Making Humanities Relevant: Ideas About Applied Humanities
Humanities
subjects are usually derided for their lack of practical application, yet those who studied humanities, like me, would vouch for its ability to inspire curiosity and develop judgement. Compared to many other
disciplines where there may be one absolute answer to every question (though
the point of education is to discover that there is no such thing), humanities
often deal with judgment and opinions, abilities that we most often call upon
in solving complex problems. Besides, in a world where the nature of fast
evolving – from process-based to creative work – a good humanities education
may be enormously helpful in equipping the leaders of the future.
However, this is not to argue that nothing has to change in humanities
education, which is often delivered without regard to these changes that I
just mentioned, and commonly in resentment to it. The idea I am working on is to design and deliver a humanities programme connecting it better to the goals such as employability (though this is an anathema to the humanities educators) and to develop abilities that are most likely to be needed for careers in business
and society, now and in future. The key idea is to bring together the
creative power of modern technologies, the nuanced perspectives enabled by good
humanities education and disciplined focus of a career-orientated education
together. I would like to label this educational approach, at least for now, Applied Humanities.
Graduate Attributes
It is good to
start with the end in mind. What kind of graduates an Applied Humanities
education as proposed here aim to produce?
The point of a
good humanities education should indeed be to produce socially conscious,
intellectually engaged, economically productive individuals, who could contribute to
make lives better for himself/herself and others around them. Making of such
a person depends on three key attributes: A social and ethical commitment, an intellectual curiosity
and an understanding of practical life.
No education
happens in a vacuum and this educational project, too, should be seen in the
context of our time. While the above attributes have a ring of timelessness
about them – these were worthy educational goals at any point of time in human
history – achieving them in the current setting needs special consideration of our circumstances and possible shape of our future. Particularly relevant in this
discussion is the rapid evolution of human work, which, tipped by intelligent
machines and global economy, is evolving fast, creating rewards for certain
kinds of work but destroying jobs that were mainstay of middle class lives.
With such a
backdrop, a graduate may not hope to achieve the life goals stated above
without a set of attributes clearly aligned with the current landscape of work
and life: That s/he must be creative, that s/he must be entrepreneurial, that
s/he must be global and that s/he must be able to learn and progress, must be
ensured if any educational endeavour has to achieve its goals.
So, any Applied Humanities curricula must take upon itself these objectives
too – of a global, creative, entrepreneurial education enabling the development
of lifelong learners – so that they can live a productive and satisfying life,
socially, intellectually and economically.
Degrees to Offer
I want to develop an experimental three-year undergraduate programme, broken into a two-year
Applied Humanities education (borrowing the American structure) followed by an year of specialist education for an application area. I want the degrees to be
granted to be named in line with the application areas for clear
recognition of their value in respective professional fields, rather than
‘Applied Humanities’, which will be an inward-looking terminology not useful
for the learners’ careers.
There may be a number of application areas that could be found for a
good humanities education. However, considering that these may be offered in developing countries on the cusp
of a consumer and media revolution, such an approach may mean undergraduate Honours
programmes in areas such as Marketing and Communications, Learning and Development and Multimedia Journalism. There is anecdotal evidence that this
is where humanities graduates mainly land up, not because they were
prepared for it but because their humanities education may be most valued by
the employers for those roles. In a way, therefore, these areas may represent some sort of
path of least resistance for the graduates with an applied humanities education. Besides, these are areas where a rapidly
expanding consumer society may also need most of their new workers, and these jobs are often the safest, because of their twin requirements of creativity and persuasion, from the onslaught of automation.
Interdisciplinary Structure
One way to make
humanities ‘Applied’ is to break away from the disciplinary boundaries, which may
have served well the needs of scholarly inquiry but have created a gulf between
the world of work and the world of learning. This may be replaced by a functional focus, offering a structure within which the learner, progressively,
will discover the required knowledge within the context of their own motivation and interest.
So, instead of
immersing the learner in a sea of information about a given subject area which
s/he may not have chosen for himself/herself (a decision is made on learner’s
behalf often by their parents), the Applied Humanities curriculum may seek to
‘enculture’ the learner in the humanities, exposing him/her to methods of
inquiry, of the lineage of ideas and debates and with the language. Encouraged
throughout to learn to learn, the learner should then seek to find one’s own area
of development – and hopefully will continue to learn through life.
