Physis Happened
kamparo@theguidon.com
The Ateneo has consistently ranked between 51-100 in the field of English and literaturean annual world ranking survey by London-based company Quacquarelli Symonds, which specializes in education. This is something that we should be proud of. However, there are still people who are dissatisfied.
Instead of applauding the ranks that schools in our country garnered, articles about the rankings received many negative comments. They went from “We should excel in something else,” to “Will this field do us any good?” The main idea was that that these subjects aren’t beneficial to us.
Especially in a country like the Philippines, it may not occur to people how important the field of humanities is. The question that people normally ask is what purpose it serves. They wonder if it is really important for us or if it is really something to celebrate. It will appear to them that fields of science and management will always be more important. This is a result of the comparison between other countries and Philippines with regard to technological advancement. The thinking is that we are behind other countries when it comes to innovation.
Although I agree that fields like science need to improve in our country, I disagree that the subjects in the humanities aren’t just as important. I stand by the fact that we can’t ignore subjects like languages, philosophy and the arts. The thing that we need to do is use them to our advantage: Take from them what we need in order for our country to develop. The humanities are important and should always be integrated into our education. The same can be said for the other fields.
All students in the Ateneo, regardless of the field of study that they are taking, are required to take a minimum of 45 units of humanities subjects. This includes courses in English, Filipino, Theology and Philosophy. This is part of the holistic education that the Ateneo aims to give to its students. Some students even go further with their studies by using their electives for humanities classes, and there are students who push ever further and go for a minor.
As students taking up a curriculum with a strong core from the humanities, we should already understand why we are even taking up these units. Through the field of humanities, we learn how to be critical. We learn how to ask questions about human experience. We learn from human experience of the past and it prepares us to apply this in the future.
As students from the School of Humanities (SOH), it is a challenge for me and other SOH members to be part of that development of the country and to really practice the things that the humanities have taught us.
Once we’ve finished all our humanities subjects, let’s take a look at what the field really taught us. We should always look back at our identity, be critical and ask what it is to be truly human.
