As a student at Temple University, one is required to TAKE classes apart of the Intellectual Heritage Program in order to receive an undergraduate degree. The argument persists as to whether or not the Intellectual Heritage Program is a necessary part of a student’s general undergraduate education. Through my experience in taking both IH 851 and IH 852 programs, I found that the Intellectual Heritage Program administered a number of benefits, as well as flaws concerning the education that I gained from it, how the material was taught, and the texts I was required to analyze.
Personally, I believe that the Intellectual Heritage Program provides minimal importance strictly concerning an undergraduate education. In other words, I gained very little knowledge that relates to my major field of study from the materials we analyzed in both IH 851 and IH 852. Instead, I walked away from the program with a heightened knowledge of history in the early societies around the world and the nature of human beings. The Intellectual Heritage Program provides a broader range of education than I feel is necessary to be required by all undergraduate majors. Though I value any education, I feel that students would benefit more from an academic program if the information they learned was more useful in their major field of study. For instance, texts like “The Epic of Gilgamesh” may be more beneficial to a history major than a pre-med major. On the other hand, I understand that it would be impossible to integrate texts that relate to every major offered here at Temple University. Thus, instead of forcing all students to take a class such as Intellectual Heritage, allowing them to substitute it with a class more focused on their field of study would be...
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... society. It may sound a little far-fetched, but the fact of the matter is, analyzing texts that pose no interest to most students cannot provide for a better undergraduate education as can analyzing texts that will strike interest in them.
Conclusively, I believe with a little bit of rehab and straightening up, the Intellectual Heritage Program is an important program to maintain as part of a student’s undergraduate education. To me, the education captured by analyzing the material itself is less important than the skills that I received from this academic program. If the curriculum were to be revised in order to include more interactive was to present the material, along with texts that offer more relevance to students, I think the Intellectual Heritage Program would strive as a very important program in helping shape the education of Temple University students.
As I said before, math and science are important, but the humanities are just as important, if not more. “The humanities, done right, are the crucible within which our evolving notions of what it means to be fully human are put to the test; they teach us, incrementally, endlessly, not what to do but how to be” (Slouka). This quote taken from “Dehumanized” defines and truly puts Slouka’s beliefs into the perspective of what the humanities should teach students and how they should be taught, which I agree with fully. I believe that without the humanities, we, as humans, would all be the same and there would be no room to be different from one another. Whether it be by our culture, religion, or interests, not two people are alike. Individuals should not be bred into being something that they do not want to be or even like Slouka argues, students should not be a “capital investment” for the future of the economy. Students should be investing in themselves to express who they truly are, rather than being something that the economy expects them to
All in all, “Hidden Intellectualism” is a pleasant journey through the nuances of educating future intellectuals, especially with Gerald Graff at the helm navigating as only a venerable ship captain can.
How imperative is it that one pursues a traditional college experience? Although it might appear that Charles Murray and Liz Addison are in agreement that the traditional college experience is not necessary for everyone, Addison provides a more convincing argument that higher education is necessary in some form. This is seen through Addison’s arguments that college is essential to growing up, that education is proportional to the life one lives, and that community college reinvents the traditional college experience. Not only does Addison have her own opinions about college, but Murray does as well.
Throughout our lives we experience “Ah-ha! Moments” that can be small such as figuring out a math problem to big moments where you find out what career you want to do. The “Ah-ha! Moments” are the moments that make life interesting, because in these moments you are gaining knowledge. In each section of the class which includes music, literature, and art they give a bridge between time, meaning that in modern day we can see hysterical pieces. History helps us stay in touch with our past and helps us to learn where we came from. I think it is easy to look past all the pieces that come from our history, but after taking humanities it is hard not to notice these pieces in everyday life. It can be as small as the background
Archeology: in my own words, it is the study of the past through the “things” that were left behind by those who came before us. I imagine everyone can agree there’s something fascinating about picking up an old knife or a pot of clay and wondering what life was like when that object was created. It seems as though it should be no surprise that countless people could easily believe legends of a lost city or of great giants ruling the earth long ago. Personally, I feel the true value comes from the knowledge gained when one sets out to learn the truth behind the myths. And over the course of the semester, I’ve learned a number of concepts I plan to apply to my future (as part of a professional community).
Imagine this; the year is 1836. You are a 17-year-old student interested in learning more about the world around you; however, such an opportunity won’t come your way because you are black. Due to this fact you have no hope of furthering your education past the reading, writing, and arithmetic their slave masters taught your parents. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. The minds of many African American’s go to waste due to individual ignorance of their people and thus of themselves. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were put into effect to educate the black mind and eliminate the ignorance. The discussion of whether Historically Black Colleges and Universities are still necessary in the 21st century has taken place in recent years. Within the discussion many debate that due to the fact that the world is no longer like it was in the 1800’s, the time period in which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were created, the purpose of them no longer exists. However, the cultural significance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities seems to be overlooked by those who argue their importance and relevance in a time where blacks have the option of attending predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The purpose and grounds on which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were developed are still being served. The need to increase efforts to not only rouse, but support Historically Black Colleges and Universities is necessary now more than ever in order to preserve our past, fulfill the purpose of our present, and ensure our future.
