Advocating arts and humanities

 

Advocating arts and humanities

Some fifteen years after gaining our degrees (and some thirty years ago), my wife and I decided to attend a sort of “reunion” organised by the university in a town local to us, to which graduates were invited in order to meet, socialise and receive updates and news from our alma mater. We had hoped to catch up with some familiar faces but in fact we were surrounded by a sea of unfamiliar and older faces, mostly from scientific, medical or legal backgrounds. Slightly disappointed, we nonetheless chatted and dined with these people with whom we shared an educational bond, though our background was in the arts (languages, philosophy and archaeology).

After our meal, a senior academic figure from the administration of the university, whom we failed to recognise as he was from the faculty of science, stood to address us. We were keen to hear how the faculty and departments we attended had fared since our departure, and to hear familiar names, both staff and students, who had perhaps risen in the teaching ranks or to prominence in other fields in the intervening period. The speaker went through a lengthy list of faculties and departments, rather dryly and in a matter-of-fact manner providing details of successes, achievements and other news-worthy items. He focused on the various science, medical and legal departments, talking with great pride and admiration, but leaving us to wonder when or even if he was going to refer to our “home” departments…

Eventually, just as we began to think he was going to forget or omit our faculty, he made mention of “arts” and our ears pricked up. However, having vaguely introduced the topic and regained our waning interest, he said pointedly “Frankly, it’s like monkeys on typewriters to me…” before very briefly and somewhat glibly informing us of the continued existence of our faculty, much to the amusement of our fellow former students. He may have provided relevant information on developments but my ears were ringing with his dismissive words and condescending tone and I failed to take on board any information he may have intimated. I was shocked at the disrespect shown by this officer of the university toward students and staff alike, but also toward a great field of endeavour, study, learning and achievement. My greatest regret concerning that evening is that we did not rise from our seats and leave in protest. The thought crossed my mind at the time and I intended calling out “We’re a couple of the monkeys” as we left, but of course I did not have the courage or the confidence to carry it out.

At our graduation, the retiring head of the French department, which I attended, delivered an inspiring speech tinged with elements of frustration and perhaps even some indignation, in which he stated quite unequivocally that the arts give purpose to all other educational pursuits and ventures, perhaps suggesting he had met, in academic circles, the attitude and mentality my wife and I came across at our reunion.

It seems to me that it is somewhat short-sighted and narrow-minded to dismiss the arts and humanities so thoughtlessly and easily. Science and fact are clearly essential to our perceptions and the development of knowledge, but they are not sufficient in themselves and they feed into a larger scheme of things – an understanding of ourselves and our world. I submit that the general purpose of the arts is to advance our knowledge of society, human nature and our place in the universe by providing an overview of our actions, motivations and objectives and as such they provide purpose and order for the rest of our educational activities which feed our desire to understand the workings of the world around us.

If an acceptable definition of art is “an attempt to convey concepts, ideas and emotions, typically through words, images or sound, in a concise and engaging manner”, then I consider art an essential contributor and tool in the dissemination of our knowledge and understanding of ourselves and our environment.

In the years since my graduation, as a teacher, YouTuber and Podcaster, I have tried to transmit not just language skills and information, but a regard and appreciation for the arts in terms of literature, cinema and theatre. We grow or develop as we encounter situations, gain experience and face feelings, and we can learn to navigate these more easily by studying and learning from the experience and reflections of others through images, literature, song, cinema and theatre.

 

My thanks for taking the time to read this article. I hope you found it of some value.

Stuart Fernie (stuartfernie@yahoo.co.uk)