The Decline of the English and Humanities Departments of Universities - Research Paper Example

The Decline of the English and Humanities Departments of Universities Introduction The enrollment of English and Humanities students into Universities around the world has reduced over the recent years. There is a sharp contrast between the once popular study of Humanistic subjects and Literature and todays lack of emphasis on such subjects. In a similar manner, both students enrolling into Institutions of higher education and the management of such institutions have developed a reduced interest in these once popular pursuits. As Cohen (13) notes, most students opt for the superior truth in Social, Biological and Managerial Sciences as compared to theories and hypotheses in Humanistic subjects. Regardless of this reduced interest in Humanities, it is important to note that Scientists and Economists alike rely on languages and Humanities in their researches, analyses and presentations (Howard 24). The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of such a decline and the proposal of possible solutions to reverse the situation. Different policymakers and educators have become more and more responsive of the significance of understanding the learning practices of other countries. This is done on the basis to evaluate the comparative standing of their education results as a sign of international financial competitiveness. In any given society or nation, education forms a point of reference from where economic development is achieved and the improvement of the living standards. Howard (34) notes that the great loss and disappearance of great works, the consistent devaluation of humanities against the sciences and the sluggish speed of humanities as compared to that of hi-technologies are all factors for the reduced interest in humanities. With this also comes the fact that parents and students alike desire a profitable return for their big investments in high education. Thus, more and more students turn to Science subjects and Economics. It is worth contemplating that English and humanities departments should be made in such a way that learners are assured of getting job once they leave their colleges. This will be the only way through which the decline of such subjects will be minimized in the end. As Chace (35) suggests, the major cause for this has been the failure of the English and Humanities’ departments on themselves to champion the material they teach. For instance, English departments have shifted their focus from once popular books and literature to arbitrary studies, such as identity, popular culture, sexuality and abstruse theory. The result is that the books, which ought to be studied independently, have become a secondary rather than a primary source, being used only to give information about these studies. The impact of this is that the departments “have distanced themselves from young people interested in good books” (Chace 36). This explains the reduction in enrollment into Humanities over the past few decades, whereby, even with an increased capacity of student enrollment into universities, there has been a significant reduction of the students enrolled in these departments. Besides, while English departments are responsible for teaching composition in the Universities- a central activity in higher education- its instructors are among the lowest paid, sometimes being considered as a liability rather than an asset (Chace 40). This has formed a point of reference from where many of the instructors have been forced to seek well paying jobs, in so doing resulting to the decline of certain departments. The fact that many higher education institutions have had to close their humanities and foreign languages departments so as to cut ion cost is in itself a daunting and frightening fact to the absolute future of humanities. Similarly, several studies show that the faculty jobs for humanities are diminishing while that of social sciences is increasing. For instance, one such study by Stanford University in 2006 shows that between 1915 and 1955, the faculty jobs in the humanities declined by 41% whereas that of social sciences increased by more than 220% (Chace 41). Similarly, the increased interest in for-profit universities and community colleges has an impact in the reducing interest of literature and humanities. The new institutions are focused mainly on nonacademic subjects but rather to equipping students with skills necessary for the job market. Apart from these otherwise external factors causing the decline of English and Humanities alike, there are more pertinent ‘internal’ factors emerging from within the humanities and Languages departments. Some of these factors include the failure of departments to take radical measures to combat the external forces facing them. Whereas some professors result in pompous claims while pursuing self-centered ambitions, others have all together departed, causing a disorder in their fields. With such an outcome, most people question the nature of the literature profession. Another internal issue facing literary and humanities departments is their lack of definable boundaries. As compared to physicians, lawyers and climatologists, literary scholars are typical free lancers. There are very few rules or foundational principles defining the teachers of literary. The scholars engage in a free endeavor in exploring the limits of their creativity. In search a situation, it is not clear what the role of humanists in the society is. Hence students avoid engaging in an endeavor whose pursuit is unbound. They rather seek more clearly defined tasks such as engineering, law or commerce. There are many more explanations to this