humanities essay intro

16.8 Spotlight on … Humanities

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe various disciplines in the humanities.
• Evaluate employment opportunities for graduates with humanities degrees.

Although all college instructors value good writing, each area of study has its own set of criteria by which writing is judged. For instance, the loose informal style and speculative content of a reflective essay might be appropriate for an English class but inappropriate for an anthropology class in which the instructor would expect the more formal structures established in that subject area.

As a discipline, the humanities include subjects that focus on human culture and values. Some subjects are literature, languages, classics, art history, film, musicology, philosophy, religion, and often history, which sometimes is placed in the social sciences. The humanities are the foundation of liberal arts and, as such, include a wide variety of writing genres. Research reports, biographies, literary analyses, ethnographies, quantitative reports, proposals, books, journal articles, poetry, film scripts, novels, stories, technical writing, and professional documents are forms of writing particular to the humanities.

As a rule, knowledge in the humanities focuses on texts and on individual ideas, speculations, insights, and imaginative connections. Interpretation in the humanities is thus relatively subjective. Accordingly, much of the writing and research in the humanities is characterized by personal involvement, lively language, and speculative or open-ended conclusions.

The field of English includes the study of not only literature but of literary theory and history, and not only composition but creative and technical writing. In addition, English departments often include linguistics, journalism, folklore, women’s studies, cultural or ethnic studies, and film. In other words, within even one discipline, you might be asked to write several distinct types of papers: personal experience essays for a composition course, analyses for a literature course, abstracts or case studies for a linguistics course, procedural texts for a technical writing course, and short stories for a creative writing course. Consequently, any observations about the different kinds of knowledge and the differing conventions for writing about them are only generalizations. The more carefully you study any one discipline, the more complex it becomes, and the harder it is to make a generalization that does not have numerous explanations.

Careers in the Humanities

Because humanities subjects emphasize critical thinking and clear writing, the skills humanities students obtain are valued in many fields other than the most obvious ones. Humanities majors have gone on to careers in law, medicine (humanities plus pre-med), advertising, journalism, TV and film writing and production, public relations, graphic design, teaching, technical and medical/scientific writing, human resources, and many others. For more information about career opportunities for humanities students, see these sites:

• Humanities and Social Sciences Careers
• Top 10 Highest Paying Jobs for Liberal Arts Majors
• 25 Great Jobs for Humanities Majors

Students’ Stories

Despite strong interest in the humanities—especially in reading, writing, and language—some students avoid humanities subjects as majors because they think they won’t find jobs after graduation. Such fear, however, is unwarranted, as many organizations actively seek students who major in languages or in other humanities disciplines. These graduates are valued for their ability to interpret and analyze text and to write clear, concise, and compelling prose. Moreover, employers realize that students who concentrate on studying people—whether real or fictional—develop insights into human behavior and understanding of how to deal with it. For example, these students who graduated with degrees in humanities subjects have found rewarding work in humanities-related and business fields.

Gabriela Torres majored in film studies, with a minor in theater. Although more interested in the technical aspects of both, she took creative writing classes and enjoyed performing in several college productions. Soon after graduation, Gabriela joined the human resources (HR) department of midsized corporation. Her job is to train new hires and conduct in-service workshops for current employees. Recently her role has expanded to writing, producing, and acting in training videos in which she uses the skills she learned in college—and more.

Derrek Wilson became an international studies major after he received a summer stipend to study in Europe. After only a few weeks there and trips to historic sites, Derrek says he got “hooked on history.” The broad focus of his interdisciplinary major allowed him to take courses in humanities subjects: history, geography, religion, archaeology, and world literature. He had studied Spanish in high school and continued in college. Derrek graduated last year and now works as an international program coordinator for his university. Responsible for logistics of foreign students coming to the United States and for American students going abroad, he oversees housing accommodations, student visas, and travel arrangements. He loves his job and the time he gets to spend in different countries, but he plans to go to law school in a few years—with, you guessed it, a specialty in international and immigration law.

Despite his parents’ warnings that he’d never find a good job, Nick Marelli majored in English. He put his literary interests to work in college as managing editor of the literary magazine and arts editor of the newspaper. When he graduated, he applied, on a whim (and to please his parents), for a management trainee position at a large insurance company. Thinking he would get nowhere without business courses, he was surprised when a recruiter called him for an interview. The interviewer then told him that the company actively seeks English majors because they know how to read carefully, digest and summarize information, think critically, and write clearly, concisely, and correctly. Nick says, “I was surprised when I heard someone other than an English teacher say that. I really like my work, where I’m learning a lot on the spot rather than in a classroom.”

Thinking, Writing, and Publishing

Critical writing requires critical thinking. When an individual or collaborative team articulates their perspective, they provide new knowledge for audiences. In essence, all texts have potential to create new knowledge. A writer of any type of text has the potential to enter a conversation and show audiences new ways to look at a subject.

Learning how to write analytically and critically offers a skill set for crafting various genres, such as information reports, proposals, cost/benefit analyses, instructions, and so on. After you have completed your analysis for this chapter, consider submitting it to an open-access academic journal that highlights the work of undergraduate students in the humanities, such as these:

Undergraduate Journal of Humanistic Studies

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Your Guide to Writing a Humanity Essay

Humanity is showing compassion and kindness to others. Writing a humanity essay involves analyzing various aspects of humanity in detail. This article gives you a guide on how to write a humanity essay.

Humanity essay examines the traits, beliefs, relationships, and experiences of people. It focuses on what it is to be human, as well as the struggles, victories, and bonds we make. The human experience is vast and complex, and writing a humanity essay paper allows you to explore this whether your assignment is to write on historical events, personal experiences, philosophical ideas, or societal issues.

How to write a humanity essay

Below is how you write a humanity essay:

• Choose a topic

Humanity is a broad subject thus you should narrow it down to one of its subtopics. For instance, on a topic like war, you can narrow down to the causes and effects of a war. You should choose a topic that you are interested in and compose a good essay about it.

• Write an essay outline

After choosing the topic, you should conduct in-depth research and write the information from the research in an essay outline. You should properly structure your essay outline where you note down the key points of every section of the essay. This includes the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Once you start writing your humanity essay, you should use the essay outline as the point of reference.

• Write the introduction

You should begin the introduction with a hook to grab the reader’s attention. This could be an interesting fact about your topic or a rhetorical question. Give background information on the topic and state its relevance. Write a strong thesis statement describing the essay’s main idea. For a better understanding of how to write the introduction, you should research various humanities essay introduction examples.

• Write the body

The body describes the essay’s theme in depth. You should write well-structured paragraphs with a topic sentence that introduces the paragraph’s key point. Then write middle sentences giving fact-based information or examples of the paragraph’s key point. You should also give your interpretation. Complete the paragraphs with a concluding sentence.

Each paragraph should have a unique key point and if two paragraphs are about the same point use proper transition words such as ‘in addition’, ‘however’, or ‘moreover’. When writing the paragraphs, you should explore the essay’s theme giving your analysis and backing it with factual information or statistics. Always cite all the sources you researched your essay from using the instructed writing format.

• Write the conclusion

The conclusion is a summary of the humanity essay thus you should not bring new information to it. You should summarize the essay’s key point. Rephrase the thesis statement and state its significance. Complete the conclusion with a closing statement or a call to action.

Using the steps above, you will be able to compose a good humanity essay. You can structure your humanity essay into a 5-paragraph essay . Research various humanities essay examples to properly comprehend the humanities essay structure.

What kind of essays do humanities use

Below are the various kinds of essays that humanities use:

• Analytical essays

Analytical essays dissect a complicated subject into its constituent parts and examine the connections, importance, and ramifications of each. Critical thinking and making connections between various aspects are prerequisites for these writings.

