Humanities subjects, also referred to as social sciences, are branches of learning that include language, music, philosophy, art, religion and literature courses. Humanities subjects study the past and present events as well as human behaviors. The best way to define humanities is by humanities occupations. One might say that humanities consists of occupations that concern themselves with contributing to or improving social humanity, or being human. Students wanting to have a degree in humanities would focus their study in improving research and writing skills and communication, as well as their thinking skills.
The tutelage by competent academic teachers would certainly be very important to defining humanities and to humanities occupations themselves. A bachelor’s degree in humanities is a less direct career degree due to the diversity of humanities subjects. A lot of students studying humanities subjects will be concerned how a degree in any of the humanities subjects can lead to a productive career. Well, just look at your teacher. The skills like communication that are learned from a strong academic teacher in humanities are applied in all occupations where interaction is essential.
And yet, even when a learning institution is renowned for its competent humanities academic teachers, the percentage of enrolment for humanities subjects as careers would still be low as compared to other academic careers. Perhaps this is due to a lack of understanding or “advertising” that humanities occupations define humanities.
The little known truth is, academic studies in any of the humanities subjects would open up a whole range of career possibilities. A degree in anthropology, in performing and visual arts, in music, theatre and dance or a degree in languages and literature would give the degree holder most of the skills that are most wanted by potential employers. In other words, if humanities occupations define humanities, then those who master humanities subjects are in good shape when it comes time for the job interview.
With the guidance of highly qualified academic teachers, students of humanities subjects will acquire a wide range of knowledge, and their written and oral communication skills will be well honed. Don’t kid yourself, these are highly marketable skills. True you have to be competitive in the area of focus first; but all things being equal, prospective employers will usually find a well-rounded applicant the most suitable for the job being applied for. So next time someone asks you the definition of humanities, tell them humanities occupations define humanities, and then tell them about your job.
Find more definitions of humanities on Wikipedia here.
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