decline of interest of English and Humanities among students, the exploration of which may require a lifetime of study. As Howard (38), humanities are indispensable in today’s world. Their presence in all human endeavors is very crucial. Great works such as the Bible, the Quran, philosophical works such as Aristotle’s Organon and Rene Descartes’ Discourse on the Method have all had a share in defining today’s humanity. It is hence necessary that the prevailing situation be stopped and the process of reversing it begins. We need humanities to understand the fundamental laws of human existence. For instance, mimetic desire is the theory that our desire for something increases the more we think others desire it (Howard 42). The theory is derived from Marcel Proust’s Novel, In search of Lost Time. This is visible in marketing, love triangles and competition. Besides, humanities are needed in understanding written text, making distinctions and expressing new ideas. They are the only avenue where students can understand the verbal skills needed in their career paths. Humanities provide us also with the opportunity to define and explore meaning, whether we are in the arts or in religious studies, whether we are in politics or in legal studies. Scientists and religious scholars alike require humanities to analyze their raw data, which sometimes arrives in unusable and unintelligible forms. The neglect of humanities threatens both the university and every other subject offered there. Moreover, humanities also shape the human community. They explore the similarities between communities and cultures, bringing cultures together. In line with this, humanities define the way people interact and relate with other, regardless of their color, race, and other factors. The great historical works of Confucius, Homer and Biblical authors not only provide us with historical information but also give insights into pertinent questions such as about love, peace, good and evil, security and war and malice and forgiveness. Humanities also offer opportunities for students to self-reflect, learn and adapt to new environments. The skills taught in colleges and universities are only useful and competitive for specified times only. With the ability to self-evaluate and improve on ones weaknesses, a student is able to fit successfully in most environments they land in after college. Finally, the purpose of all higher education is mainly to educate civil and useful citizens. Humanities are crucial in inculcating and teaching morality and ethical behaviors. Inasmuch as this may not be key ion getting a better career, they are useful in leading a meaningful life. This is coupled together with the ability to express ones view openly, without bias and the ability to communicate clearly and fluently with others, whether at the university, work place or any other sphere of life. The understanding of such benefits of humanities should cause one to see humanities as a discipline of acquiring essential tools of understanding the world and our careers. Several scholars have proposed several strategies which could be used to reverse the situation. Firstly, there should be mass education on the importance of humanities both as a profession and as an equipping subject. For instance, the presentation of humanities as classical subjects whose benefit is study for its own sake should be reduced. Their importance should also not be weighed on economic scales only but on the broad necessity of human contact and behavior towards democracy and good governance. Universities should seek to educate the Mass population about the benefits of Humanities in such careers as urban planning, education and historical studies. This will in turn reduce the negative conception towards it. An institution in Boston, for instance, has resulted in several seminars helping the students awaiting campus in understand the courses offered. Similarly, both students and the population need to be educated on the importance of humanities in inculcating morality, as well as the role it plays in interpretative and analytic skills. Secondly, there has to be a deliberate effort by the institutions management to support these departments. Today’s world has forced most universities and colleges to shift from providing knowledge for its own sake to equipping people with skills necessary for the job markets. However, this does not imply that Universities should abandon their core mandate as centers of education and research. Universities managers and presidents should ensure a sustainable investment in to these departments. there has to be a deliberate investment by the universities finance departments in to these humanities subjects. There should more funds allocated to research in these fields. Incentives, such as an increase in pay should also be given to the instructors. A more positive attempt towards this would be reopening the already closed down departments and boosting this with aggressive marketing strategies. Moreover, traditionally, University education was considered both a pleasure and a luxury. It was initially not very expensive and goal oriented. All stake holders in provision of University education should aim at ensuring that their courses remain relevant yet very powerful in disseminating traditional knowledge. Literature material such as the writings of Shakespeare and his contemporaries should be viewed not just in the context of todays’ world or its historical significance to human beings. Both the old and the new should be integrated to provide a rich knowledge base for all minds. In so doing, it will be easy to conserve the past whilst managing the current trends in the wake of new technologies accordingly. Similarly, the