This paper examines the ongoing crisis in Humanities education within higher education institutions, tracing the causes of declining enrollment and institutional marginalization. Drawing on scholars including Pokrovskii, Bassett, Donoghue, and Phamotse and Kissack, the paper argues that Humanities departments must reinvent themselves to remain viable in a market-driven academic environment. Key themes include the perceived lack of economic return on a Humanities degree, the discipline's untapped potential in law, medicine, criminal justice, and technology fields, and the urgent need for strategic planning, industry connections, and targeted student outreach. The paper ultimately contends that a well-functioning civil society depends on the critical thinking and humanistic reasoning cultivated by Humanities education.
The current crisis in global education centers on the potential demise of Humanities in higher education. According to Pokrovskii (2007), "Looking at the general situation, it is reasonable to say that university education is shunting humanities discourse aside. Simply put, our college students come to the universities to acquire useful knowledge that will give them access to sources of capital as effectively and quickly as possible."
Too many graduates of the Humanities major do not go on to productive careers where the value of their degree is demonstrated to society at large. Graduate and professional programs such as law and medical school actively seek Humanities graduates because of the scope and specialization of the skills and critical thinking ability developed in these programs. Often, linguists working in the military are graduates of programs in the Humanities.
According to Phamotse and Kissack (2008), "Within general portrayals and assessments of the contemporary university, faculties of humanities — which conventionally accommodate the disciplines of philosophy, history, languages and literature, fine and dramatic arts — are often depicted as otiose, because the content of these disciplines does not make a clear and incontrovertible contribution towards the promotion of the utilitarian and instrumental reason that is at the foundation of our modern industrial society."
Kenneth Woodward further describes the state of affairs: "The greatest challenge facing humanists, the commission insists, is not to find more money or students but to demonstrate the importance of the humanities to education and society. Unlike vocational training, humanistic studies are ends in themselves; they focus on man's creations, discerning in concepts, texts and images what man is and ought to be. Throughout the system the commission sees students caught between a maze of mandated trivia and a smorgasbord of electives. In too many classrooms, skills and methods are divorced from knowledge of content and cultural context. Dismissing populist charges that the humanities are inherently elitist and ethnocentric, the report courageously defends the concept of a common Western culture and argues that the classics of that culture should be given privileged status in school curricula." (Woodward, 1980)
An investment in a Humanities education is not widely seen as offering a strong return on investment. Students today gravitate toward education that promises large career dividends. Many are drawn by the salaries that business majors — notably accounting and investment finance graduates — command. Additionally, many view economics as the natural preparation for a career in law or on Wall Street. Students, and notably parents who often pay for the education, do not regard the Humanities as a reliable path to wealth or to applied knowledge useful in real-world operations.
Pokrovskii (2007) recommends a course of action: "maximally develop the internal humanities and humanistic potential of the social sciences and return to these basics." The emphasis is on the redevelopment of core critical thinking skills. This new approach to education is central to recognizing the Humanities as the gateway to the Renaissance scholar ideal — an educated citizen who holds compassion and dignity above economic prosperity and measures of wealth.
The new model of education must review the current state of the Humanities field within the framework of higher education and reposition it to appeal to students and survive in a tenuous economic climate. Amidst budget reductions and program cutbacks, the Humanities field must establish a new direction and empower its students to achieve more than simply earning a degree.
According to Donoghue (2008), "The survival of the humanities in academe, however, is a different story. The humanities will have a home somewhere in 2110, but it won't be in universities. We need at least to entertain the possibility that the humanities don't need academic institutions to survive, but actually do quite well on their own."
The new education is the attempt to reframe the Humanities for success in the current state of educational affairs. The importance of re-establishing the mission and vision of the Humanities field is critical to its ongoing pedagogy in higher education curricula throughout the world. According to Bell (2010), "The current malaise will, one hopes, pass, and in time the emergence of new intellectual agendas will help those in the humanities defend themselves more vigorously. But humanists also need to realize that new technologies open other possibilities for the field and offer them new ways to defend and expand their vocation."
The fields of law, economics, and ethics notably require humanistic thinkers with the capacity to think critically about key issues that exist in a grey area. Highly subjective analysis is a specialization of the Humanities major. Such minds must be trained to consider solutions to problems that are more philosophical in nature than black-and-white or purely quantitative.
The implication is immense. Should action be ignored at this juncture, the probability of the Humanities field becoming extinct in academia and in society is quite high. Should a use not be found for the majors that underpin the discipline, then a tragic loss of what defines a well-rounded and educated human being will follow. There must be a focus on transitioning students from undergraduate coursework to graduate and professional schools. Scholarship and assistantship funding must be made available, and Humanities students must be made aware of these opportunities by their institutions. Department-generated communications to students will ensure that the information gap is closed, enabling students to pursue more industry-specific education building on their Humanities background.
"Technology integration and emerging career options"
"Corporate pressures threatening Humanities departments"
"Concrete plans for departmental survival and student placement"
Bell, D. (2010). Reimagining the humanities: Proposals for a new century. Dissent (00129846).
Donoghue, F. (2008). The last professors: The corporate university and the fate of the humanities.
Phamotse, P., & Kissack, M. (2008). [Humanities in the contemporary university]. [Journal source as cited].
Pokrovskii, N. E. (2007). What is happening to humanities education? Russian Education & Society.
Woodward, K. (1980). The humanities crisis. Newsweek.
You’re 38% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 3 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.