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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1985)
Study's findings show Humanities are neglected in nation’s universities By Marianne Chin Of tLe Emerald "Most of our college graduates remain shortchanged in the humanities,” said recent ly nominated U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett in a report on the humanities in higher education. The report entitled “To Reclaim A Legacy” was released last fall by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The humanities include such disciplines as literature, history, philosophy and foreign languages. According to the report, a student can ob tain a bachelor’s degree from 75 percent of all American colleges and universities without having studied European history; from 72 per cent without having studied American literature or history; and from 86 percent without having studied the civilizations of classical Greece and Rome. 'There's a good deal of con cern about the fact that students want to go through college taking very practical things like accounting, things that will produce good jobs.9 —Robert Berdahl Bennett's report on the state of humanities was based on the findings of a study group of 31 teachers, scholars, administrators and authorities on higher education. They met with Bennett, then-chair of the National En dowment for the Humanities, in Washington, D.C., last March. "We talked about the problems of educa tion in the humanities at the undergraduate level in universities and colleges today,” said Robert Berdahl, dean of the University’s Col lege of Arts and Sciences, who served as a member of the study group. "It's sad and lamentable that the thrust of education has shifted so heavily into pragmatic kinds of education,” Berdahl said, referring to the current emphasis in higher education placed on careers and disciplines such as high technology. The best kind of education for any person includes a broad background in liberal arts, he said. "It makes a much more flexible person. Life is a good deal more than a career.” In addition to the statistics indicating an absence of humanities studies behind college degrees, the study also described the national decline in the number of students majoring in the humanities. Since 1970, the number of English majors has declined 57 percent, philosophy majors 41 percent, history majors 62 percent and modem language majors 50 percent, according to the report, Our culture does not reward students for studying the humanities, Berdahl said. “You don’t have to know English literature to be an accountant,” he added. Good teaching is essential to the humanities, especially since many students are first exposed to such courses in their first years in college, the study group asserted. Often this first impression becomes their only exposure to the field because students are sometimes turned off by the subjects if they aren’t presented attractively, according to the report. n controversy exists in tnat educators do not agree on what types of material university graduates should read, Berdahl said. The University has done a good job of teaching humanities, thanks to a good faculty that is committed to teaching humanities courses, Berdahl said. The change in cluster requirements for University students that was implemented in 1980 reflected a concern that students have some exposure to the humanities, he said. The University also has tried to improve its humanities programs by obtaining grants from the National Endow ment for the Humanities and by decreasing the number of students in each class. One of the study group’s recommenda tions for reversing the decline of interest and learning in the humanities is that colleges and universities “reshape their undergraduate cur ricula based on a clear vision of what con stitutes an educated person.” “There’s a good deal of concern about the fact that students want to go through college taking very practical things like accounting, things that will produce good jobs,” Berdahl said. But these are not the kinds of educational experiences essential to their becoming educated men and women, he added. The report also states that college and university presidents should take responsibili ty for the educational needs of all students by defining what the institution regards as essen tial to a good education. Schools must also reward excellent teaching, bring faculty members and ad ministrators together to plan a challenging curriculum, and place the study of humanities and Western civilization "at the heart of the college curriculum.” r Ice Cream Parlour‘Restaurant MAKE A PIG OF YOURSELF FOR LESS! 20% OFF OUR errrmc MENU • Every MONDAY is Student Discount Day at Farrell's • Your Winter fee card gets you 20% OFF regular prices on our entire menu • FOOD-ICE CREAM-TREATS-BEVERAGES 13th ft Pearl 342-3213 ^1 •LIVE COMED VL GET READY FOR THL BEST IN COMEDY' 1* FEATURING Mike Johnson ALSO APPEARING Jim Lyonais and Susan Rice MONDAY anuary 28th‘ .m * 8:30 SHOWTIME a , mW0 $3 00 admission Main — Greek Days of Giving Monday Jan. 28th Invite a Professor to Dinner call: Carolyn Follet x4088 Tuesday Jan. 29th Greek Blood Drive call: Brian Thompson x5170 Wednesday Jan. 29th 5:00 p.m. Dinner Exchange call: Karen Ebner x5282 or Dawn Hamilton x3581 Wednesday at the Movies 7 p.m. 150 Geology call: Hildy Casey *4128 Thursday Jan. 30th 6:00 p. m. Dessert Night call: Karen Ebner x52a2 or Dawn Hamilton x3S81 Friday Jan. 31st Greek Wheel Get a smile to go. SEND THE NEW “PICK-ME-UP” BOUQUET in a Rainbow Mug faimBmtimi •THE UNIVERSITY FLORIST 610 E. 13th at Patterson 485-3655 Send your thoughts with special ^ care." Order Today! E ARN COLLEGE CREDITS WHILE EXPERIENCING THE CAMBRIDGE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. Live the academic life in a commu nity with a 700-year tradition learning through lectures, lively small group discussions, and field trips. Your residence is TRINITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, located at the center of the historic colleges and the ancient City of Cambridge. A countryside of the Fifth Annual Cambridge/ucla PROGRAM Summer 1985 medieval market towns and villages surrounds it, and London is only 60 miles away. COURSES PLANNED: Celts, Romans, and Saxons • English Country Houses • The World of the Book • Shakespeare's England • British Intelligence Operations • Fine & Decorative Arts in England • Class and Society in Britain Today • Post-War British Drama • British Contributions to Science • Archaeology of Britain • landscapes and Gardens • Dickens • Shakespeare's Plays • Churchill and His Times • Tudor England • British Politics and Economics • Medieval English Society • Architecture of England. Two three-week sessions are scheduled: June 30-July 20 and July 21-August 10, 1985. Enrollment is also open for the entire six-week period. FOR A DESCRIPTIVE BROCHURE, write or call Cambridge/UCLA Program, Department UO, P.O. Box 24901, los Angeles, CA 90024; (213) 825-2085.
