And the humanities

are they important?

This week’s blog post is intended to build on the conversation we started last week and to continue to build toward your literacy narrative assignment.

Our preparation for this week's blog post began in class:

1. Reflect on one of the quotes about literacy and one of these quotes about the humanities
2. Choose a selection, focused on the idea of education and thinking that connects to the idea of transliteracy, from the This I Believe textbook or online archive. The ones we used in class:
   • Ted Gup: In Praise of the "Wobblies"
   • Frank X Walker: Creative Solutions to Life's Challenges
   • Gregory Orr: The Making of Poems
   • Kay Redfield Jamison: The Benefits of Restlessness and Jagged Edges
   • Alan Lightman: The Power of Mysteries - then spend a few minutes reflecting and writing about this "belief" appeals to you.

After you read your chosen essay, complete the following steps:

• Note the main claim of the essay
• Note the writer's strongest evidence
• Respond to the essay in writing
• Note any questions you may have about the argument, claim, or issue
• Where do you stand? Do you agree with the author or disagree? Why?
• As a class we discussed the main claims of the five essays and then you each drew a graphic representing the relationship among these ideas, wrote an explanation of that graphic representation, and we discussed these ideas

Now, outside of class, you have four more things to do:

1. First, check out the literacy playlist with the goal of broadening your definition of literacy (note: most videos are under five minutes, but you don’t have to watch all the videos. You should pick at least four to watch before selecting one to write about).

After you watch your chosen video, complete the following steps:

• Note the main claim of the video essay
• Note the strongest evidence
• Respond to the video in writing

2. Check out the Humanities playlist (check out first few minutes of each video before selecting one

to view)

After you watch your chosen video, complete the following steps:

• Note the main claim of the video essay
• Note the strongest evidence
• Respond to the video in writing

3. Then pick one of these selections to read and respond to:

• The 10 Skills Employers Most Want In 2015 Graduates
• “What Is The Value Of An Education In The Humanities?”
• Skills employers look for in college graduates
• Information Literacy: A Neglected Core Competency
• Digital Companies Need More Liberal Arts Majors
• Humanities Matter infographic
• The Real-World Skills New College Grads Need Most in 2016
• Humanities Are At The Heart Of Real Education
• THE TOP 5 SKILLS EMPLOYERS SAY RECENT GRADS LACK AND HOW TO LEARN THEM
• Why Study Humanities? What I Tell Engineering Freshmen
• 10 Workforce Skills Every Student Should Gain Before Leaving College
• Humanities and business go hand in hand
• Why We Need the Humanities to Improve Health Care

After you read your chosen essay, complete the following steps:

• Note the main claim of the essay
• Note the writer's strongest evidence
• Respond to the essay in writing

4. Look back at your writing and graphic from class as well as your writing from outside of class then write a short argument that fits within this conversation. Your argument should make a claim and cite evidence from the material you explored as well as your experience to support your claim. Then post your argument to the "Literacy' blog.