The Humanities

I struggled the most with this definition, and even now I’m sorry to write that I do not have as much to put forth as I would like.

First I thought of the humanities as a classification of knowledge, a category, same as the sciences. I initially conceptualized the two as shifting yin and yang. The humanities as a category is ever-shifting, because as our knowledge bases expand so too must our classifications. Historically this holds true for other disciplines, as well. This simple definition, however, is broad. Hence, the little ‘h’ is most applicable here.

The interdisciplinary nature of the Humanities course allows one to perceive patterns beyond the specific subject matter of each unit, and throughout the year what has remained constant in each unit is this:

Humanities = [Human]ities.

The Humanities revolves around humans, and more specifically human narratives. It entails studying these narratives with a critical eye.