INTRODUCTION TO HUMANITIES - ARTS FOR FINE LIVING

This course introduces the students to the different areas of arts giving them a knowledge of the
various subject areas it covers. It is applied to a realm so vast as to embrace literature, drama and the
film; the visual and decorative arts; music and dance.

Education in the humanities means teaching how to use leisure productively. Leisure offers an
opportunity for personal self-fulfillment and creativity.

One needs to spend a part of his time in arts so that he will not experience any dull moment and
avoid loneliness or boredom.

Nowadays, a great emphasis is placed on scientific and technological knowledge as well as on

vocational courses. The aim is to prepare the students for their life’s career. It is felt that the humanities
should have a dominant role in the education of the modern man. Even if he may possess a high degree
of scientific, technical and specialized skills, he may be wanting in appreciating the world in which he
lives.

In this times of enlightenment, the school curriculum plays a significant role in instilling in the young
that there is aesthetic beauty not only in the artists’ works, but also in our ordinary environment. There
is abundance of them like beautiful color combinations and symmetry of things around us. Let us bear
in mind what a French writer has aptly said in these line:

“Every landscape has something to offer on a cloudy day or in the dreariest month of the year.
When you are tired and lonely and bored or in a mood to experience something truly uplifting
Look out of the window or take a walk. Collecting the beautiful is like collecting the famous paintings
Or jewels of great worth. When you start this hunt, you will make many unusual finds like a path
Lined with stories and females with a wonder of shapes and designs. Countless simple scenes and
New vistas may open up to enrich your mind. Your world will never again be drab. Life will become
More rewarding. You may write, paint or compose a song. In your heart and mind, you will create a
Change that will be nothing less than a masterpiece.”

It is the dream of the authors of several Humanities books and professors to enrich the Filipino
students’ life along arts and culture, the essence of FINE, MEANINGFUL and BEAUTIFUL LIVING.