Students want to study vocational subjects
Number of Liberal Arts schools declined to 225
Definition of the Humanities
Humanities at Trinity College (CT), Amherst, and Wellesley
Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities are in crisis. Victor Ferrall Jr, a graduate of Oberlin College (#24 on the US News list of liberal arts colleges), president emeritus of Beloit College (WI) (#60) and author of Liberal Arts at the Brink cites a statistic that in 2000, fewer than 100,000 students, or less than 0.6 percent of all US higher education enrollees graduated from liberal arts colleges. (www.miller-mccune.com ‘Wither the Liberal Arts College?’ by Anne Trubek, 27 September 2011) That doesn’t mean that only liberal arts colleges award degrees in liberal arts subjects, about a third of baccalaureates went to liberal arts subjects (which includes math, social sciences, and the humanities), with a third of that amount, just over 10%, to the humanities (Classics, History, Languages, Literature, Performing Arts)( http://archives.acls.org/op/49_Marketplace_of_Ideas.htm, p.4) This news is usually met with a shrug of indifference. Possibly for good reason: the liberal arts, and certainly the humanities, have lost their collective philosophical rudder.
All told, Mr. Ferrall notes there are only 225 liberal arts schools extant, which he categorizes into four tiers(why he bothers to do this is anyone’s guess). This somewhat jives with US News which stops its liberal arts ranking at 178 with the likes of Bethany Lutheran College (Mankato, MN) and then goes on to list a slew of unranked institutions. At the lower rungs of Mr. Ferrall’s tiered system are former bastions of liberal arts now catering to students with a range of vocational courses. At last count 51 had over 50% of their majors in vocational subjects such as business or health care. It appears, from the bottom up, these last strands of liberal arts schools are being transformed into vocational training centers.
William James, who fathered psychology (writing the two volume magnum opus on the subject, included in most Great Book readings) at Harvard in the late 19th century and was the brother of Henry James, the famous American novelist, defines the humanities as ‘the study of masterpieces in almost any field of human endeavor.’ The product of the pursuit of the humanities is, “… (a) better-organized mind capable of inquiry and distinguishing false from true and fact from opinion; a mind enhanced in its ability to write, read, and compute…with a trained curiosity and quiet self-confidence.” (Barzan, Jacques)
If humanities courses were intended to study the ‘masterpieces’ or ‘masterstrokes’ mentioned by James, what has actually happened in these disciplines over the years? At Trinity College, Hartford, Ct (#37) the philosophy department in the undergraduate catalog announces, “A good philosopher should know at least a little something about everything…” (The Marketplace of Ideas by Louis Menand, p.13), and then mentions under “Introductory Courses”, “…there is no single best way to be introduced to philosophy.” Could you imagine the same treatment for an Organic Chemistry course at Trinity?
Or compare the English department of Amherst (#2 US News) and Wellesley (#6). Wellesley requires majors to take 10 department courses, 8 must be literature (Wellesley’s English department offers a number of courses in film), basic writing courses do not count, with 4 courses required to be in literature prior to 1900; one course in Shakespeare is required. This is hardly the rigor one would expect for a major at such an elite institution as Wellesley, but it does compare favorably with Amherst.
Amherst also requires 10 courses for its English major, of which all, upon approval by the Amherst English department, can be within any department. There is no core requirement, no historical period requirement, and the courses selected for the final project can even be changed up to the final add/drop date of a student’s final semester (Ibid. p.14). In essence, the English department at Amherst barely exists.
Obviously, the permissive manner in which Amherst holds its English requirements indicates that it doesn’t take its role as guide to review masterpieces of humanity very seriously. It’s hard to even consider English a ‘discipline,’ within the walls of Amherst. Unfortunately, too many schools have forsaken the humanities, and, consequently, the humanities languish on the verge of extinction. It’s slightly reminiscent of Fahrenheit 451. But, why bother reading that anyway? It won’t get you a job.