The Humanities at Brandeis University
|
The humanities at Brandeis encompass six departments: Classical Studies; English and American Literature; German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature; Near Eastern and Judaic Studies; Philosophy; and Romance and Comparative Literature. These departments are united by a common concern for important texts and ideas throughout history and across cultures. Humanistic inquiry seeks both to deepen our understanding of the past and to enlarge our conception of human possibilities. It proceeds on the conviction that such inquiry is central to our ability to grasp the present and to shape the future. What sets humanistic study apart is its emphasis on critical reading, thinking, and writing. Its goal is to equip students with the discursive and analytic skills necessary not simply to acquire knowledge, but also to become responsible and informed citizens of The twenty-first century. The habits of thought cultivated by the humanities— openness, flexibility, alertness to moral complexity— are useful in any form of intellectual pursuit. Intimate acquaintance with the products of human culture, whether they emanate from within or fall outside traditional canons, offers endless opportunities for enriching one’s own life and the lives of others. The humanities are especially needed in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. They are crucial to understanding difference and appreciating diversity. As they range over cultures and genres, from ancient texts through modern films and popular culture, the humanities expand the mind and hone powers of discernment and reasoning. They allow each of us to enter into the ongoing conversation of humankind about things that matter, and to gain the ability, over time, to contribute to that conversation. |
A single sentence of commentary on
humanistic study as a civic template: The
small humanities classroom, with a teacher
and a dozen or so students sitting around a
table and analyzing the language of a poem,
or decoding a diffi cult philosophical
passage, or discussing a character from
Shakespeare or Sophocles, with each
participant listening to, arguing with, and
learning from the views of others, can stand
as a model for a civilized and cohesive
polity.
You might imagine that as a scholar of the
Hebrew Bible, I teach the ancient text as an
infl exible, simple truth, offering the advice
for attaining “the good life.” Nothing could
be further from the truth. Instead, I highlight
all types of diversity and complexities in the
Bible: its frequent ambiguity and the
diffi culty of interpreting it, as well as the
many voices that it incorporates, and its
powerful, nuanced, and multifaceted
perspectives on all human issues.
As they range over cultures and genres,
from ancient texts through modern fi lms
and popular culture, the humanities expand
the mind and hone powers of discernment
and reasoning. Classical studies have an
immediate relevancy to all of us. Whether
we are encountering James Joyce’s Ulysses,
Pablo Neruda’s poetry, Italian opera, the
U.S. Constitution, the laws of physics,
human biology, Renaissance art, or Woody
Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite, we are never far
from classical studies. The classics stand
ready to offer up their golden languages,
literatures, arts, archaeologies, and
histories to anyone ready to be in touch
afresh with the modern through the study
of the ancient. Greece and Rome, as the
foundations of Western European culture,
challenge us to confront their similarities
and to understand their differences in order
to ask ourselves who we are as humans
and who we want to be in the future.
The humanities attract students from a wide
range of backgrounds who are curious
about the world beyond their own borders.
We devote careful attention to the uses of
language, advancing analytical capabilities
through attention to self-expression, and
effective exchange of ideas. In the process,
we encourage students to assume as much
as possible—through literatures and
cultures different from their own—
alternative perspectives that will help them
to become effective citizens, at home and
abroad.
Philosophy is a human discipline because it
is humanity’s highest aspiration, urging us
to seek the one thing worth having: to act
and think for ourselves. It demands
authenticity. Those of us who teach it are—
to borrow a phrase from Keats—in the
business of soul-making. It puts the
authoritative into question by refusing to
take for granted what each discipline,
including philosophy, unquestionably
accepts. It is quintessentially a self-refl ective
activity, asking each who study the
humanities to commit to the responsibility
that accompanies acting and thinking for
oneself.
The humanities are especially needed in an
increasingly complex and interconnected
world. Richard Weisberg, a Brandeis
graduate and lawyer and a writer about the
shared endeavors of the law and literature,
has suggested that both disciplines concern
themselves “with matters of ambiguity,
interpretation, abstraction, and humanistic
judgment.” Our students, whether readers
of The Oresteia, The Tale of Genji, Richard II,
Bleak House, The Brothers Karamazov, The
Principles of Mathematics, or the poetry of
Elizabeth Bishop, make diffi cult judgments
and, as readers, confront the ramifi cations
and implications of their own intellectual,
moral, and aesthetic judgments.