The Humanities: What Keeps Us Human

Try to picture a society where the arts and humanities do not exist. There would be no music, art, or literature. Religion and philosophy would be nonexistent, the study of history would be nullified, and intelligent debate would never happen. Obviously, a culture like this would be dry, unimpassioned, and rather incomplete. However, this appears to be the type of world that is commonly depicted as ideal—a world where science, math, and technology reign supreme and the arts take a backseat. Sarah Piper is from Richmond, VA, and is a sophomore double major in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication and Communication Studies. She\u27s involved in Campus Crusade for Christ and SafeRides, and is also a member of the Honors Program. Sarah writes that For this paper, Professor Lambert encouraged us to pick a topic that we were genuinely interested and invested in, so I decided to explore the place of the humanities in our culture. Since I am pursuing a career in writing, this topic is especially important to me as I think about the relevance of my future line of work and what I can contribute through my knowledge of areas of the humanities