Studying Humanities encourages to think differently

The second week of March is about to end but it still feels like we celebrated New Year’s eve just yesterday. Having said that, this month is a tough one for students appearing for their board exams. A large number of students continue to remain confused about career choices even after the exams are over. Most of them have been told the oft repeated lie that after the board exams you won’t have to study. But that is not the topic today. I want to talk about the stream of Humanities. There are so many myths associated with studying Humanities. The first and the most prominent one being, smart students don’t pursue Humanities.

But to begin with, how many of us know what courses are available under Humanities? Do we know that it includes subjects like Economics, Political Science and Sociology, which are critical courses if one has to understand how the society functions and also how an individual functions as a member of the society.

Not all under-performing students study Humanities. In our society we put so much emphasis pursuing Science. The fact is that a society cannot function with only doctors and engineers. Humanities helps us understand, predict and guide the direction in which society is headed. For example, in Humanities we study not only what the society is like now but also how it was. In Sociology, we study how norms and cultures affect us.

If calculation of the velocity of an object under various conditions is difficult so is understanding the idea of dialectical materialism given by Karl Marx. Students and parents also need to put to rest their worries about career options. A student armed with a Bachelors or Masters degree in Economics can aim at pursuing a career as an Economist or Economic Analyst, or work in financial institutions and MNCs. A student pursuing a career in Political Science can aspire to be part of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) or Indian Revenue Service (IRS), or become a part of various consulting firms as the demand for people who can read political trends and predict accurately about political event is very high. Journalism is another field that one can consider to reach out to the masses and ‘be the change’ that everyone talk about.

Parents must have an open mind and allow their children to select Humanities, if they wish to pursue. If one actually analyses, you’d know that Humanities consists of very different subjects ranging from History to Law, study of the society to international relations as compared to Science or Commerce. The study of Arts allows you to approach a situation or a problem in multiple ways. It encourages you to think in multiple directions and analyse all possibilities.