Liberty Depends on Liberal Arts

With authoritarian movements emerging around the world and our American democracy being threatened, it is disheartening to see so many humanities and social sciences departments shrinking at colleges and universities around the country. The National Center for Education Statistics found that between 2012 and 2020, the number of people graduating with degrees in humanities fields decreased by 29.6%. A liberal arts education enables students to see issues from a variety of perspectives. I’m not saying a complete education is solely an education in the social sciences; rather, I believe that a complete education includes exploring various fields, from literature to science to history to mathematics to foreign languages and more. However, STEM fields are dominating college campuses nowadays, and students and universities alike are placing humanities and social sciences departments on the backburner. For example, the University of Notre Dame had 50% fewer humanities graduates between 2012 and 2020. Arizona State University went from having 953 English majors to 578, and Ohio State University’s number of humanities majors decreased by  46%. The list goes on. As our world becomes ever more reliant on artificial intelligence, this focus on STEM is important; but we cannot leave the humanities or social sciences behind, as every technological advance still has to operate in cultures and environments shaped by us and our pasts. Studying social sciences and humanities opens up people’s minds to new worlds and builds empathy and understanding, helping people expand their horizons. The humanities are the building blocks of a healthy, civic society. 

Unfortunately, current college student demand reflects a different take on the value of humanities and social sciences. These sharp declines are leading some schools to reduce or even eliminate their humanities departments altogether. Legislators are putting political and financial pressure on publicly funded state universities to reduce funding of the liberal arts and invest those funds in business, engineering, and STEM fields. For example, in Mississippi, the state auditor issued a report suggesting the state increase funding to those areas because they are fields that can “improve the value they provide to both taxpayers and graduates;” and on the East Coast, the North Carolina legislature voted to fund new distinguished professor positions only in the STEM departments, not the humanities ones. Even without political pressure, universities are still reducing support. In Massachusetts, Lasell University got rid of five of its liberal-arts majors, including history and English. Not only did this prevent some students from studying their passions, but it also led to 16 faculty members losing their jobs. Other schools are discussing whether it is worth it to keep their humanities departments in place. 

The downsizing of the humanities may be sparked by decreasing student demand, but the response from schools will lead to further erosion because of the signal it sends about its importance. Often, students go to college with the hopes of changing their lives and their families’ lives. Thus, they look for fields of study with high average salaries after graduation. Some students view social sciences and other humanities fields as wastes of a degree at a prestigious university because there is a less obvious connection between those areas of study and jobs. However, studying the humanities can make people better at any job. Thinking critically, understanding different points of view, and improving communication skills make people better workers and better citizens. Even if someone does not want to major in the humanities, taking a literature or history class can help them in almost any career because these are classes that help people see the connections across all of humanity and the patterns and conflicts that shape the world.  A well-rounded education, featuring studies in many disciplines, prepares students to be good thinkers, people, and citizens. It is a way to understand people and societies, and no matter how much AI dominates our world, it will be a world still populated by humans. Schools should make the importance of this clear by keeping humanities departments strong, offering a range of classes that appeal to a wide variety of student interests, and emphasizing the value of the humanities to healthy lives and societies. 

The ability to choose classes is one of the most exciting aspects of college, and shrinking departments means limiting options that could further depress student interest in these subjects. We can take inspiration from schools that encourage the study of liberal arts and promote a well-rounded education. Schools with a set of graduation requirements across a variety of disciplines want their students to have a baseline set of experiences across disciplines so that they will be well-rounded, while still giving them the freedom to pursue a major field of study. Schools with open curriculums give students more flexibility, but the hope is that students will use that freedom to try new fields and experiment. Whether there is a required core or an open curriculum, the humanities need to be a central part of higher education. Department cuts are a threat to students’ freedom to choose and make the most out of college and themselves. They are also a distressing signal that this area of study is not valued. STEM fields are extremely valuable, and students can and should be encouraged to pursue them. But in order for our society to function to the best of its abilities and for students to understand the importance of democracy and the danger of authoritarianism, we need to keep our humanities departments strong and well-rounded. As William Shakespeare wrote – and as students should learn – the past is prologue. We need to continue to learn from history and great literature to understand and shape our future. 

Nate Barkow is a junior at Grace Church High School in New York City. He is passionate about getting young people more involved in politics and civic engagement to help shape America’s future. If he is not hanging out with his friends, he likes to play tennis, bake, or take walks with his dog, Lucie.