Alfred Romero
1/25/2023
Professor Frank
Liberal Learning 420
Journal #2
Part 1:
What is the significance of the humanities? Why do the humanities matter? Not only am I a witness to this question within this class, I’ve also heard this question rise up in my personal life. Though I am a pre-medicine student, I’ve heard this question indirectly asked towards other people. “You’re an English major (or any other discipline that could be considered within the humanities)? Why would you do that? What do you hope to gain from that?”. So, as a student who lives the majority of his academic career within the world of the sciences, this is what I have to say about the humanities. To start, I’ll mention the fact that I’m an English minor. What would I possibly have to gain in a personal sense by working with the humanities? My simple answer to that is that I gain perspective. I started my English minor journey my sophomore year when I took the course “Wisdom Literatures”, taught by Professor Anderson. That course alone showed me how to process the world around me in intriguing ways I’ve never imagined before. I grew up as a Christian, but that course taught me the fascinating principles of different religions and how they view the meaning of life. My “Introduction To Literary Theory & Criticism” course showed me how almost any sort of text can be analyzed and processed from a specific point of view regarding social status. And the key part, at least for me anyway, is the intellectual concept behind how nothing is ever really right or wrong and that the world rotates around perspective. I thought this before, but these classes have amplified that way of thinking. Even in “English 110”, I was taught that CRISPR is a tool of both good and evil depending on the level of perspective it’s viewed upon. Personally, I get a sense of life by working with the humanities. I’m used to dealing with fact-based science and the curriculum is very straight-forward, so straight-forward that it even seems robotic at times. Courses within the humanities change that way of thinking for me and reminds me of what it means to think like a human being, with perspective and open-mindedness. It teaches me the value of culture, how I can be able “to understand better what happiness is”, you don’t get this type of intellectual content in normal science classes (Small 5).
Professionally, the humanities also aid in expanding one’s perspective, but more so in the sense of questioning systems around the individual. Having the “power to employ one’s intelligence freely, or non-mechanically” is a vital skill to have as a human being (Small 12). This would ensure one’s humanity, making sure they don’t become a robotic being who submits to anything anyone tells them. Many people identify themselves as being an employee, but people should know that being a human comes first before all. It’s a good skill to have when you’re aware of your surroundings rather than just blindly following the rest of the herd because it’s the majority decision. I feel that the humanities, because they teach perspective, would also teach one the power of awareness in terms of an individual’s place within a specific setting.
In terms of a broader social value of the humanities, I would connect that concept with what Small has to say in her last paragraph. By attracting “anyone curious about intellectual history, rhetorical persuasion, philosophy of value, deliberative reasoning”, I feel as if this would group people up with connections about deeper meanings involving education, culture, and the difference between private and public life (Small 22). When people group up involving these concepts, the way of thinking can change drastically, pushing society forward as a whole with this shift.
Part 2:
This is an extremely hard question as I’ve never actually thought about this before. In some kind of fashion, if it were even possible, I’d love a job that would tie the art of medicine and patient care with the arts of music. This job would categorize within the healthcare field, but also incorporate elements of the musical arts as well. The tasks themselves would always be centered around patient needs, specifically involving how music could be a possibility of helping them overcome any sort of barrier they might have within themselves. With this job, it becomes pretty clear that skills revolving around the science and music fields are necessary in order to get the job done well. My undergraduate degree in medical biology would help in terms of the science aspect of things, but my humanities related minor would support the idea of perspective regarding a patient. This job would fit in with more of a generalist physician type specialty rather than being related to something completely different, like surgery. All responsibilities would directly address the better care for a patient, and this would be done through a clinical type setting, involving the work of other clinical roles. Qualifications would have a baseline of a bachelor’s degree and the environment of the job would fit most with an outpatient clinic setting, where a lot of work gets done, but the pace and tone of the job isn’t too intense.