• Expository Essays

Expository essays give in-depth explanations of a concept on a topic. These essays offer a thorough and impartial investigation of the topic, frequently with the use of illustrations, proof, and understandable explanations.

• Comparative essays

A comparative essay entails comparing and analyzing two or more concepts, books, artworks, and historical events. These essays draw attention to the similarities and differences between the concepts being compared as well as a thorough comprehension of each.

• Literary Analysis Essays

Literary analysis essays analyze and interpret literary works, including plays, novels, and poetry. The topics, characters, symbolism, storytelling devices, and historical background of the work are all explored in depth in these studies.

• Argumentative essay

Argumentative essays provide a coherent argument and back it up with facts, logic, and refutations. These essays require the writer to take a stance on a certain subject and defend their argument throughout the essay.

Importance of humanities in our lives

Below is the importance of studying humanities and the importance of humanities in our lives:

• Promoting cultural understanding and empathy

People can immerse themselves in many cultures and historical eras through the study of the humanities. This exposure develops empathy and promotes a culture that is more understanding and aware of the world around them by enabling children to recognize the challenges, victories, and distinctive viewpoints of others.

• Investigating the state of humanity

The humanities investigate the fundamental aspects of life on Earth, including feelings, goals, worldviews, and social structures. Students learn to struggle with age-old concerns about life, morality, and purpose as well as gain knowledge about the intricacies of human nature via the analysis of literature and philosophy.

• Developing analytical and problem-solving skills

Education in the humanities fosters critical thinking, the assessment of opposing points of view, and the methodical solution to challenging issues. Students can challenge presumptions, take into account different viewpoints, and make well-informed decisions by delving into complex texts, artwork, and historical settings.

• Improving expression and communication

Good education is characterized by effective communication. Humanities studies improve one’s ability to write, speak, and read critically, allowing one to express ideas nuancedly, convincingly, and clearly.

• Cultural heritage preservation

Humanities subjects like literature and art conservation guarantee that human civilization is preserved for coming generations. Societies can comprehend the development of human expression and preserve a close relationship to their historical heritage by studying ancient writings, artifacts, and creative works.

Using the key points above you can compose an importance of humanities in our lives essay and the importance of studying humanities essay.

Tips for writing a humanity essay

• Write an outline

Before you start writing your essay, you should write an outline. Writing an outline helps to properly plan and organize your ideas for the essay. In the outline, you should write the key points of the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Once you begin writing the essay, use the outline as a guide.

• Come up with a strong thesis statement

The thesis statement describes the main purpose of the essay. It should be able to show the reader what your essay entails. For an argumentative essay, the thesis statement should be your stance in the argument while for an expository essay, the thesis statement should be the essay’s key idea.

• Use the correct structure

When writing your essay, you should use the correct humanities essay structure. This ensures there is a flow of information throughout your essay. You should start with the introduction describing what your essay will entail, write the body paragraphs that describe the theme of the essay in-depth, and complete with a conclusion which is a summary of the whole essay.

• Use proper transition words

When transitioning from one paragraph to the next, you should use proper transition words. You should always have a unique idea for each paragraph and if one paragraph has the same idea as the next you should use proper transition words. Examples of transition words include ‘additionally’, ‘therefore’, or ‘however’. Using transition words provides a consistent flow of information throughout your essay.

• Cite all the sources

When writing humanities essays, you conduct research from different academic sources such as books, articles, journals, or internet blogs. You should properly cite all the sources used in your essay. When citing the sources, you should use the writing format instructed to use in your essay.

• Follow all the instructions

When writing your essay, you should follow all the given instructions. This includes the word count and the writing format. You should avoid plagiarism and write an original paper. Plagiarized essays can be easily detected and you can get harsh academic repercussions for that.

• Proofread the essay

You should proofread the humanity essay severally to omit any mistakes. Proofreading also helps you to check if your work is properly organized. In addition, you can also run your essay on Grammarly to remove any missed mistakes.

Humanities topics ideas

Below are the humanities topics for the essay:

• Importance of human rights
• Social changes in third-world countries
• Causes of interstate conflicts
• Eradication of worldwide poverty
• Importance of preservation of historical facts
• Ethical issues in the society
• Ways to fight corruption in developed countries
• Benefits and disadvantages of early marriages
• The role of the judicial system
• Effects of racism

The above are a few humanities research paper topics you can use for your humanities papers. When choosing a topic, you should choose a topic that you are interested in and can write a good essay about it.

Writing a humanity essay requires you to choose a topic, do research, and compose a well-structured essay. This article gives you a guide on how to write a humanity essay. If you need help with your humanity essay, we provide professional help with essays .

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Professor Celia A. Easton Department of English State University of New York College at Geneseo  

Read a successful essay on Thucydides written by a student in my Fall 1999 section of Humanities 220.

Conventions of Writing Papers in Humanities

approximately one inch margins on all sides page numbers in the upper right hand corner of each page (you may do this by hand; do not number page one) your name, the course number, your professor's name, and the date typed in the upper right hand corner of the first page of your paper (no cover sheet). one staple or paper clip to hold the pages together (no report covers) a final page (which should be numbered but does not count in your total pages) headed with the title "Works Cited."  Do not put that phrase in quotation marks.  List all books you have cited, even if there is only one book in your list. no footnotes or endnotes, unless they are explanatory (all citations will be parenthetically noted in your text).

Fielding satirizes the hypocritical intellectualism of the clergy through the utterances of Parson Barnabas in Joseph Andrews .  Pushed for an explanation of spiritual requirements by Joseph, who believes he will die shortly, Barnabas defines by tautology: "Joseph desired to know what [Christian] forgiveness was.  'That is,' answered Barnabas, 'to forgive them as -- as -- it is to forgive them as -- in short, it is to forgive them as a Christian'" (Fielding, 49).  Exhausted by his physical condition, Joseph abandons his spiritual quest. Fielding implies that Barnabas' healthy parishioners are regularly exhausted by their spiritual leader's obfuscated doctrine.

Pantheon, 1985.

Heights: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1982.

Mifflin, 1960.

Literary History 10 (1979): 557-580.

in Europe from Prehistory to the Present .  Vol. 1.  New York: Harper and Row, 1989.  2 vols.

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Humanities essays

What are the humanities.

The humanities refer to subjects that study people, their ideas, history, and literature. To put that another way, the humanities are those branches of learning regarding primarily as having a cultural character.

For example, one of the UK’s academic funding bodies, the Arts & Humanities Research Board or AHRB, tends to concentrate on the following sorts of subjects: Classics, Visual Arts and Media, Modern Languages, Music and Performing Arts, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Medieval and Modern History.

Key features – primary & secondary texts

In the majority of these subjects you begin with a primary text – e.g. a play or a film or a set of historical events. You are expected to show good knowledge of the primary text and to mount a discussion of it – or of aspects of it – that is located within current critical debate about it. You are expected to use your own judgement about other people’s judgements of the primary text.

Key features – logical argument

Readers of your essay will look for an argument that is clearly expressed in a logical order. They will not expect your essay to follow a specific set structure. For example, an English Literature essay might start with a plot summary of the work being discussed, a quote from the work or a quote from critical writing on the work. The important thing is to use your starting point to say clearly what you are going to write about and why; and to make the rest of your discussion flow naturally from it

Key features – balanced discussion

This is probably the one feature that distinguishes humanities essays from other sorts of writing. This does not mean that scientific papers or social science essays aren’t balanced discussions: it means that a humanities essay is more likely to have review various opinions and interpretations.

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How to Write a Humanities Essay

The Uni Tutor is very much aware of the challenges that students need to bear while learning how to write a humanities essay. Humanities essay uses a lot of topics. Other topic associated to humanity may include philosophy, literature, world history, sociology, news, education, international studies and more. Our essay writing service in UK will not just aid you in picking a subject for the paper, but we will also help you in giving your lecturers with different sources, originality, and analysis and in submitting the paper with a precise and lucid conclusion.  Getting to enough know how on how to write a humanities essay recommend the use of solid skills & expertise too. With our affordable essay writing service in UK, pupils can work on full pledged study & eagerness along with devoutness.

