Don't Drop Humanities When We Need Them Most

The relevance of the humanities in today's market-driven, consumerist world often feels like a topic for niche conversations at academic conferences and boardroom meetings—hardly a pressing concern in the everyday rush of life.

- JOHN J KENNEDY

Yet, the debate about whether the humanities are worth the time and money continues to simmer.

Literature departments across the globe are either shutting down or morphing into cultural studies with a tilt toward the social sciences. The closure of the English literature degree at Canterbury Christ Church University, in a city home to Chaucer and Marlowe, is just one stark example. While the acronym STEM occasionally flirts with becoming STEAM—adding 'arts' into the mix—the humanities are often treated as expendable luxuries in the quest for technological and economic dominance.

What has led to this? Let's start with the obvious: job opportunities. STEM and management programmes have marketed themselves as gateways to high-paying careers. The humanities, by contrast, often suffer from a reputation problem. Ask a high school student what they'll do with a philosophy or literature degree, and they will likely hear, "So, you want to be a teacher?" The perception that the humanities lead to limited, ill-defined or unattractive careers has cemented the bias. It doesn't help that in a world obsessed with immediate returns, the value of a humanities education—critical thinking, ethical reasoning, empathy—is harder to quantify.