HUMANITIES TODAY

Humanities Today

Humanities Today

Introduction

Since the beginning of mankind, man has been interpreting the world that surrounds him. When God first created man, he gave them the ability to think and communicate. By God giving man this ability, he has longed to tell the next generation of what God had done in his life. As humanity continued to grow, man would interpret life in different ways; this interpretation would bring about wars, different religions, and economies. How each generation reacted to his generation is what we call today humanities. (Dworkin, 1986)

When one looks back into one culture, we see the impacts that the past has today. However, what do we mean when we talk discuss humanities? According to Fierdo, he states that Humanities is "the sum total of significant ideas and achievements handed down from one generation to generation. This tradition is the product of responses to conditions that have confronted all people throughout history." (Fiero, 2006) What conditions do we remember today that we will pass down to the next generation? This current generation will always remember 9/11 through songs and photo's. Songs like Alan Jackson, where were you when the world stop turning. Or through video of the planes crashing into the towers. The generation before me will remember the day Kennedy was shot. When those sites and sounds from that day start to play, each generation will step back to that day and remember, and those memories are what we want to pass down. So how are humanities different from other modes of expression? When comparing humanities to science,, humanities one often deals with the expression of the human spirit and soul, where science often deals with external data, this data is often more logical and base off of theories. When dealing with humanities one is often dealing with the forms of human expression, such as art, music, architecture, philosophy, and Literature. Humanities can be considered dealing more with one's thoughts and is seen are being more abstract rather than fact.

(Dworkin, 1986)

Art

Art and humanities go hand-in-hand, art give us the vision that helps us defines the society that we live in. Looking back during the fourteenth century, we see pictures that show death. During this time, the plague Black Death was upon all Europe, this plague affected nearly everyone and the artist during that period wanted to show the pain and suffering that was associated with the plague. ...