http://negroplease.vox.com/library/posts/tags/humanities/page/1/ rumor has it, a blogger once lived here. en Vox Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:49:50 -0800 Copyright 2008 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss humanities http://negroplease.vox.com/library/post/speakeasy-whats-college-learnin-for.html?_c=feed-rss-full nobody@vox.com(Jason) http://negroplease.vox.com/library/post/speakeasy-whats-college-learnin-for.html?_c=feed-rss-full http://negroplease.vox.com/library/post/speakeasy-whats-college-learnin-for.html?_c=feed-rss-full Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:49:50 -0800 <blockquote><p>At one time justification of the arts and humanities was unnecessary because, as Anthony Kronman puts it in <a href="http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300122886" target="new">a new book</a>, “Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life,” it was assumed that “a college was above all a place for the training of character, for the nurturing of those intellectual and moral habits that together form the basis for living the best life one can.”<br /></p></blockquote><p>- <a href="http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/will-the-humanities-save-us/">Will the Humanities Save Us?</a> by Stanley Fish, Think Again (NY Times Blog), 01.06.08</p><p>Considering I have a Sociology degree with a minor in Creative Writing, I can&#39;t say that my college classes prepared me exceptionally well for my current career but that freshman year focused on The Roots of Western Civilization and Philosophy definitely have informed who I am and the choices I make. I consider Morality and Ethics and Truth and big ticket concepts like them in my every day life. I cycle through those words and ideas that resonated in class in real world scenarios all the time. I learned, perhaps more than anything, to continue to acquire knowledge. I don&#39;t believe I know everything or learned it all in kindergarten. My classes may not have taught me how to put together a great power point deck or excel at project and people management but I&#39;ve acquired those skills and I use those character-enhancing handouts and discussions and microfiche sessions and trips to museums as constant reference points in my quest to be a good human being.</p><p>Goodness, I hope we still value our universities as those kinds of training grounds.</p><p><strong>update</strong>: <em>edited for grammar, 01.13.08</em><br /> </p> <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://negroplease.vox.com/library/post/speakeasy-whats-college-learnin-for.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00c10e0f6f1fd3b400e398d1c4b50002?_c=feed-rss-full">Send to a friend</a> </p> education ny times speakeasy humanities colleges think again