The arts and humanities teach us who and what we can be. They lie at the very core of the culture of which we are a part, and they provide the foundation from which we may reach out to other cultures.
The arts are among our nation’s finest creations and the reflections of freedom’s light.”
President Ronald Reagan, 40th President of The United States

“The humanities teach us who we are and what we can be.” Wow. Everything begins with an idea. The Humanities teach us to develop great ideas that can change the world.
Literature, Art, History, Design, Music, Composition, Law, Politics, Archaeology, and Anthropology. All of these areas of study begin with questions. Questions like who, how, why, could we, or what if. Some of the world's best inventions and concepts started with “Hey, I was thinking, what if….?”

By studying the humanities, we pursue God’s creation’s good and beauty. Students develop the creativity and critical thinking skills necessary for all fields of interest, not just the arts.

And before you think, “But my child isn’t artsy.” Consider this. Have you ever been among engineers when they are discussing a project? They use words like elegant and refined, which we typically hear when discussing literature or art, not machinery. Do you know a software engineer? Tell them they make software and will correct you by saying they created it. Ask a musician to explain half, quarter, and eighth notes; you’re talking fractions without knowing it. A surgeon of mine even remarked once that the sutures she gave me were pretty. An intersection of humanities and science indeed! Fostering creativity through the humanities enhances the STEM skills I teach by building those creative thinkers who will ask, “How am I going to do the impossible?”

Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple Inc., once said, “I always thought of myself as a humanities person as a kid. Then I read something that one of my heroes, Edwin Land of Polaroid, said about the importance of people who stand at the intersection of humanities and science, and I decided that’s what I wanted to do.” It's not a bad advertisement for the humanities. Today, we don’t need to look far for that intersection of humanities and science; we witness it daily.

OK, last quote: It is a convenient truth: you go into the humanities to pursue your intellectual passion, and it just so happens, as a by-product, you emerge as a desired commodity for the industry. (Damon Horowitz, Conservative American writer) Sometimes, students take a creative class because they like drawing or reading. Then, BAM! They realize their passion is valuable and, as the quote says, “a desired commodity for industry.” This happened to my son, and it was amazing! (ask me about that sometime!) How amazing is it that students can make their creative passion, career, and talents a desired commodity?

Now, I know that as a parent, you caught that part when I mentioned students asking the one thing we hear them ask from practically birth. “WHY?” Let’s talk about that. Some think teaching students to ask why can foster distrust of absolute truth. I don’t believe this. We know that five plus five will always equal ten and that a word has only one correct spelling. We know that
answers to factual questions are either correct or incorrect. In school, my teachers did not allow me to make up my word spelling or let me slide because my math answers were mostly correct. Studying the humanities will encourage students to ask, “Why is this true?” as they discover the reason behind the truth. My art history students will tell you that they can always have opinions about a piece but must explain their views and think about it.