What is Humanities?

The humanities are the tales, the ideas, and the words that help us make sense of our lives and our world. The humanities introduce us to people we have never met, places we have never visited, and ideas that may have never crossed our minds. By demonstrating how others have lived and thought about life, the humanities help us decide what is important in our own lives and what we can do to make them better. By uniting us with other people, they point the way to answers about what is right or wrong, or what is true to our heritage and our history. The arts help us address the challenges we face together in our families, our communities, and as a nation.

The humanities should not be blurred with "humanism," a specific philosophical belief, nor with "humanitarianism," the concern for charitable works and social reform.