How The Curriculum May Look
This is indeed a poor men's version of the traditional humanities education, but there are lots of those in the world who come to college without the privilege to seek a 'safe space' for disinterested inquiry. Consigning these souls to lesser pleasures, almost without consideration of their deeper aspirations to lead a productive and happy life, has given humanities the bad name it gets. The idea of Applied Humanities is to seek to redeem this by finding practical significance within the practical business model of an institution, where the curricular discipline may be needed to tend of 'trivial' considerations such as costs. However, one could have a fairly prescriptive structure, covering the essential areas, yet allow a broad inquiry through the design of activities, and this is indeed what any institution seeking to offer Applied Humanities education should do. Keeping these considerations in mind, the above-mentioned undergraduate programmes may have a structure like the one I have speculated on, below:
Stream/
Subject
|
Global History
and Ideas
|
Understanding Social Life
|
Technology and
Media
|
Communication
and Leadership
|
Method of Work
& Assessment
|
Individual and Collaborative
|
Individual
|
Collaborative
|
Collaborative
|
Year 1
|
||||
Term 1 (13
Weeks + 2 Study Weeks + 1 Week Break)
|
Global History- Pre-Modern
|
Introduction to Social Inquiry
|
1. History of Media
2. Movie Making Techniques - Practical |
Creative
Writing I – Plot, Structure and
Character
|
Term 2 (13
weeks + 2 Study Weeks + 1 Week Break)
|
Modern History
|
Introduction
to Economics and Psychology
|
1. Understanding The Web
2. Movie Editing & Production |
Creative Writing
II – Writing a Film Script
|
Term 3 (13
Weeks + 2 Study Weeks + 1 Week Break)
|
Man & Society - Introduction to Political Philosophy
|
Social Research Methods
|
Film Making Project
|
Promotion Campaign for The Film Project - Web and Social Media
|
Year 2
|
||||
Term 1 (13
Weeks + 2 Study Weeks + 1 Week Break)
|
Everyday Ethics
|
Introduction
to Social Psychology
|
Web & Multimedia Development
|
Intercultural Communication
|
Term 2 (13
weeks + 2 Study Weeks + 1 Week Break)
|
Understanding Religion and Social Behaviour
|
Psychology of
Influence and Persuasion
|
Understanding
Social Media and Developing Social Presence
|
Great Writer Project - Appreciation of the work of one major modern writer
|
Term 3 (13
Weeks + 2 Study Weeks + 1 Week Break)
|
Asian History and Culture (in Asia)
|
Behavioral
Economics AND
Organisational Behaviour |
Creating
Integrated Media Campaigns
|
Leadership Biographies - Analysis of Leadership Skills and Contexts |
Year 3 –
Specialist Year
|
||||
Streams
B Sc (Hons)
|
Marketing
AND Comms
|
Learning &
Development
|
Multimedia
Journalism
|
Communication
(Common)
|
Term 1 (13
Weeks + 2 Study Weeks + 1 Week Break)
|
1. Business Environment & Strategy
2. Principles of Marketing |
1. Organizational
Development 2. Innovation and Change Management
|
1. Understanding Media
2. Principles of Communication |
Business Project Placement
|
Term 2 (13
weeks + 2 Study Weeks + 1 Week Break)
|
1. Marketing Planning & Strategy
2. Market Research 3. Marketing Communication |
1. Learning Technology Appreciation
2. Assessment Methods and Return on Learning |
1. Print and TV Journalism
2. Multimedia Journalism |
Business Project Placement
|
Term 3 (13
Weeks + 2 Study Weeks + 1 Week Break)
|
Project Management
|
Project Management
|
Project Management
|
Business Project Placement
|
Teaching Method
In keeping with
the stated objective of the curriculum, that it should prepare the learners with forward-looking skills and abilities, the teaching of Applied Humanities should, at all times, encourage learners taking the
lead on learning and teachers acting as facilitators and guides. All classes should be of a small size, and learners are to be provided with learning plans and
all learning materials beforehand. The interactions in the classroom will
presuppose learners’ prior knowledge of a given topic, and are to be constructed
around short lectures, demonstrations and learner activities, such as
presentations and debates. The assessments will be structured around continuous
assessment, based on projects that learners complete or the essays they submit
on an ongoing basis. In some papers, there may be a term end examination. Some
of the activities and papers could be peer assessed.
Teaching Materials
A combination of
textbooks and original texts will be used to cover the subjects mentioned.
Learners will be encouraged to read widely and participate in research
activities. Online journal use, multimedia assessment submissions and
collaborative work (in most cases) should be encouraged.
Project Work
The learners
will be expected to submit three major pieces of Project Work, all of which should be mandatory, should be assessed and count towards credit.
In the first
year, they would submit a movie, either a documentary or a short feature, by working as a production team and dividing the tasks between themselves, with a tutor acting as a Coach/ Guide and offering Directorial assistance.
In the second year, the same teams will be expected to work on integrated media campaigns to promote the film project in real life, exploring different channels, securing crowdfunding and distribution deals if needed.
In the second year, the same teams will be expected to work on integrated media campaigns to promote the film project in real life, exploring different channels, securing crowdfunding and distribution deals if needed.
In the third
year, the learners will be expected to complete a Business Project through
placement, outcomes for which will be pre-agreed with the employers (this will
not be an internship making tea).
The Outreach Programme
One feature of
this plan for Applied Humanities is to develop an extensive
Outreach programme alongside the undergraduate offering, using technology-based communities (facilitated, as often
as possible, by undergraduate students), offering the High School students a
humanities-based option to develop employability and leadership skills. This
will take the form of a two-year long programme of learning great texts,
developing argument and presentation skills and engaging in social work, around
a membership community, which will be maintained online and offline. This
should help spread the message of Applied Humanities around and draw brighter
students to pursue this career path.
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