When you chose a subject that captures your interest, the humanities essay will have an attention from the readers. The Uni Tutor assignment writers will be the one to work on the paper according to your specifications, structure requirement and it will be crafted with a good humanities paper. To structure the essay accordingly, you must split the subject into different parts like the headings & sub-headings, but there must be a logical & comprehensible approach. The paper must be interlinked, neglecting inconsistent details & broken thoughts or concepts.

Writing the paper

  A humanities essay must start with an introduction where you will indicate the subject. In the introduction, you must be able to describe the subject that will be measured in the description part of the essay. Every description should be carefully justified, with quotes, ideas, concepts taken from different sources. While you are seeking for ways to find out how to write a humanities essay, our team of experts will help you by validating argumentative thoughts to be able to make your essay one of a kind and eye catching at the same time.

It is important that every paragraph in the body has 1 primary idea. The Uni Tutor give academic support and guide for pupils who need a hand while working on persuasive paragraphs of an essay, this will make sure that the paper will be filled with consistent and comprehensible content. Keep in mind that this part gives sustaining material to justify the paper. The paragraphs are interconnected, so that the accuracy of the paper is kept.

The conclusion must be very enticing. It must conform to the statement of the paper in a logical manner by simply using some resources. When you buy The Uni Tutor UK essay writing service, we highly guarantee that you will get the value for your money. You will also learn how to become a good writer of humanities essay according to the writing style set by the lecturers nowadays like the Chicago, Harvard & APA. W have writers that are MSc & PhDs in different aspects of Humanities, so they are very much qualified to compose your paper.

The Uni Tutor offer affordable paper in the UK, which is especially made to aid the pupils in proofreading the essay to recheck for any plagiarized content, and to also be sure that the conclusion will adhere to your paper. The student who has learned the ways to compose an essay in humanities must always keep in mind that there must be cited pages of the essay.

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Intro to Humanities Essay

GED120 Intro to Humanities Unit 1 writing assignment Question #1: Define classical humanism and illustrate by discussing the construction and decoration of the buildings of the Athenian acropolis. In your answer, refer specifically to the classical orders and the Parthenon’s sculptural decoration. Humanism is a way of life that revolves around the interests of people. It stresses human worth and building up self-realization. Humanism was developed in Greece and Rome, and is generally due to philosophy and current literary works during 1400-1650. It is termed "Classical Humanism" because it was born during that time period. Classical Humanism had an impact during the Renaissance Era. An example of classical humanism is reflected …show more content…

It also gave some indication of the wealth and prosperity of the monastery and, inside, would probably commemorate patrons who provided sustained support to the community. The most precious human remains in a monastic church were the relics of saints preserved in shrines behind the high altar. The Church became a center for learning, with the monks becoming cultural carriers transmitting the written treasures of the past by preserving and copying ancient texts. An example of this would be Hrotsvit. Hrotsvit wrote books about Christian legends and wrote Roman dramas with an Christian spin to it. Often, the only literate members of society were the monks/priest. It was the monks who made and transmitted written copies of the Bible and other ancient works from generation to generation. They organized some of the first libraries. They conducted scientific and other research to benefit the surrounding communities. They were expert farmers who were able to pass on the benefits of their expertise to peasants on the large manors. Monasticism has played a vital role in the creation, preservation, and transmission of culture. This is especially true of the Christian Monasticism during the Middle Ages. References: http://www.monasticpaideia.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastic_school Adventures in the Human Spirit, Philip Bishop GED120 Intro to Humanities Unit 3 writing assignment Question #2:

Essay Middle Ages & Renaissance Study Guide (Unit 2)

2.  What is humanism? Period characterized by a new optimism, that began in 14th century Italy and spread throughout western Europe during the Renaissance

Humanism In The Renaissance

Arguably the greatest and longest impacting movement brought about by the forward thinkers of the Renaissance was humanism. Humanism was a cultural and intellectual movement that emphasized the human potential to attain excellence through direct study of the literature, art, and civilization of the classical Greek and Roman societies (Merriam-Webster). The scholars and believers in humanism sought to change the course of society away from the narrow pedantry of medieval scholasticism and utilitarianism. Humanism was a basic desire for every citizen to be able to speak with eloquence and read and write with clarity, so that common citizens were capable of engaging in the civic life of their communities (Gray). The movement also emphasized the value of a human being as well as the importance of rational thought rather than blind faith in spiritualism or superstition. It also pushed people to explore human desires and pleasures while also enriching their minds. The influential nature of humanism was far reaching and most notable for its effects on Renaissance art, literature, and philosophy.

Greek Humanism Research Paper

The aspects of this philosophy/belief that is seen within our world today is the definition of beauty and what is considered beautiful. Humanism is used in a number of real life experiences as well. The society today labels beauty by having the perfect complexion, the perfect skin, height, weight and smile. According to Humanism, Physical

Ap Euro Dbq Essay On The Renaissance

It focuses on human beings, their values, abilities, and individual worth, and human society as something valuable that could be improved. Renaissance humanism challenged the worldview of the Middle Ages. Humanism led to new attitudes towards art, philosophy, and government. P.336 - P.344 (Document D)

The New Ways Of Thinking Influenced The Renaissance

Humanism is derived from the movement that happened from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. The start point of Humanism is in Italy. It is an important development during the Renaissance. Because of the terrible Black Death in 14th century. The population of Europeans decreased extremely. A lot of people died of the Black Death. At the beginning of that time, people thought the Black Death is God’s punishment for living life in sin. People went to Church and hope the forgiveness of God. However, the wide spread of the Black Death didn’t stop. The dead body forced the people started finding the other new way. Instead of believing in God, people started to think about science. The scientists did the research and treated the Black Death by more scientific way. People started thinking about the man himself and explored natural environment by more scientific method. The new ways of thinking influenced the development of Humanism in art during the Renaissance. The Renaissance artworks are about the re-discovery of ancient Greek and Roman artworks and their way of life. Humanists rejected the religion concept and not believe in the supernaturalism. They tried to discover the natural creatures and destiny of man. Artists learned the human beauty from the ancient Greek and Roman artworks and architectures. They began to find out more ideas about the human experience, personal independence and social community. They brought the Humanism ideas into their artworks.

Comparing the Secular Humanist, Machiavelli and the Religious Humanist, Erasmus

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary gives several definitions for humanism, a word which made its appearance in 1832. The first is "a devotion to the humanities or the revival of class, individualistic and critical spirit, and emphasis on secular concerns characteristic of the Renaissance." Renaissance is capitalized. Another definition reads as follows: "a doctrine, attitude, or

The Greeks, Non Greeks And Expressions Of Humanism

Throughout history, the concept of humanism has changed and in a way evolved over the years. Many believe that humanism began with the early Greek civilizations, but there are many instances of non-Greek expressions of humanism. From Hammurabi’s Code in Mesopotamia, to the Romans art and sculptures, and lastly the way the Egyptians viewed their Pharaoh’s as leaders with supreme importance.

Week 5 Quiz Humanities Essay

| This quiz consist of 40 multiple choice questions. The first 10 questions cover the material in Chapter 4. The second 10 questions cover the material in Chapter 5. The third 10 questions cover the material in Chapter 6. The last 10 questions cover the material in Chapter 8. Be sure you are in the correct Chapter when you take the quiz.

Humn 303 Introduction to Humanities Entire Course Essay

This week, we have looked at several works of art that utilized allegorical themes. One of the most common uses of imagery in the medieval and Renaissance periods is allegory. What is an allegory? Describe how at least one of the examples of art in this week’s lecture or one of this week’s readings is allegorical in nature. Why, in your opinion, was allegory so prevalent during these periods? Is it still important in contemporary literature? Why or why not?

