferno, the ancient writing provided the themes and to some
extent thestyle. The painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Renaissance followed closely therealistic
form of ancient pieces. The works of Van Eyck, da Vinci, and Michelangelo might be cited as examples.

Religion, which can be defined as "belief in the supernatural", has exerted a profound influence over
every society throughout history. The span of this influence includes politics, law, education, festivals,
customs, and behavioural norms. Historically, most people's day-to-day lives have been largely
structured by religion. For much of the world, this continues to be true; the secular nature of modern
Western society (in which religion is separate from political, legal, and education systems, and many
people have little or no involvement with organized religion) is the exception.

The importance of religion on an individual, societal, and national level varies greatly, but there are a
few reasons why it remains important overall. People often crave a better understanding of the world
and religion seeks to answer our questions as well as assign purpose to give life greater meaning.
Religion can also bind together societies and nations; although, religion has also driven conflict amongst
people and countries just as easily as it can bring those together.

Religions meets many different needs for people, societies, and nations, but there are some general
statements that hold true in most cases.

First, human beings cannot understand the complexity of the world around them and crave explanations
for that complexity. Religion answers that need. Second, human beings seek purpose in their lives, and
religion gives many people that purpose. Third, people are frightened of the responsibility of making
decisions and choices, and religion imposes a structure on those decisions and choices in a way that is
comforting to many. Fourth, religion provides many of us with a moral or ethical framework, rules to
live a good life, and the belief in consequences for having lived properly or not.

For societies and cultures, religion can act as a glue, binding people together with common beliefs,
practices, and rituals. It also tends to promote cooperation amongst the people in a culture, providing
for a triumph of the whole over the individual, which is a necessity for civilized life. In fact, recent
archaeological finds suggest to anthropologists and sociologists that "civilization" did not truly begin
until man "found" religion, that it was religion that prompted the building of societies.

Religion is a nation-building mechanism in history, even an empire-building mechanism, for example,

the Holy Roman Empire, or most of Europe before Protestantism. To some degree, the Ottoman Empire
is an example, too. Again, religion acts as a glue that can hold a nation or empire together. Today, we
are seeing played out in some Arabic countries the dynamic of religion in nation-building. Will some of
the newly democratic nations build on religion as their legal and national framework? In the United
States today, there is a trend to want to characterize the United States as a Christian country, which is a
problem because of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the United States from
being a nation with a religious framework. This creates tensions within our nation, making religion, in
this case, a very ineffective sort of glue.

Of course, I want to emphasize that these are very general statements, since religion is as varied as
mankind, and as complex.

An example of misunderstanding and complete miscommunication that occurred because a person was
not knowledgeable of Islamic cultures took place during the Carter Administration when American
diplomats in Iran were taken hostage by the Iranians for 144 days. One of the wives of the hostages
appealed to the Iranians in "the name of the Jesus" to release her husband. To the Iranians this appeal
was probably insulting; certainly, it did nothing to ease the tension between the two groups as the wife
failed to understand that God is a single person to the Muslims and they do not believe in Christ.
So,knowledge of Islam would have benefited the American.

From the "immense book" of architecture, then, man can learn of other cultures. Similarly, from other
works of art such as paintings and sculpture, drama, and music, one can find the emotional and cultural
past revealed. Indeed, the true histories of cultures are revealed in their artifacts and architecture. For
instance, the grandeur and perfection of Greece is captured and reflected in the Parthenon, the temple
dedicated to Athena.
Therefore, a knowledge of the arts and the history, literature and rhetoric, language, and moral
philosophy of a nation leads to a better understanding of that nation. For, through the arts and
humanities, a person comes to know the way in which people of a nation think, their religious and social
tenets, their cultural beliefs and values, their mythology and history. For, music is the language of the
soul and literature and philosophy the language of the heart and mind of a people.
In the Asian culture, for instance, the individual is not as important as in Western cultures; thus, there is
a strong sense of interdependence that exists in the Eastern mind. Whereas appeals to the importance
of the individual is a high priority in America, this importance does not exist in Eastern cultures. Knowing
this, diplomats from Western countries will wisely avoid appeals to Eastern countries based upon the
importance of the individual.