Research on the impact of the humanities suggests studying the humanities benefits society, employers and individuals.
I’ll list here nine arguments that the humanities are important. While you read them, try to think of what you would fill in as number 10.
1. The humanities help us understand others through their languages, histories and cultures.
2. They foster social justice and equality.
3. And they reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual and intellectual sense of the world.
4. The humanities teach empathy.
5. They teach us to deal critically and logically with subjective, complex, imperfect information.
6. And they teach us to weigh evidence skeptically and consider more than one side of every question.
7. Humanities students build skills in writing and critical reading.
8. The humanities encourage us to think creatively. They teach us to reason about being human and to ask questions about our world.
9. The humanities develop informed and critical citizens. Without the humanities, democracy could not flourish.
The Humanities Department at NBA offer the following courses:
A history degree is great fun – your primary occupation over the three (or four) years of your course will be to read, learn, talk about and debate topics you enjoy.
In studying history you’ll gain extensive training in areas that will be applicable to a wide variety of careers – be they related to history or not. You will learn how to present and conduct research and you’ll hone your writing skills, preparing you for a potential career in broadcasting and journalism; administration; finance; the heritage sector; politics; research; or further study, to name but a few.
Moreover, the ability to analyse and to think critically and objectively will be invaluable in a world where we have greater access to information (and mis-information) than any generation before.
Citizenship will help you to apply for courses on any Media related topic, Journalism, Law, International Relations and Politics. It is also at the forefront of research on social media and, given that social media will soon become one of the biggest providers of employment in the not-too-distant future, it will provide you with knowledge of contemporary events and developments in society, economics, business, environmental awareness and culture. The reality of living in a globalised world is impacting on every individual and Citizenship provides tools to make sense of this.