Saari 1 Sydney Saari Mr.

Newman English 101: Rhetoric 22 November 2013 Calculating the Fate of Humanities Humanities is a subject of study that many universities, find less and less college students majoring in. When many look useful and successful career paths and degrees, many do not think that the field of humanities is as important, compared to others that are in demand like mathematical and technological fields of study. With many new college students focused on future employment and establishing successful careers for themselves in a struggling economy, they tend to pursue a field that will lead them into a career that is in high demand, unlike humanities, which has been on the decline for years. With students pursuing the majors and careers that are in demand, many wonder what the fate of the dwindling majors in humanities will be, or even if their will even be a humanities field of study in the future at all. Although some suggest that there isn't a worry about a decline, or even that there is no hope to end the spiral downwards, in order for humanities to continue in this economy, the field of humanities must work together with other fields of study in order to survive. The field of humanities offers a variety of different degrees under its title: from the arts, to languages and literatures, and to different forms of communication, humanities offer all these options to students wanting to major. The past couple of years, there has been an increase of people deciding to attend college and get a degree, and some fields have thrived with the increase in getting degrees, while some degree fields in humanities have decreased. But while

Saari 2 others fear the decline, Benjamin Schmidt, an assistant professor at Northeastern University, has no fear on the decrease in majors in the fields in humanities. Schmidt states that in the 1960s humanities departments grew rapidly as the college-age population boomed, while during the 1970s and 80s that majors in humanities dropped by more than half. He proves his point by stating the change in the gender roles of women during this time, and the interests that they had in fields like business, fields they were not allowed to go into before. Schmidt believe that there should be no fear in an ultimate decline in humanities, because all the different fields of study that a college offers a person should and will keep changing, and they don't need to do so out of the fear that their very survival is at stake. Even Annette Gordon-Reed, a professor at Harvard Law School, agrees that humanities has nothing to worry about because of there being evidence out there that shows humanities majors find their footing in the work world, and are highly valued as employees, affirming that humanities is not a field that will make a unsuccessful employee in the future, or leave someone without a choice in a career. But while Schmidt and Gordon-Reed have no fear about the decline, others are not as optimistic. The main reason that is used to reason the decline of humanities is because college students are making degree decisions based on the way that the economy is set up. More students enter colleges with the ambition for a successful career, and pursue a degree in fields that are high in demand. As Anthony P. Carnevale, the director of Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce states, What you take in college does have a powerful impact on what you make, which is very true, certain degrees are more successful than others, and students need to take certain classes in college for certain degrees. He compares a humanities major to an average college student, and finds that Compared to the average college graduate, a humanities major earns about 20 percent less after graduation and over a lifetime, (Carnevale)

Saari 3 meaning that humanities is not a field that is very successful or in demand. This could be because of the changes in the ways that humanities majors were convenient for people beforehand; Daryl Michael Scott, a professor Howard University, implies that the decline of humanities ... could have been predicted by the 1990s when corporations began eliminating middle management and training programs that turned humanities majors into managers, making the major less desirable and flexible in the workforce and different careers then it once was. Both the lack of earnings of humanities majors, and the lack of versatility of the degree would be something that would stop someone from deciding to major in humanities, especially when in a struggling economy,...its hard to be a lifelong learner if youre not a lifelong earner (Carnevale). But while there are all these facts about the certain decline of the field, there are others who suggest that there is a way for humanities to still thrive. Humanities is a career field that can be useful for mostly teachers, artists and writers, but if it was to team up and collaborate with another field of study, could humanities still continue to be a field of study, and maybe even bring itself out of its decline? That's what Lisa Dolling, the dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Steven's Institute of Technology seems to believe. With the science and technology fields, she suggest that as our nation is forwarding with science and technology, that their curriculum runs ... the risk of being deficient without a humanistic foundation (Dolling), showing that certain fields and careers might benefit from a humanities major. She also states that ... while science and engineering can tell us the "what" and "how" of the world, the humanities and social sciences provide insights to answering the "why"-- along with the skills necessary to communicate it all to others (Dolling), presenting the importance of a humanities major in field like science and technology, and how it could collaborate with other fields of study like the sciences. Others agree with what Dolling has to say, like David Hollinger,

Saari 4 a professor at the University of California, who expresses that ... calls for partnerships between humanistic, natural scientific and social scientific programs with real-world professional schools can yield splendidly creative results. The collaboration of humanities and other fields of study, such as the sciences, can give humanities the chance to regain what they lost, and develop and establish its importance as a field compared to others that are in demand. The collaboration between different fields and humanities could help humanities adapt to the changing needs in our economy, and maybe expand the different opportunities that a major in humanities never would have had the chance to have before. The demand for certain degrees to students to major in comes from the state that the economy is in, and humanities seems like it isn't as necessary compared to other fields, unless other fields decide to collaborate with humanities. The fields all have a certain necessity to communicate with others and need a human foundation to them, which humanities can offer. Collaboration with other fields is what needs to be done in order to have humanities continue as a major that students are interested in, and not be put on the shelf compared to other majors. And just as humanities needs to cooperate with other majors, majors like the sciences need a humanistic foundation to them, or fear the evolution of technology to the point of losing all of its humanistic characteristics and qualities like the plot of a science fiction movie. Artists can cooperate to make creative and imaginative designs for new technologies, and writing and languages majors can help communicate and spread information to other people using this technology. Other career and college major fields need humanities, just like humanities needs them. The evolution of humanities is necessary to offer more opportunities in the ever changing and demanding economy of today, and for humanities to begin prospering again.

Saari 5 Works Cited Carnevale, Anthony P. "A Decline That Makes Economic Sense." Room for Debate. New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Dolling, Lisa. "Humanities and Science Must Work Together." Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Gordon-Reed, Annette. "A Victim of Austerity and Student Debt." Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Hollinger, David. "We Ignore Scholarship at Our Peril." Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. Schmidt, Benjamin. "The Data Shows There's No Real Crisis." Room For Debate. New York Times Company, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Scott, Daryl Michael. "Predictable Changes Were Ignored." Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.