AP European History Chapter Breakdown

Humanism- The scholarly study of the latin and greek classics, both for its own sake and in the hope of reviving respected ancient norms and values

Medieval Monasticism

The Monastery played a role in supplying priests for the Churches since the monasteries were also theological seminaries for those who wanted to join the priesthood. The medieval monasteries thought priests how to live a holy Christian life and the necessity of purity and humility. The monks were the ones who used to save the church especially when problems arose between the priests and the congregation. . It was also an institution of scrutiny and correction of oneself. The main reason for this was because the monks were highly trusted by the people and people expected them to be like God. Confession of one’s wrongdoing was usually made on a daily basis during prayer time. Monasticism had a positive impact from the political, social, educational and religious point of

Secular Humanism Essay

4, pp. 69 ff.), "Humanism recognizes the value and dignity of man and makes him the measure of all things or somehow takes human nature, its limits, or its interests as its theme."

The Renaissance Individualism And The Development Of Renaissance Humanism

The individual’s role in society dramatically changed following the introduction of humanism. The idea that was depicted is still heavily important today and still holds strong within society. Humanism brought forward the thought that everyone is important and the concept of individuality. Humanism created the notion that instead of being part of a whole, everyone is unique. Before this introduction, most just thought about their actions and what consequences it had in the afterlife; Whether that be going to heaven or hell. Following the emergence of humanism, people started to think more about the present, encouraging education in humanity, the study of literature and enhancement of art – all this expanded an individual’s outlook on life and in turn allowed for the development of personal success.

Humanism Essay

Encarta Dictionary says that Humanism is a system of thought that centers on human beings and their values, capacities and worth. Encarta also goes on the say that, in philosophy, humanism is an attitude that emphasizes the dignity and worth of an individual. A basic premise of humanism is that people are rational beings who possess within themselves the capacity for truth and goodness. I see myself as a being a humanist through everyday life. I always try to see the good in a person when he/she makes me angry or sad, and say I to myself that maybe that person has had a bad day and living life is difficult at the moment. Socrates was even an early humanist of sorts. He can be quoted as saying, "to know the good is to do the

The Importance Of Humanism

Humanism is a belief that human needs and values are more important than religious beliefs, or the needs and desires of humans. What it means is that your needs and values are more important than any religious belief. For example as stated in document 4,”Gutenberg began work on a printed Bible, known as the Gutenberg Bible or the Forty-two Line Bible (from the number of lines on a page), which was completed in 1455 and is the world's first printed book”. Now what Gutenberg is doing is making his own version of the Bible which is printed. Not only was it a printed version of the Bible it was the world's first ever printed book. After it came out by 1500 there were printing firms in sixty German towns, and Venice alone had 150 presses. I guess this is humanist because it's like he made his own version of the bible when not everyone was able to read at the time. So at that time in history not everyone there will get a sense of what the bible was all about. On the plus side after the first printed bible came out there we're printer firms in some locations and some presses. Also after the first printed bible more printed books were coming out before the first printed book the largest libraries contained as many as six hundred books. The total number of books in Europe was well under six hundred books,and the total number of books in Europe was well under one hundred thousand books. Then after forty-five years since the first printed book the total number of printed books have

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UCI Humanities Core

Winter: Essay Assignment 3

Visual analysis of a worldbuilding artwork by a contemporary african american artist.

Downloadable Essay Rubric

Select a work of art by Sanford Biggers, Titus Kaphar, or Carrie Mae Weems using the online resources linked below. Conduct a close visual analysis of the artwork and consult relevant scholarly secondary sources about the artist’s practice and larger oeuvre. Construct an interpretive thesis about the meaning represented by the artwork and provide specific evidence from your close visual analysis and secondary sources in support of your argument. As you develop your ideas and claims, consider the following questions: How do the materiality, composition, and iconography of this artwork create meaning? If the artwork is part of a series, in what way does it relate to the project of the larger whole? Does the artwork remake an earlier object or reimagine a preexisting genre? If so, how and why? In what specific ways does the work of art engage with history and politics? How does the artwork negotiate with the representation and/or lived experiences of Black people? What way of seeing the world does this artwork create?

Your final paper will be between 5–6 pages in length and will be worth 40% of your writing grade.

Learning Goals

• Make specific, complex, arguable claims
• Produce unified, cohesive body paragraphs that contain arguable topic sentences, well-selected and properly-integrated evidence from visual objects and scholarly reference sources, and rhetorically-effective introduction, conclusion, and transitions between ideas
• Adopt the appropriate stance, style, and genre conventions of visual and art historical analysis
• Begin to evaluate scholarly claims, identify scholarly conversations, and integrate secondary source material in writing
• Practice process-oriented writing and learn flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading drafts while also reflecting on the process of writing itself

Required Reading

Before you begin brainstorming for this assignment, make sure you have read the following:

Cooks, Bridget. “What’s Wrong with Museums? African American Artists Review Art History.” Humanities Core Handbook: Worldbuilding 2023–2024 , XanEdu, 2023, pp. 154–67.

Beauchamp, Tamara. “Visual Analysis and Close Looking.” Humanities Core Handbook: Worldbuilding 2023–2024 , XanEdu, 2023, pp. 168–182.

Primary Sources

Sanford Biggers

Sanford Biggers: Work (Note: If this site does not load in your browser, you can view the archived version on Internet Archive . Additional information about specific works can be found in the Checklist in Anderson and Betta’s Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch , pp. 167–9 [ PDF ])

Codeswitch exhibition website from the Rivers Institute

Marianne Boesky Gallery

Titus Kaphar

Kaphar Studio: Work (Note: This site works best on desktop browsers and in a wide browser window.)

Roberts Projects

Gagosian Gallery

Carrie Mae Weems

Carrie Mae Weems: Bodies of Work

Museum of Modern Art

Getty Museum

The Hampton Project at the Williams College Museum of Art

Fraenkel Gallery

The Whitney Museum of American Art

Reference Resources, Scholarly Secondary Sources, and Exhibition Catalogues

UCI Libraries has compiled a guide to resources on African American Art and History specifically for this assignment. For more information on using library resources, review the Humanities Core Library Introduction Tutorial .

The following materials are available online or are in the Course Reserve at UCI Langson Library for two hours at a time. To check out any material on Course Reserve, read the Reserves policy and then visit the Check Out desk at Langson Library .

Andersson, Andrea, and Antonio Sergio Bessa. Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch . The Bronx Museum of the Arts, 2020. [ PDF of excerpts available on Canvas ]

Bernier, Celeste-Marie. Stick to the Skin: African American and Black British Art, 1965-2015 . University of California Press, 2018. [ On reserve at Langson Library N6538.N5 B475 2018 ]

Bey, Dawoud, and Carrie Mae Weems. Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: in Dialogue . Delmonico, 2022. [ On reserve at Langson Library TR645.G73 D39 2022 ]

Biggers, Sanford and Miki Garcia. Sanford Biggers: Moon Medicine . Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, 2010. [ On reserve at Langson Library N6537.B5225 A4 2010 ]

Catlett, Elizabeth, et al. Stargazers: Elizabeth Catlett in Conversation with Sanford Biggers, Carrie Mae Weems, et al. Bronx Museum of the Arts, 2010. [ On reserve at Langson Library N6537.C38 A4 2010 ]

Cooks, Bridget R. Exhibiting Blackness: African Americans and the American Art Museum . University of Massachusetts Press, 2011. [ On reserve at Langson Library N510.C67 2011 ]

Cooks, Bridget R. “Intricate Illusion.” Titus Kaphar: Classical Disruption . Friedman Benda, 2011, pp. 5-40. [ PDF ]

Cooks, Bridget R., and Sarah Watson, editors. The Black Index . Hunter College Art Galleries, 2021. [ On reserve at Langson Library N8217.B535 B53 2021 ]

Delmez, Kathryn E. Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and Video . Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 2012. [ On reserve at Langson Library TR647.W383 2012 ]

English, Darby, et al. Among Others: Blackness at MoMA . The Museum of Modern Art, 2019. [ On reserve at Langson Library N8232.E55 2019 ]

Feldman, Zeena, editor. Art and the Politics of Visibility: Contesting the Global, Local and the in-Between . I.B. Tauris, 2017. [ Online and on reserve at Langson Library NX180.S6 A78 2017 ]

Jacob, Mary Jane. Carrie Mae Weems . Fabric Workshop/Museum, 1994. [ On reserve at Langson Library N6537.W344 A4 1994 ]

Kaphar, Titus. “A Fight for Remembrance.” The Georgia Review , vol. 69, no. 2, 2015, pp. 199–208. JSTOR , http://www.jstor.org/stable/44077632 .

