Should schools be scaling back on the humanities?
In short, the answer is no. First of all, the basic premise here is somewhat incorrect. Michael Bérubé, a professor of literature at Pennsylvania State University, and director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities says that there is no “plummet,” although it is a universal presupposition. Independent school administrators, curriculum planners, teachers, and workers at non-profits, that hypocritically push tech-education in the new spirit of the age, should reconsider their messaging, especially when they largely received humanities or liberal arts degrees themselves.
Bérubé contends that while it is true that English enrollments are down in some places since 2008, and not healthy overall, they are not as bad as the really lean years. Bérubé maintains that students and families keep hearing the myth that English is a dying subject. This humanities ending attitude was just recently reflected in April 2016 when Pennsylvania State Representative Brad Roae (R) proposed ending higher-education grants for students studying “poetry or some other Pre Walmart major.”