John Updike has been recently awarded the highest honor in the humanities by the federal government, the Jefferson Lecture. The award is given to an individual who has made great contributions to the humanities and who is able to convey the knowledge and wisdom of the humanities. The National Endowment for the Humanities was established in 1965 as a federal agency to support the many areas of the humanities including literature, philosophy and history.
There has been a great amount of debate over the controversy in the humanities. Many argue that the humanities popularity and importance has declined to the point that it serves no purpose. By just reading about this award and convention is it not evident that the humanities still has not lost its influence? Is it not apparent that this country still believes that the guidance of the humanities is needed? The greatest authority in the country holds an annual meeting every year and has created this agency to demonstrate the humanities’ wisdom and importance.
The lecture is apart of the National Endowment’s campaign, Picturing America, to promote American art to help others understand the events, people, and ideas that has formed this nation. This is what the humanities does and this is why it should be funded. It has great influence on the history, culture and traditions of this country. The humanities can never be forgotten because it’s apart of our history and our culture. People ask why the humanities should be funded or they say that you don’t make enough money when you study this subject, but the study of this subject is far deeper than a few dollar bills. People still value the humanities for their knowledge because not everyone can understand Shakespeare or T.S. Eliot. If it wasn’t for Shakespeare we wouldn’t have theatre which later evolved to movies.
Just because some people stopped reading books and in stead started listening to their iPods doesn’t mean we should just give up on the humanities. Sure it doesn’t promise a luxurious lifestyle, but is that the reason why people study the humanities? Does it serve the purpose of giving you six digit salaries or to spread knowledge?
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Just because the government funds something doesn't mean that it is significant or supported by the citizens. Remember the infamous Bridge to Nowhere that went ... well, nowhere? The government also gives subsidies to farmers in order to keep them afloat. Perhaps it is the same with the humanities--because they have lost their former status to science, they need government-funded assistance to maintain the public's interest. With science, it's so easy to know when progress is made--but with the humanities, how are we supposed to know what is progress--or if there even is such a thing in this discipline? Even using the example of Shakespeare to represent the field of humanities, where does that get us? Without Shakespeare, we would still have theater and, most likely, movies as well. He was certainly neither the first nor last playwright in history. Some (mostly humanities majors/professors/etc) could argue that he was not even the greatest playwright in history, but merely the most famous.
Although I agree that the humanities are important, I honestly think that most people these days just don't care about them--which is precisely why the NEH has to work so hard to find things that will connect with a younger audience who prefer ipods over books. Unless they are able to keep themselves in the public eye by handing out awards, coming up with new ways to reach the youth, etc., the NEH will end up just like the humanities it is trying to promote--irrelevant and forgotten by the public at large.
Yes, the majority of humanities professions compose of many struggling to succeed in their competive field. An artist or writer for example are lucky if they get their work published or shown. In the sciences, there is still the ranking order, but it is not as drastic. Although humanities may not earn a high salary most of the time, they have potential to be successful through the way you apply them. The portion that can't find a successful way of using humanities, may have to sacrifice having a profession that they love along side one that they don't.
I completely agree! The humanities are so much a part of this country, I do not think people understand what the implications of not studying the humanities are. It is impossible to consider an America bereft of her humanities. It literally is unfathomable. No one has attempted to construct an alternative or revisionist history because to construct an alternative history where the humanities never existed is too great and complex of an undertaking. And if it holds true for the past, it will hold true for the future. Our great great great grandchildren will study the books of our day and revel in their insight or levity, their humanity and their reflection of values. To deny them this would create a detached society that might very closely resemble the worlds constructed by Huxley, Bradbury, or Welles.
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