Kaphar, Titus, and Jason Stanley. “Titus Kaphar.” BOMB , no. 147, 2019, pp. 81–88. JSTOR , https://www.jstor.org/stable/26876294 .

Lewis, Sarah Elizabeth, editor. Carrie Mae Weems . The MIT Press, 2020. [ On reserve at Langson Library TR187.C375 2020 ]

Lewis, Sarah Elizabeth. “The Insistent Reveal: Louis Agassiz, Joseph T. Zealy, Carrie Mae Weems, and the Politics of Undress in the Photography of Racial Science.” To Make Their Own Way in the World: The Enduring Legacy of the Zealy Daguerreotypes , edited by Ilisa Barbash, et al., Aperture, 2020, pp. 297-328 [ PDF ]

Millstein, Barbara Head. Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers . Brooklyn Museum of Art in association with Merrell, 2001. [ On reserve at Langson Library TR645.N532 B7 2001 ]

Patterson, Vivian, et al. Carrie Mae Weems: The Hampton Project . Aperture, 2000. [ On reserve at Langson Library TR647.W54 2000 ]

Rothenberg, Ellen and Carrie Mae Weems. Telling Histories: Installations by Ellen Rothenberg and Carrie Mae Weems . University of Washington Press, 1999. [ On reserve at Langson Library N6537.A6284 A4 1999 ]

Weems, Carrie Mae. And 22 Million Very Tired and Very Angry People . Walter/McBean Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, 1992. [ On reserve at Langson Library TR647.W375 1992 ]

Weems, Carrie Mae. Constructing History: A Requiem to Mark the Moment . Savannah College of Art and Design, 2008. [ On reserve at Langson Library TR647.W443 2008 ]

Weems, Carrie Mae, et al. Carrie Mae Weems: The Louisiana Project . Newcomb Art Gallery, 2004. [ On reserve at Langson Library TR645.W54 W384 2004 ]

Weems, Carrie Mae. Then What? Photographs and Folklore . CEPA Gallery, 1990. [ On reserve at Langson Library TR647.W415 1990 ]

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Essay on Humanity

500 words essay on humanity.

When we say humanity, we can look at it from a lot of different perspectives. One of the most common ways of understanding is that it is a value of kindness and compassion towards other beings. If you look back at history, you will find many acts of cruelty by humans but at the same time, there are also numerous acts of humanity. An essay on humanity will take us through its meaning and importance.

Importance of Humanity

As humans are progressing as a human race into the future, the true essence of humanity is being corrupted slowly. It is essential to remember that the acts of humanity must not have any kind of personal gain behind them like fame, money or power.

The world we live in today is divided by borders but the reach we can have is limitless. We are lucky enough to have the freedom to travel anywhere and experience anything we wish for. A lot of nations fight constantly to acquire land which results in the loss of many innocent lives.

Similarly, other humanitarian crisis like the ones in Yemen, Syria, Myanmar and more costs the lives of more than millions of people. The situation is not resolving anytime soon, thus we need humanity for this.

Most importantly, humanity does not just limit to humans but also caring for the environment and every living being. We must all come together to show true humanity and help out other humans, animals and our environment to heal and prosper.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

The Great Humanitarians

There are many great humanitarians who live among us and also in history. To name a few, we had Mother Teresa , Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Princess Diana and more. These are just a few of the names which almost everyone knows.

Mother Teresa was a woman who devoted her entire life to serving the poor and needy from a nation. Rabindranath Tagore was an Indian poet who truly believed in humanity and considered it his true religion.

Similarly, Nelson Mandela was a great humanitarian who worked all his life for those in needs. He never discriminated against any person on the basis of colour, sex, creed or anything.

Further, Mahatma Gandhi serves as a great example of devoting his life to free his country and serve his fellow countrymen. He died serving the country and working for the betterment of his nation. Thus, we must all take inspiration from such great people.

The acts and ways of these great humanitarians serve as a great example for us now to do better in our life. We must all indulge in acts of giving back and coming to help those in need. All in all, humanity arises from selfless acts of compassion.

Conclusion of the Essay on Humanity

As technology and capitalism are evolving at a faster rate in this era, we must all spread humanity wherever possible. When we start practising humanity, we can tackle many big problems like global warming, pollution , extinction of animals and more.

FAQ of Essay on Humanity

Question 1: What is the importance of humanity?

Answer 1: Humanity refers to caring for and helping others whenever and wherever possible. It means helping others at times when they need that help the most. It is important as it helps us forget our selfish interests at times when others need our help.

Question 2: How do we show humanity?

Answer 2: All of us are capable of showing humanity. It can be through acknowledging that human beings are equal, regardless of gender, sex, skin colour or anything. We must all model genuine empathy and show gratitude to each other and express respect and humility.

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Intro to Humanities essay

With the foundation laid by Descartes, Galileo, Copernicus, the emergence of modern science and the scientific method, the Enlightenment saw a new approach to human experience and understanding. A wave of change swept across European thinking, exemplified by the natural philosophy and scientific discoveries of Isaac Newton. Enlightenment rationalists realized the changing world in which they lived and saw better than most the effects of the Industrial Revolution.

They also realized the erosion of religious faith and the many evils it sought to overthrow in exchange for science and reason, and began to reject the artifice of cultural and institutional constructs such as education and labor. These themes became prominent in the work of such others like William Blake and William Wordsworth, as they observed the natural world and humanity’s place within it, exploring and emphasizing an understanding of nature as a key to positive human progress and knowledge.

This new faith of Blake’s in the natural goodness of humans contradicts the concept of the fall of Man, espousing that the evils of modern culture is a mode of psychic disintegration and of resultant alienation from oneself, one’s world, and one’s fellow human beings (Abrams 39). To Blake, like later poets of the Romantic age such as Wordsworth, the only hope of recovery for humanity rested in reintegration into the social and natural worlds.

Often credited with officially ushering in the Romantic era, William Wordsworth lamented that poetry spanning John Dryden to Alexander Pope consisted of scarcely an image from external nature: “from which it can be inferred that the eye of the poet had been steadily fixed on his object” (9). Wordsworth searches for moral, spiritual, and emotional value in the natural world, instead of tradition.

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In “The Preface to Lyrical Ballads” in 1798, Wordsworth wrote that “I have endeavoured at all times to look steadily at my subject” (9), hoping to capture the sensuous nuance of natural phenomena that the reasonable eye of the Enlightenment poet missed. Like Blake before him, Wordsworth asserts that faith in many traditional beliefs pale when compared to faith in the truths of Nature.

With the revolutions in America and France, Napoleon’s ascension to power, and the growth of the common man as a political force, the end of the Romantic era would soon usher in the modern world that is known today.

Works Cited:

Abrams, M. H. “William Wordsworth: 1770-1850. ” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Abrams, M. H. 7th Ed. Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.