Going into this Humanities class, I had no idea what I was getting into. I didn’t know what the Humanities were and how it would impact my education at all. I had taken a number of history classes in high school and in college before and expected the Humanities to flow with my history classes in a sense. In my previous history class’s topics such as wars, The Great Depression, assassinations, the settling of different parts of the world, slavery, witch-hunts, and the use of animals were discussed. I thought that the Humanities would fall somewhere on the line with history. I wasn’t wrong with this assumption, but I wasn’t right either. The Humanities, I have learned, is so much more than the history that surrounds what people did, acted like, made as art, ate, and learned. The Humanities made all the different interactions between people clear. People to people, people to land, people to art, people to animals, and many other interactions that people come across. This class opened my mind to everything that art is and can be and to how important is it to learn from the past, grow for...
Of the liberal arts, history is needed for students to study conflicts in order to learn how to and how not to solve problems in order to prevent future strifes. History also helps abolish superiority myths, and create unity by demonstrating
The main critique of the Intellectual Heritage Program is that courses are too broad and too shallow. Their impact is insignificant because students don not retain much knowledge from two classes over the period of four years. It is reasoned, why should a student spend substantial portion of their college career learning information and material they will most likely forget by the time they graduate? Students are required only to take two semesters of MOSAIC classes, which is barely enough time to develop anything beyond an elementary proficiency in the content discussed, which is practically useless in the real world.
In many American colleges and universities, the number of students majoring in humanities has declined greatly in the past few decades. However, professors of different schools have various opinions on the idea majoring in humanities as a pro or con. Schmidt and Hollinger are pro for humanities. Schdmit analyzed data that showed there is no crisis in humanities -- the major decrease of humanities majors dropped by more than half from 1970 to 1985 which greatly reflected gender roles. Women were switching into different fields of studies while men were just as likely to major in humanities today as they were in the past. Hollinger believes higher education is sold to students as vocational
... a valuable experience from the burdens and bonds of tradition and responsibility, untimely the best memories a person can make. Not such bad things to take away from an undergraduate education is it?
R. Howard Bloch once stated, “The humanities are an incredible source of practical information about the world around us”. The study of humanities has affected the life of every individual to walk the earth at some point in time; It seems sort of outrageous but it’s true. From art and literature to architecture and music, the humanities is present in our everyday lives. Its importance is often underestimated but in reality, it is extremely important to our existence. In fact, before entering my first humanities class I didn’t realize how important or interesting humanities was. After learning about how art, specifically, has changed over time, I find myself eager to learn more. The benefits of studying humanities includes: aiding individuals
History class in itself has a specific purpose which seems to be frequently forgotten. We learn about violent and horrible events in our past, as well as life- changing and positively impacting ones. From the negative events, we learn what went wrong and how to prevent similar tragedies from happening. From the positive, we gather knowledge and comprehension of the basis of our modern society. We are a self- repairing race, analyzing every flaw and figuring out what caused it. It's an ancient practice, trial and error is human nature.
“Don’t do that. You’ll never get a job.” Such was the response of one of my favorite teachers to the interest that I had voiced in history as a potential field of study. A teacher whose class a friend and I had enjoyed so much we had taken time out of a weekday afternoon to come visit her. Sure, my response contrasted pretty acutely with that of my friend who wanted to pursue a career in computational linguistics, but history is my genuine interest. In an environment that constantly peddles science and technology careers, it’s hard to love history and literature.
Education is the opportunity to learn and grow in your community, society, workplace, and even inside you. Education, quoted from Jon Spayde, a well-known interviewer and editor in his article titled Learning in the Key of Life, is about power: the power to know about the world around you and the people near and far from you. Education is culture, passed down from one group of people to another. We learn about these people through the humanities. Earl Shorris, a teacher for lower-class students quoted in the article Spayde wrote, said to his students on the first day of class, "You've been cheated. Rich people learn the humanities; you didn't. The humanities are a foundation for getting along in the world, for thinking, for learning to reflect on the world instead of just reacting to whatever force is turned against you" (60). What a powerful statement Shorris shared with his students. But why are the humanities a foundation? What foundation is Shorris talking about? And what constitutes the humanities? This foundation is the basic understanding of other cultures, and the ability to relate to many different types of people. This can be difficult to achieve, but education has the humanities to help. The humanities can be defined many different ways. The Readers Digest Dictionary defines the humanities as: the branches of learning (as philosophy, arts, or languages) that investigate human constructs and concerns as opposed to natural processes (as in physics or chemistry) and social relations (as in anthropology or economics) (652). This was the third definition of the word. The definition defines the humanities the best, as we know them today. But Spayde has another very interesting way to define t...