The Humanities: What does it mean to be human

Participants were asked the question: "What are the humanities? and why is it important to study them?"

Interviews:

Jovon Toppin ~ Gender:Male,

Age: 26 years old

Education: BA in Tourism and Hospitality Management

Occupation: Retail Assistant Manager

Humanities are important to study because "we gain a better understanding and wider knowledge base. Knowledge is key. You can use your knowledge to make a difference in society."

Ugonna Ndu ~ Gender: Female

Age: 23 years old

Education: BA in Business Management

Occupation: Retail MIT

"They are the world around us and we study them to better understand race, society, culture and religion."

Joseph Liccini ~ Gender: Male

Age: 21

Education: currently a student studying computer software engineering

Occupation: Intern for Microsoft

"Humanities are what makes us human and we should study them because it's a way of self expression for humans and we need to better understand humans."

Lauren Puleo ~ Gender: Female

Age: 15

Educaion: currently enrolled in high school

Occupation: dog walker

"Humanities are the different groups of people and we should study them so we know about them."

Leslie Peralta ~ Gender: Female

Age: 47

Education: High School Diploma

Occupation: None

"I think that the humanities are are the different ideas in the world and it is important to know what is out there."

The short clip on the New Hampshire Humanities Council interviews a multitude of people on what the humanities mean to them. Here is a comprised list of the different definitions:

* Using our brain in a different way

* How to relate to peopel

* History and Health care

* Treating people how you want to be treated

* Study of the past

* Dancing, singing and theartre

* social studies

There are many similarities between these answers and the ones i recieved with my own interviews. I think that these answers reveal that most people identify the humanities as the study of the differences amoungst us humans. There seems to be a general concensus that it is important to study the humanities because it helps us understand others better. I found it quite interesting that some people indentified the humanities with such concrete ideas like healthcare, and others couldn't come up with anything better than "the study of humans". My favorite definition was two girls that said "humanitites are the study of how we got here and where we are going". With a little research I began to develop my idea on what I thought the humanities were. Humanities ask the question: "what is the good life?" and in order to find the answer we must question our own assumptions and oneself (Bernie Machen). we can only question such things if we have the knowledge to do so. The humanities take into account asthetics, ethical, and cultural values and study how they are endured or challenged throughout time. Another definition i found interesting was from David Behling, "The humanities question what it means to be human by studying how people in unfamiliar societies created their worlds and how that molded them into the people that they are". Humanities give us the foreground to understand and appreciate other cultures (ACLS President, Pauline YuNotes). The Minnesota Humanities Council defined the humanities as "branches of knowledge concerned with human thought and culture". I've come to the conclusion that there is no clear guideline as to what is a humanitity and what isn't. Everything around us can be used to better understand the people around us. The most important thing about study the humanities is what they can teach us about ourself.