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1.8: An Introduction to the Arts and Humanities

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For centuries, scholars, philosophers, and aestheticians have debated over a definition of "art." The challenging range of arguments encompasses, among other considerations, opposing points of view that insist on one hand that "art" must meet a criterion of functionality-that is, be of some societal use-and, on the other hand, that "art" exists for its own sake. In this text, we survey rather than dispute. Thus, in these pages, we will not solve the dilemma of art's definition. For example, we might define "art" as one person's interpretation of reality manifested in a particular medium and shared with others. Such a definition, while agreeable to some, finds objection from others for various reasons, among which is the fact that it is completely open­ ended and does not speak to quality. It allows anything to qualify as "art" from the simplest expression of art brut, naive art, or "outsider art" such as drawings by children or psychotics to the most profound masterpiece. Such are the tantalizing possibilities for disagreement when we try to define art. We can however examine some characteristics of the arts that enhance our understanding.

Art has always had, a profound effect on the quality of human life, as the pages of this reading will help us to understand. Its study requires seriousness of purpose. But, we must not confuse seriousness of purpose in the study of art with putting works of art on a pedestal. Some art is serious, some art is profound, and some art is highly sacred. However, some art is light, some humorous, and some downright silly, superficial, and self-serving for the artists. But eventually, we will desire to make judgments and once again the text will help sort out the details.

THE ARTS AND WAYS OF KNOWING

We humans are creative species. Whether in science, politics, business, technology, or the arts, we depend upon our creativity almost as much as anything else to meet the demands of daily life. Any study of the arts comprises a story about us; our perceptions of the world as we have come to see and respond to it and the ways we have communicated our understandings to each other since the Ice Age, more than 15,000 years ago.

Photography of Lascaux animal painting from Wikimedia Commons by Prof saxx . Public domain

We have learned a great deal about our world and how it functions since the human species began and we have changed our patterns of existence. However, the fundamental characteristic that makes us human -that is, our ability to intuit and to symbolize- have not changed. Art, the major remaining evidence we have of our earliest times, reflects these unchanged human characteristics in inescapable terms and helps us to understand the beliefs of culture including our own and to express the universal qualities of being human.

Visual art, architecture, music, theatre, dance, literature, and cinema, among other artforms, belong in a broad category of pursuit called the "Humanities." The terms arts and humanities fit together as a piece to a whole. The “Humanities” as a discipline constitutes a larger whole into which the arts fit as one piece. So, when we use the term Humanities, we automatically include the arts. When we use the term arts, we restrict our focus. The arts disciplines- the visual arts, the performing arts, and architecture (including landscape architecture)- typically arrange sound, color, form, movement, and/or other elements in a manner that affects our sense of beauty in a graphic or plastic (capable of being shaped) medium. The humanities include the arts but also include disciplines such as philosophy, literature, and sometimes, history, which comprise branches of knowledge that share a concern with humans and their cultures. We begin our discussion with a look at the humanities.

The Humanities-as opposed to the sciences, for example- can very broadly be defined as those aspects of culture that look into what it means to be human. The sciences seek essentially to describe reality whereas the humanities seek to express humankind's sub­ jective experiences of reality, to interpret reality, to transform our interior experience into tangible forms, and to comment upon reality, to judge and evaluate. But despite our desire to categorize, few clear boundaries exist between the humanities and the sciences. The basic difference lies in the approach that separates investigation of the natural universe, technology, and social science from the search for truth about the universe undertaken by artists.

Within the educational system, the humanities traditionally have included the fine arts (painting, sculpture, architecture, music, theatre, dance, and cinema), literature, philosophy, and, sometimes, history. These subjects orient toward exploring humanness, what human beings think and feel, what motivates their actions and shapes their thoughts. Many answers lie in the millions of artworks all around the globe, from the earliest sculpted fertility figures to the video and cyber art of today. These artifacts and images comprise expressions of the humanities, not merely illustrations of past or present ways of life.

In addition, change in the arts differs from change in the sciences, for example, in one significant way: New scientific discovery and technology usually displace the old, but new art does not invalidate earlier human expression. Obviously, not all artistic approaches survive, but the art of Picasso cannot make the art of Rembrandt a curiosity of history the way that the theories of Einstein did the views of William Paley. Nonetheless, much about art has changed over the centuries. Using a spectrum developed by Susan Lacy in Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art (1994), we learn that at one time an artist may be an experiencer , at another, a reporter , at another, an analyst ; and at still another time, an activist . Further, the nature of how art historians see art has changed over the centuries summit- for example, today, we do not use an artist’s biography to justify all of the motivation for his or her work- and we now include works of art from previously marginalized groups such as women and minorities. These shifts in the disciplines of the arts suggest important considerations as we begin to understand the nature of art.

Most importantly, we can approach works of art with the same subtleties we normally apply to human relationships. We know that we cannot simply categorize people as "good " or "bad," as "friends," "acquaintances," or "enemies." We relate to other people in complex ways. Some friendships remain pleasant but superficial, some people are easy to work with, and others become lifelong companions. Also, making a good friend takes time and repeated meetings and shared activities. This is also true of making friends with a painting, or a sculpture or, a ballet. So, when we have gone beyond textbook categories and learned how to approach art with this sort of openness and sensitivity, we find that art, like friendship, has a major place in the growth and quality of life.

THE CONCERNS OF ART

Among other concerns, art has typically con­cerned creativity, aesthetic communication, symbols, and the fine and applied arts. Let's look briefly at each of these.

Art has always evidenced a concern for creativity-that is, the act of bringing forth new forces and forms. We do not know for sure how creativity functions. Nonetheless, some­thing happens in which humankind takes chaos, formlessness, vagueness, and the un­known and crystallizes them into form, design, inventions, and ideas. Creativity underlies our existence. It allows scientists to intuit a pos­sible path to a cure for cancer, for example, or to invent a computer. The same process allows artists to find new ways to express ideas through processes in which creative action, thought, material, and technique combine in a medium to create something new, and that "new thing," often without words, triggers human experience-that is, our response to the artwork.

AESTHETIC COMMUNICATION

Art usually involves communication. Argu­ably, artists need other people with whom they can share their perceptions. When artworks and humans interact, many possibilities exist. Interaction may be casual and fleeting, as in the first meeting of two people, when neither wishes a relationship. Similarly, an artist may not have much to say, or may not say it very well. For example, a poorly written or produced play will probably not excite an audience. Similarly, if an audience member's preoccupa­tions render it impossible to perceive what the play offers, then at least that part of the artistic experience fizzles. On the other hand, all con­ditions may be optimum, and a profoundly exciting and meaningful experience may occur: The play may treat a significant subject in a unique manner, the production artists' skills in manipulating the medium may be excellent, and the audience may be recep­tive. Or the interaction may fall somewhere between these two extremes.

Throughout history, artistic communication has involved aesthetics (ehs-THEH­tihks). Aesthetics is the study of the nature of beauty and of art and comprises one of the five classical fields of philosophical inquiry-along with epistemology (the nature and origin of knowledge), ethics (the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by the individual in relationship with others), logic (the principles of reasoning), and metaphysics (the nature of first principles and problems of ultimate reality). The term aesthetics (from the Greek for "sense perception") was coined by the German philosopher Alexander Baumgarten (1714-1762) in the mid-eighteenth century, but interest in what constitutes the beauti­ful and in the relationship between art and nature goes back at least to the ancient Greeks. Plato saw art as imitation and beauty as the expression of a universal quality. For the Greeks, the concept of "art" embraced all handcrafts, and the rules of symmetry, proportion, and unity applied equally to weaving, pottery, poetry, and sculpture. In the late eighteenth century, the philosopher Immanuel Kant (kahnt; 1724-1804) revolutionized aesthetics in his Critique of Judgment (1790) by viewing aesthetic appreciation not simply as the perception of intrinsic beauty, but as involving a judgment-subjective, but informed. Since Kant, the primary focus of aesthetics has shifted from the consideration of beauty per se to the nature of the artist, the role of art, and the relationship between the viewer and the work of art.

