Arts and Humanities

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The role of the arts and humanities in a liberal arts education, including study of literature, history, philosophy, and other humanities disciplines.

Art history: The study of past and present art movements and styles.
Music theory: The study of the mechanics of music and its notation.
Literature: The study of written works, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Philosophy: The study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, ethics, and more.
Theatre: The study of dramatic performances and their history.
Linguistics: The study of language, including its structure, history, and usage.
Anthropology: The study of human cultures and societies.
History: The study of past events and their impact on contemporary society.
Religious studies: The study of world religions and their practices and beliefs.
Gender studies: The study of the social, cultural, and political meanings of gender and sexuality.
Film studies: The study of film as an artistic medium and its place in modern culture.
Visual arts: The study of traditional and contemporary visual art forms, including painting, sculpture, and installations.
Political science: The study of politics and government systems, including policy-making and decision-making processes.
Architecture: The study of the design and construction of buildings and public spaces.
Sociology: The study of human behavior within society and social structures.
Literature: The study and interpretation of written and oral texts, including poetry, drama, and fiction.
Philosophy: The systematic inquiry into fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, ethics, and reality.
Languages: The study of foreign languages and their cultures, including linguistics and the development of language.
Fine Arts: Visual and performing arts like drawing, painting, sculpture, music, dance, and theatre.
Musicology: The scholarly study of music, including history, theory, and criticism.
History: The study of past human events and their impact on current society.
Cultural Studies: The study of human cultures, including beliefs, practices, and artifacts.
Religious Studies: The study of major world religions and their impact on social and cultural life.
Anthropology: The study of human cultures, societies, and biological diversity.
Archaeology: The study of human activity in the past through the excavation and analysis of artifacts, structures, and other physical remains.
"The humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture."
"In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the time."
"Today, the humanities are more frequently defined as any fields of study outside of natural sciences, social sciences, formal sciences (like mathematics), and applied sciences (or professional training)."
"They use methods that are primarily critical, or speculative, and have a significant historical element—as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences."
"The humanities include the studies of foreign languages, history, philosophy, language arts (literature, writing, oratory, rhetoric, poetry, etc.), performing arts (theater, music, dance, etc.), and visual arts (painting, sculpture, photography, filmmaking, etc.)."
"Some definitions of the humanities include law and religion due to its shared similarities, but these are not universally accepted because they are more so defined as being part of professional development education alongside some social sciences."
"Anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, psychology, and sociology are widely considered social sciences in a similar way disciplines such as finance, business administration, political science, economics, and global studies have closer ties to the social sciences rather than the humanities."
"Scholars in the humanities are called humanities scholars or sometimes humanists."
"Some secondary schools offer humanities classes usually consisting of literature, history, foreign language, and art."
"Human disciplines like history and language mainly use the comparative method and comparative research."
"Other methods used in the humanities include hermeneutics, source criticism, esthetic interpretation, and speculative reason."
"They use methods that are primarily critical, or speculative, and have a significant historical element—as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences."
"The humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture."
"Although anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, psychology, and sociology share some similarities with the humanities, these are widely considered social sciences."
"In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the time."
"All humanities fields are solely confined to traditional liberal arts education."
"Classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the time [of the Renaissance]."
"They use methods that are primarily critical, or speculative, and have a significant historical element."
"Some secondary schools offer humanities classes usually consisting of literature, history, foreign language, and art."
"Some definitions of the humanities include law and religion due to its shared similarities, but these are not universally accepted."