departmental heads could strategize on addressing the challenges facing them with finality. Rather than quit to new frontiers, or engage in poor protests that humanities are cheap to be housed, professors and instructors alike in English and Humanities departments should seek dialogue as a means of resolution. The crisis of funding, for example, could be solved by partnering with larger administrations. The Universities of Southern California and Connecticut at Storrs are clear examples where this strategy has worked. Both have experienced an unprecedented increase in Philosophy Faculty. The strategy involves targeting prominent senior or promising junior instructors and using interdisciplinary expansion to attract hire funding. In a World where most people are seeking specialized courses, interdisciplinary expansion could see that one receives a specialized course with an additional unit. They should aim at combining what they have and what other departments have to offer. The departments should also seek means of ensuring that the courses they offer remain relevant to a student’s pursuit. This could be achieved by both involving the students in deciding what they really wish to achieve and including what the department feels is necessary for the students’ pursuit. Through this, the departments will conform to the popular drive of Universities for better jobs while still providing a great knowledge base for their students. In a similar manner, some English courses and literature used for undergraduate purposes is sometimes too difficult for the young minds. Strategies should be put in place to ensure a smooth learning environment for these minds in a field where examining a lot of information is required to draw any useful conclusions. A personal initiative by high school leavers to avoid dismissing courses based on what they observe but rather take a deeper detailed exploration of the courses they would prefer. By attending seminars organized by the universities about the courses offered, students will be better placed to decide on the courses they wish to pursue. This will form a point of reference from where such students will be able to manage their education whilst striving to achieve other career goals consequently. Nevertheless, as Cohen, P. (2010) notes, the current situation is not an irreversible tragedy for humanities departments. There has been an unprecedented increase of enrollments among older students. Retirees and people interested in continuing their education in most cases opt for humanities. The explanation behind this is that people in the 40s yearn for knowledge about humanity than they yearn for skills. Some of these students go back to capture what they missed in their undergraduate programs. Others probably didn’t have the capacity to grasp that knowledge when they were 18 (Shannon in Cohen 2010). Similarly, Eagleton (2010), agrees that humanities as a profession are always facing a challenge, just as librarianship. This is always the state of affairs; the need to clearly define the relevance of a discipline in the corporate world. The situation is usually more aggravated if there are no clear boundaries for the field, such as is in humanities. However, the presence of such challenges does not imply that we rejoice due to a possible future trend or panic due to the prevailing threat. We should rather address the challenges honestly and without a bias so as to define our own success. In a close knit explanation is Eagleton’s (2010) statement that humanities will be present in universities just as much as alcohol will be in the pubs. By scrapping humanities off them, universities would become more of technical training institutions or corporate research centers. Withstanding, this also implies that universities cannot just have humanities alone. There has to be an interaction of the fields in an environment if any reasonable academic exchange will take place. Conclusion Conclusively, it is imperative that the role of humanities in institutions of higher learning be not over emphasized. They are needed to produce loyal citizens who are able to make sensible decisions in their places of work. It is also clear that humanities will always be confronted with the challenge of explaining their necessity in higher learning. These challenges are not an indication that humanities will soon perish from such institutions, even though the number of students pursuing such courses may continue to dwindle. Therefore, universities and colleges alike should ensure a steady balance between humanities and other subjects knowing that both need each other for a university to be called such. Meanwhile, all stake holders in higher education ought to collaborate in reversing the situation of humanities and make their relevance more visible and tangible, rather than a pursuit of the elect few. Works Cited Chace, William. “The Decline of the English Department: How it happened and What Could Be Done to reverse it”. American Scholar 78.4 (2009): 32-42. Print. Cohen, Patricia. (2001). “The Humanities for Love, Not Money”. The New York Times. 26th August 2010. F1. Print. Eagleton, Terry. “The Death of Universities”. The Guardian 17th December 2010. p3.Print. Howard, Bloch. “What Words are Worth”. Humanities 30.3. (2009): 18-53. Print. Rubenstein, Hymie. “To Know Who Wrecked the Universities, Look into the Faculties of Arts and Sciences”. Newsmagazine, Alberta ed. 26.48 (2001): 41. Print. The Absolute Necessity of College Level Writing Courses. Michigan Corpus of Upper-Level Student Papers. University of Michigan, 2009. April 8th 2013. Web. Wallace, Jo-an. “English Studies Versus the Humanities”. University of Toronto Quarterly 64.4 (1995): 506-508. Print Read More