The Unseen Value of a Humanities Education As university students increasingly rely on generative AI to complete assignments and write papers, educators face a pressing question: how to balance academic rigor with the reality that many students see little value in traditional humanities education.
A recent column by Sigal Samuel offers a provocative solution: embracing the true purpose of a humanities education as the cultivation of character, rather than mere product creation.
Samuel argues that modern universities have succumbed to neoliberalism, where departments are judged on their ability to produce "products" – be they literary interpretations or cultural criticism.