The Heart of the Matter
President Barack Obama and candidate Mitt Romney both received their undergraduate degrees in the humanities. Other notables who studied the humanities on their way to final careers are Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Harold Varmus, current director of the Nation Cancer Institute.
American Academy Commission on the Humanities
Richard Brodhead, president of Duke University and the co-chair of the American Academy Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, related this information in a talk he delivered at the annual meeting of the National Humanities Alliance on March 20, 2013. The organization he chairs developed a film on the subject that describes the “Heart of the Matter” and, in fact, why Humanities still matter. I came upon my own realization when I visited a meeting of the Clemente Course at East high School a few nights ago. Here is what I discovered.
The Clemente Course at East High School
The Clemente Course is a partnership between the Utah Humanities Council, East High School, the Salt Lake City School District, Westminster College, the University of Utah, and University Neighborhood Partners. The course is a two-year, interdisciplinary humanities course for underserved 10th and 11th grade AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination program) students. The goals of the endeavor are:
- Encourage underserved students’ eager engagement in school by involving them in a challenging but personally meaningful and relevant humanities curriculum.
- Introduce students to some of the most powerful and influential texts, art, and ideas from cultures around the world.
- Foster academic excellence and critical thinking.
- Demonstrate connections between book learning and the “real world.”
- Nurture the goal of attending a four year college and assist students in selecting challenging college preparatory courses during their junior and senior years.
- Develop thoughtful and engaged future citizens.
- Increase school and public understanding of the value of the humanities to personal growth, academic achievement, and the strength of our communities.
How the Program Works
Clemente draws from five subjects for its curriculum: literature, history, art history, critical writing, and philosophy. It follows an intellectually rigorous curriculum and focuses on important multicultural works using group discussion, writing, group projects and a focus on primary documents as the basis for learning.
Instructors for the Course consist of four college professors, four teaching fellows, and a writing teacher at East High. Students enrolled in the Clemente Course will become a learning community, encouraged by their teachers and each other to become highly engaged in their learning and put forward their best efforts. Clemente excites the young learners about higher education and strongly encourages them to attend college. Students will receive an elective humanities credit for successfully completing the Clemente Course.
Example of the Learning Experience
The Clemente class took a field trip to Salt Lake Community College South City Campus for a tour of the New Media Center. The Dean of the School of Arts, Communication and New Media, Richard Scott, showed them the sound room, the broadcast journalist room, the theater, and the filming area.
The students got to have a hands-on, interactive experience with public art exhibit, Camera Obscurra. They learned how the cameras could be used for conceptual or performance art because people can perform in front of the cameras and be seen by viewers inside the New Media center. That students can also create art by using the cameras and take pictures or drawings of the projections.
Support From the Utah Humanities Council
The goal of the endeavor fits exactly within the mission of the UHC: “The Utah Humanities Council provides leadership by empowering individuals and groups to improve their communities through active engagement in the humanities.” This notion goes along with what Richard Brodhead is trying to accomplish with the American Academy Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. He proposes that STEM, (science, technology, engineering and math), cannot be the only focus of our education system. Without the critical thinking that comes from a Humanities education many of our greatest leaders might not have achieved success.
The Humanities plays a crucial role in the drama of strengthening communities, improving cooperation and building better lives. by participating in humanities-based programs and education, young people are inspired to cross over into the world of others and discover an affinity with the different way people see, think, and believe in order to imagine a common good that serves us all.