Art also concerns symbols. Symbols usually involve tangible emblems of something ab­stract: a mundane object evoking a higher realm. Symbols differ from signs, which suggest a fact or condition. Signs are what they indicate. Symbols carry deeper, wider, and richer meanings. Look at the Greek cross below. A Greek Cross has arms of equal length and was one of the most common Christian forms used in the 4th century. Some people might identify this figure as a plus sign in arithmetic. But as a Greek cross, it becomes a symbol because it suggests many images, meanings, and implications. Artworks use a variety of symbols, and symbols make artworks into doorways leading to enriched meaning.

Greek Cross Public Domain

Symbols occur in literature, art, and ritual. Symbols can involve conventional relationships such as a rose standing for courtly love in a medieval romance. A symbol can suggest physical or other similarities between the symbol and its reference (the red rose as a symbol for blood) or personal associations-for example, the Irish poet William Butler Yeats's use of the rose to sym­bolize death, ideal perfection, Ireland, and so on. Symbols also occur in linguistics as arbitrary symbols and in psychoanalysis where symbols, particularly images in dreams, sug­gest repressed, subconscious desires and fears. In Judaism, the contents of the feast table and the ceremony performed at the Jewish Passover seder (a feast celebrating the exodus from slavery in Egypt) symbolize events surrounding the Israelites' deliverance from Egypt. In Cluistian art, the lamb, for example, symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ.

FINE AND APPLIED ART

One last consideration in understanding art's concerns involves the difference between fine art and applied art. The " fine arts "- generally meaning painting, sculpture, architecture, music, theatre, dance, and in the twentieth century, cinema- are prized for their purely aesthetic qualities. During the Renaissance (roughly the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries), these arts rose to superior status because Renaissance values lauded individual expression and unique aesthetic interpreta­tions of ideas. The term “ applied art” sometimes includes architecture and the " decorative arts " and refers to art forms that have a primarily decorative rather than expressive or emotional purpose. The decorative arts in­clude handcrafts by skilled artisans, such as ornamental work in metal, stone, wood, and glass, as well as textiles, pottery, and bookbind­ing. The term may also encompass aspects of interior design. In addition, personal objects such as jewelry, weaponry, tools, and costumes represent the decorative arts. The term may expand, as well, to mechanical appliances and oilier products of industrial design. None­theless, even the most common of objects can have artistic flair and provide pleasure and interest. The lowly juice extractor (see below), an example of industrial design, brings a sense of pleasantry to a rather mundane chore. Its two-part body sits on colored rubber feet and reminds us, perhaps, of a robot. Its cream and brown colors are soft and warm, comfortable rather than cold and utilitarian. Its plumpness holds a friendly humor, and we could imagine talking to this little device as an amicable companion rather than regarding it as a mere machine. The term decorative art first appeared in 1791. Many decorative arts, such as weaving, basketry, or pottery, are also commonly considered "crafts," but the definitions of the terms remain somewhat arbitrary and without sharp distinction.

Braun Juice Extractor-"Multipress" available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication .

Quilt art exhibit installation view, International Quilt Study Center & Museum, University of Nebraska – Lincoln CC BY-SA 3.0

THE PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS OF ART

Another way we can expand our under­standing of art involves examining some of its purposes and functions. In terms of the former-- that is, art's purposes-- we ask, What does art do? In terms of the latter-- that is, art's functions-- we ask, How does it do it? Among some of art’s purposes, art can: (1) provide a record; (2) give visible or other form to feelings; (3) reveal metaphysical or spiri­tual truths; and ( 4) help people see the world in new or innovative ways. Art can do any or all of these. They are not mutually exclusive.

Until the invention of the camera, one of art's principal purposes involved enacting a record of the world. Although we cannot know for sure, very likely cave art of the earliest times did this. And so it went through history. Artists undertook to record their times on vases, walls, canvases, and so on-as in the case of the eighteenth-century Ital­ian painter Canaletto (can-ah-LAY-toh), in highly naturalistic verdute (vair-DOO-tay; Italian for "views") that he sold to travelers doing the grand tour of Europe.

Canaletto - Rialto Bridge from the North Public Domain

Art can also give visible form to feelings. Perhaps the most explicit example of this aspect of art comes in the Expressionist style of the early twentieth century. Here the artist's feelings and emotions toward content formed a primary role in the work.

Edvard Munch, 1893, The Scream , oil, tempera and pastel on cardboard, 91 x 73 cm, National Gallery of Norway Public Domain

In terms of art that reveals metaphysical or spiritual truths, we can turn to the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe, whose light and space perfectly embodied medieval spirituality. The rising line of the cathedral reaches, ultimately, to the point of the spire, which symbolizes the release of earthly space into the unknown space of heaven.

Cologne Cathedral towers CC BY-SA 3.0 de

On the other hand, a tribal ancestor figure deals almost exclusively in spiritual and metaphysical revelation.

Totem pole in Vancouver, British Columbia CC BY-SA 4.0

Finally, most art, if well done, can assist us in seeing the world around us in new and surprising ways. Art that has no representational content may reveal a new way of understanding the inter­action of life forces.

In addition to its purposes-what it does--­ art also has many functions; in other words, how it does what it does. This includes (1) enjoyment, (2) political and social commentary, (3) ther­apy, and (4) artifact. Again, one function is no more important than the others. Nor are they mutually exclusive; one artwork may fill many functions. Nor are the four functions just mentioned the only ones. Rather, they serve as indicators of how art has functioned in the past and can function in the present. Like the types and styles of art that have occurred through history, these four functions and oth­ers provide options for artists and depend on what artists wish to do with their artworks.

Works of art can provide an escape from everyday cares, treat us to a pleasant experience, and engage us in social occasions. The same artworks we enjoy may also create in­sights into human experience. We can also glimpse the conditions of other cultures, and we can find healing therapy in enjoyment. An artwork in which one individual finds only enjoyment may function as a profound social and personal comment to another. In the case of a Chinese landscape like Walking by a Mountain Stream , it may raise a plain feature of nature to a profound level of beauty.

Landscape Lu Han; 1699; ink and color on paper donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art .

Albert Bierstadt - Among the Sierra Nevada, California Public Domain

Art may have a political or social function, such as influencing the behavior of large groups of people. It has functioned this way in the past and continues to do so. Eugene Delacroix's (deh-lah-KWAH) painting, Liberty Leading the People (July 28, 1830), illustrates this concept. In July 1830, for three days known as the Trois Glorieuses (the Glorious Three), the people of Paris took up arms to bring in the parliamentary monarchy of Louis-Philippe in hopes of restoring the French Republic. Eager to celebrate July 28, Delacroix painted the allegorical figure of Liberty waving the tricolor flag of France and storming the corpse-ridden barricades with a young combatant at her side. The painting was reviled by conservatives but purchased by Louis-Philippe in 1831. Soon after, it was hidden for fear of inciting public unrest.

Liberty Leading the People Eugene Delacroix Public Domain

The ancient Greek playwright Aristo­phanes (air-ih-STAH-fuh-neez) used comedy in such plays as The Birds to attack the political ideas of the leaders of ancient Athenian society. In Lysistrata , he attacked war by creating a story in which all the women of Athens go on a sex strike until Athens rids itself of war and warmongers. In nineteenth-century Norway, playwright Henrik Ibsen used An Enemy of the People as a platform for airing the issue of whether a government should ignore pollution in order to maintain economic well-being. In the United States today, many artworks act as vehicles to advance social and political causes, or to sensitize viewers, listeners, or readers to particular cultural situations like racial prejudice and gender equality.

