Humanities Subjects Are More Important Than Ever for Twenty-First Century Universities

As an international student, someone considering taking a degree at university in the United Kingdom may be wondering if they should study a humanities subject such as History, a social sciences subject such as Politics or International Relations, or a science subject such as Chemistry. Increasingly, government higher education policies have tended towards promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) degree subjects. This is because they believe this will address the lack of professionals such as engineers and doctors in the labour force. However, there are excellent reasons why a humanities or social sciences degree would be a good choice for a student to take.

Firstly, a subject such as History or Politics develops the skill of critical thinking in the student, and this is a skill that they keep throughout their life, allowing them to analyse sources of information and complex situations effectively. This skill is highly useful in most professional settings, enabling people to understand how the pieces of a professional puzzle fit together in an ambiguous and fast-moving environment. Critical thinking skills and intellectual curiosity will help the student to use this information to chart a course of action, with the confidence that the degree has benchmarked their ability to assess difficult problems. Furthermore, the research and writing skills that the student gains during a humanities or social science degree gives them the capability of correctly and effectively communicating concepts and analysis, either verbally in conversation or in more formal presentations and written reports and correspondence. Throughout a degree course of this type, the student will continuously grow in their capacity to critically analyse complex arguments and data, and this is a skill that is always useful.

Secondly, in a highly uncertain world where the pace of change is very fast, an education in humanities helps students to understand the big picture of world events. The experts who we turn to for analysis of processes such as the relationship between the United States and China, or the social implications of technological advances, are often educated in the humanities. For example, the historian Timothy Snyder frequently provides analysis of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to help the public to understand its context. He says that “my degrees are in history, and my public work would be unthinkable without the historians who taught me” (Snyder, 2021). Snyder’s comments about the value of humanities education are in response to the news that the University of East Anglia in the UK is planning to make 31 redundancies in its arts and humanities department as of June 2023, a development that has caused consternation in higher education circles (Hannant, 2023). It is important to recognise that support for humanities and social science subjects is necessary for us as individuals and as societies, because it is these subjects that allow us to make sense of major geopolitical and economic events that affect us all.

References

Hannant, D. (2023). ‘UEA crisis: Single faculty to suffer 86pc of academic cuts’, Eastern Daily Press, 20 June. Available at: https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/23600418.uea-crisis-single-faculty-suffer-86pc-academic-cuts/?ref=twtrec

Snyder, T. (2023) [Twitter]. 21 June. Available at https://twitter.com/search?q=Timothy%20Snyder%20humanities&src=typed_query.