Practically Human: College Professors Speak from the Heart of Humanities Education

by Gary D. Schmidt (Editor), Matthew Walhout (Editor)

If you are a student wondering what to study in college, this book is for you. It invites you to seek out the practical benefits of studying literature, language, the arts, history, religion, and philosophy. These disciplines - known collectively as the humanities - will teach you to analyze complex social dynamics, articulate good arguments, and apply the hard-won wisdom of the past to new and challenging situations.

Genres: Education

172 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 2012

About the author

Gary D. Schmidt is an American children's writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels, including two Newbery Honor books. He lives on a farm in Alto, Michigan,with his wife and six children, where he splits wood, plants gardens, writes, feeds the wild cats that drop by and wishes that sometimes the sea breeze came that far inland. He is a Professor of English at Calvin College.

Reviews

[Mark VanderWerf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful reflections on how teaching and learning in the humanities can make us more attentive, more empathetic, more humble, more loving — more human.

“But perhaps even more importantly, [learning the craft of writing] is about learning that your purpose as a writer is to speak to the kid in the red shirt at the back of the class — no matter his age — so that you can say to him, I know it is a broken world. Fiction is always about a broken world. There is no denying that. But it is also a beautiful world, most worthy the winning. Poetry will never exhaust its praises, drama its complexities, nonfiction its wonders.

You write to serve the kid in the red shirt at the back of the room, to bring hope, light, order, companionship, reflection, understanding, beauty, humor, realism, expectation, guts.

You write so that the kid in the red shirt at the back of the room will see in your writing more than what he is, or has, or has experienced. You write to invite him to a larger world so that his hands will begin to come down from his face.” — Gary Schmidt

[Jonathan Hiskes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lucid, compelling collection of essays by college professors about why studying the diverse disciplines known as "the humanities" is worth it. I’m generally skeptical of sweeping defenses of the humanities or the liberal arts as such. Particular stories of particular teachers, artworks, epiphanies, discoveries are usually more interesting. But these are exceptionally strong brief arguments on how college education prepares students for both careers and lives marked by attentiveness, discernment, and civic awareness (or what Christians call the fruits of the Spirit).

In a chapter on studying foreign languages, David I. Smith tells the story of a student whose basic German helped defuse a conflict between an airport traveler and a security guard: "Language skills are not just for our own immediate benefit. A language class can be one of the places where we learn to break out of life revolving around our own perspectives and ambitions." Amen to that.

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 for some parts. A collection of essays from Calvin College profs explaining why an education in the humanities still has value in a math science (STEM) world. I enjoyed the writings and agreed with much of what they say, but wonder if their target audience would stick with the arguments. I think it would be helpful to have students read the chapter which apply to the discipline(s) in which they are interested.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays by Calvin College professors clearly communicates why a humanities education still matters. While the book is primarily intended for college freshmen, the thoughts expressed in it are pertinent to all who desire to continually grow in knowledge and practice of truth.