Graffiti from a wall in Bethlehem, Israel. This photograph taken by Pawel Ryszawa This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International , 3.0 Unported , 2.5 Generic , 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

We Have No Property! We Have No Wives! No Children! We Have No City! No Country! — Petition of Many Slaves, 1773 (painted in 1955 ) Panel 5 of Jacob Lawrence’s series “Struggle… From the History of the American People,”

In a therapeutic function, creating and experiencing works of art may address indi­viduals with a variety of illnesses, both physical and mental. Role-playing, for example, used frequently as a counseling tool in treating dysfunctional family situations, often called psychodrama, has mentally ill patients act out their personal circumstances in order to find and cure the cause of their illness. Here the individual forms the focus. However, art in a much broader context acts as a healing agent for society's general illnesses as well. In hopes of saving us from disaster, artists use artworks to illustrate the failings and excesses of society. In still another vein, the laughter caused by comedy releases endorphins, chemicals produced by the brain, which strengthen the immune system.

Art also functions as an artifact: As a product of a particular time and place, an artwork represents the ideas and technology of that specific time and place. Artworks often provide not only striking examples but occasionally the only tangible records of some peoples. Artifacts, like paintings, sculptures, poems, plays, and buildings, enhance our insights into many cultures, including our own. Consider, for example, the many revelations we find in a sophisticated work like the cast vessel below from Igbo-Ukwu (IGH­boh OOK-woo). This artifact from the village of Igbo-Ukwu in eastern Nigeria utilizes the cire perdue (sihr pair-DOO) or "lost wax" process and reveals great virtuosity. It tells us much about the vision and technical accomplishment of this ninth- and tenth-century African society.

Bronze ceremonial vessel in form of a snail shell, 9th century, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria CC BY-SA 3.0

The Igbo-Ukwu vessel, as exemplary of art in a context of cultural artifact, raises the issue of religious ritual. Music, for example, when part of a religious ceremony, has a ritual function but the same musical piece performed in concert comprises a work of art. And theatre- if seen as an occasion planned and intended for presentation- would include religious rituals as well as events that take place in theatres. Often, as a survey of art history would confirm, we cannot discern when ritual stops, and secular production starts. For example, ancient Greek tragedy seems clearly to have evolved from and maintained ritualistic practices. When ritual, planned and intended for presentation, uses traditionally artistic media like music, dance, and theatre, we can legitimately study ritual as art, and see it also as an artifact of its particular culture.

Having said all that about purposes and functions, we must also state that sometimes art just exists for its own sake. In the late nineteenth century, a philosophical artistic movement occurred called aestheticism, characterized by the slogan " art for art's sake ." Those who championed this cause reacted against Victorian notions that a work of art must have uplifting, educational, or otherwise socially or morally beneficial characteristics. Proponents of aestheticism held that artworks stand independent and self-justifying, with no reason for being other than being beautiful. The playwright Oscar Wilde said in defense of this viewpoint: "All art is quite useless." His statement meant that exquisite style and polished device had greater importance than utility and meaning. Thus, form is victorious over function. The aesthetes, as proponents of aestheticism were called, disdained the "natural," organic, and homely in art and life and viewed art as the pursuit of perfect beauty and life a quest for sublime experience.

The question of how we go about approaching the arts, or how we study them, presents another challenge. We must choose one of the several methods available and carry on from there. We assume those most of you who are taking this course have had only limited exposure to the arts. So, we have chosen a method of study that can act as a spring­board into the arts--it seems logical to begin our study by dealing with some concrete characteristics. In other words, from mostly an intellectual point of view, what can we see and what can we describe when we look at the arts?

To put that question in different terms, how can we sharpen our aesthetic perception?

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Guest Essay

The Next Frontier? Philosophy in Space.

By Joseph O. Chapa

Dr. Chapa is a U.S. Air Force officer and the author of “Is Remote Warfare Moral?”

The window to apply to be a NASA astronaut — a window that opens only about every four years — closes this month, on April 16. Though I’ve submitted an application, I don’t expect to make the cut.

The educational requirements for the astronaut program are clear: Applicants must possess at least a master’s degree in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), a doctorate in medicine or a test pilot school graduate patch. Though I have a Ph.D., it’s in philosophy. (And though I’m an Air Force pilot, I’m not a test pilot.)

I hesitate to tell NASA its business. But I think its requirements are closing the astronaut program off from important insights from the humanities and social sciences.

Of course, the requirement for astronauts to have technical training makes some intuitive sense. NASA was founded in 1958 “to provide for research into problems of flight within and outside the earth’s atmosphere.” Who better to solve flight problems than scientists and engineers? What’s more, NASA’s space missions have long conducted science experiments to learn how plant and animal life behaves in the far-flung emptiness between us and the moon.

But the need for STEM in space might be waning — just as the need for humanities and the social sciences waxes. After all, the “problems of flight” that once tethered us to this planet have largely been solved, thanks in no small part to all those scientist and engineer astronauts who blazed the trail to space.

By contrast, the future of our relationship with the cosmos — a colony on the moon? Humans on Mars? Contact with intelligent alien life? — will require thoughtful inquiry from many disciplines. We will need sociologists and anthropologists to help us imagine new communities; theologians and linguists if we find we are not alone in the universe; political and legal theorists to sort out the governing principles of interstellar life.

Naturally, some scholars can study these topics while still earthbound. But so can many of today’s astronauts, who often end up working on projects unrelated to their academic training. The idea behind sending people with a wider array of academic disciplines into the cosmos is not just to give scholars a taste of outer space, but also to put them in fruitful conversation with one another.

My own discipline, philosophy, may be better suited for this kind of exploration than some might think. To be sure, much philosophy can be done from an armchair. Descartes arrived at his famous conclusion, “I think, therefore, I am,” while warming himself by the fire and, as he noted, “wearing a winter dressing gown.”

But some of the greatest philosophical breakthroughs occurred only because their authors had firsthand experience with extreme and uncomfortable conditions. We might not have the Stoic philosophy of Epictetus had he not faced the hardship of slavery in Nero’s court. We might not have Thomas Hobbes’s “Leviathan” (and his principle of the “consent of the governed,” so central to the American experiment), but for his flight from the English Civil War. And we might not have Hannah Arendt’s insights on the “banality of evil” had she not attended the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a chief architect of the Holocaust.

Not all philosophers who want to learn what it means to be human in this vast and expanding universe need to experience living in space. But perhaps some of us should.

Throughout the history of Western philosophy, space has often served as stand-in for life’s deepest truths. Plato thought that the things of this world were mere images of true reality, and that true reality existed in the heavens beyond. What inspired admiration and awe in Immanuel Kant was not just the moral law within all of us but also the “starry heavens above.” The Platos and Kants of today are in a position to take a much closer look at those very heavens.

In general, the work of philosophy is to ask, “And suppose this proposition is right, what then?” When faced with a proposition — say, “The mind and body are separable,” or “One must always act to achieve the greatest happiness for the greatest number” — the philosopher takes another step and asks, “What are the implications of such a view?”

Though Earth has been our only home, it may not be our home forever. What are the implications of that proposition? What might that mean for our conception of nationhood? Of community? Of ourselves and our place in the world? This would be the work of space philosophers.

These days, unfortunately, the prestige of STEM continues to eclipse that of the social sciences and humanities. It seems unlikely that NASA will buck this trend.

That would be bad news for me, personally — but I think also for humanity at large. One day we may all echo Jodie Foster’s character in the sci-fi movie “Contact . ” When the mysteries of space-time were unfurled before her, all she could manage to say was, “They should have sent a poet.”

Joseph O. Chapa ( @JosephOChapa ) is a U.S. Air Force officer and the author of “Is Remote Warfare Moral?”

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