Role of Art and Humanities Today

Arts and humanities go hand in hand. Art is more on the creation and the expression of ideas, while humanities are more on the analysis of art. They both relate to culture and human behavior and have always played significant roles in people’s lives. They enable us to know who we are. They help us to know ourselves, they help us understand and interact with other cultures. They help us think critically and have a deeper understanding of people and things around us— whether it is in the past or the present.

One of the roles of art and humanities today is to broaden our perspective of the world. With the different issues in our society today, it will be challenging to solve these problems without understanding the central problem of human behavior, human culture, beliefs, and history. Thus, for us to have a deeper understanding, we ask for other people’s stories and experiences. We try to understand what people feel, where they come from, and how they understand the world. Those are humanities questions. Some can also tell or express their stories through art.

Arts and humanities also play a significant role in building connections with others. By knowing the different cultures of people we are interacting with, we get to understand them better. Having a deeper understanding of others’ culture enable us to interact with them and appreciate our differences. It allows us to be more welcoming, more inclusive, and respectful towards others.

Another role of arts and humanities in the current life of the people is to understand the past. Art reveals stories from the past which gives us ideas as to what happened back then. And through humanities, we get to understand and think critically about history. Being aware of history is significant in people’s lives because we can learn from it— we can learn from their past mistakes and things they did to overcome them. With that, we will be able to know what to do in the future.

The arts and humanities are essential in the current life of the people because it takes us to the very center of what it is like to be human. It allows us to expand our knowledge to other people’s experiences and cultures. It helps us to communicate with others which is vital in building connections with others. It also helps us to appreciate our differences and to accept others for who they are. Lastly, it enables us to think critically and avoid mistakes to happen that we learned from the past.

Works Cited

1. Nussbaum, M. C. (2010). Not for profit: Why democracy needs the humanities. Princeton University Press.
2. Sontag, S. (1966). Against interpretation and other essays. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
3. Barthes, R. (1977). Image, music, text. Hill and Wang.
4. Eagleton, T. (2000). The idea of culture. Wiley-Blackwell.
5. Fry, R. (2010). Why art? Yale University Press.
6. Gadamer, H. G. (2004). Truth and method. Bloomsbury Academic.
7. Elkins, J. (2003). Visual studies: A skeptical introduction. Routledge.
8. Anderson, W. R. (1998). The truth about the truth: De-confusing and re-constructing the postmodern world. TarcherPerigee.
9. Kwon, M. (2004). One place after another: Site-specific art and locational identity. MIT Press.
10. Danto, A. C. (1981). The transfiguration of the commonplace: A philosophy of art. Harvard University Press.