Hi-Tech Humanities

How to be human in the 21st century, and how higher education makes that happen.

Logan Cupp

Acknowledgements:

I want to thank my friend and colleague Douglas Sangster for putting up with me droning on for hours and standing by my side in this. Thanks to Dr. Alvina Thomas of LDCC Student Success Services for providing the funding needed to make "Hi-Tech Humanities" a reality. Thanks to my then supervisor Amelia Brister for giving me the go ahead to coordinate this event. Thanks to our colleges Student Government Association for helping to staff the event. Thanks to everyone who played a part, big or small into making the event itself a reality for our wonderful students.

The History

?? There were many late mornings in the coffee shop like this one, where my friend Doug and I were having the same conversation over and over again. He and I loved to meet at either coffee shops, or his favorite, the cigar shop, where we would chat about life and our personal musings on the topic of higher education. We would seem like broken records to those paying attention to us. Doug would recount his early experience with higher education, and I would spout my usual lines about the undying importance of the liberal arts.

?? This morning was like so many others before it as Doug and I sat down one again at our favorite coffee joint to discuss the liberal arts and humanities. We were off to our common tangent as to how the world was quickly forgetting the beauty of literature, the arts, philosophy and so forth. I brought up the common 21st century talking point of higher education. That S.T.E.M. was ‘all the rage’ and was being sold quick, fast, and in a hurry as the one-way ticket to employment for college students the world over. Doug and I both lamented that this brought with it the idea that if a class, program, or subject could not enhance your employability, then it was of no use.

?? That was it we thought, that was the issue. In the 21st century, it seemed to be that people only wanted education so that they could receive employment, well-paying employment at that. No longer were people attending university to learn for the sake of learning. No, people seemed to clamor to this program or that one so they could receive their metaphorical golden ticket to a life on ‘easy street’ with a well-paying career.

?? ?I had just finished the book “The New Education” by Cathy Davidson, and self-ordained myself as someone to spread the good news, so to speak, of what she had to say. Since the book discussed many of Doug and my points, he listened intently as I spoke so keenly of it. To me, the book was irrefutable proof of the importance of liberal arts and the humanities. Doug listened, and often chimed in, if only to encourage me to keep going. I think he was just happy to see me so enthusiastic. In the book, Davidson discussed how the world was only focusing on the types of education that could have career opportunities at the end of them, and how there was still genuine payouts to be had in the less career-oriented programs (Davidson, 2022).

?? I recall reading a portion, even today, where Davidson discusses how even in big tech companies, the most sought-after skills were things you were more likely to learn in literature or philosophy than in any comp-sci class (Davidson, 2022). That is, if you wanted to progress into the higher echelons of a tech company you needed the humanities, not just the specific tech skills the company is known for. In other words, Davidson would ultimately say, S.T.E.M. skills got you a job, but the humanities got you a career (Davidson, 2022). At least, that’s what I came away with from reading her book.

?? This article isn’t about a coffee shop though, or my adoration about a book or its contents. This is about what sprang forth from all those conversations. What I hadn’t realized is that Doug and I had planted the seeds of an idea that would eventually come to fruition in the most satisfying of ways.

?? One day at work, my supervisor approached me with an idea to do a program that would get students engaged with college and get a lucky faculty member involved so they would get professional development credit. I loved the idea, and the fact that my boss trusted me enough with the coordination of the event. I knew exactly what I had to do.

?? I excitedly approached Doug and asked him to do a presentation. He would get credit for professional development, and I would be able to have an audience for the topic that me and Doug had ruminated on for so long. He agreed happily and set off to prepare the presentation of a lifetime. One which would leave students with a lasting impression of what it means to be human, and why their general education, including the liberal arts and humanities, were so important.

?? I got to work organizing all the ‘behind the scenes’ work needed to get a college sanctioned event to occur and buried my nose in the work, not coming up for air until the day of the event itself. This was one of the very first college events I was tasked with organizing. It occurred to me more than once during all this, that I was indeed cut out for the higher education industry. Moreover, this was a field where I had something to say, I could finally contribute to something that meant the world to me.

?? Doug and I eventually settled on the name “Hi-Tech Humanities” as it perfectly married the topics he was going to address in his presentation. In a fast-paced, technology-oriented world, what was the role of the humanities? What did it mean to be human in a place where social media was all encompassing and socialization, and community were increasingly archaic notions?

?? The event went off without a hitch. We had over 100 people attend our inaugural episode of “Hi-Tech Humanities”. We catered them with rather nice meals for lunch and even complimented the whole event with a meaningful Q&A discussion. I couldn’t be happier with how things went. The conversation that had been exclusive to Doug and I about the importance of the liberal arts and the humanities finally had an audience of eager young students and even a meaningful collection of my college's staff and faculty.

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The Concept

? I think I have done a great job of explaining what Doug and I accomplished. So, now I want to actually state the case that Doug and I had been making this whole time. Stay with me now, and I’ll explain it all.

?? “When am I ever going to use this in ‘real life’?” This was a question I heard quite frequently both as a student and an employee in higher education. It was often uttered in English, history, literature, and even math classes if you can believe that. We as students knew we had to take these courses to graduate, but the world over had failed to explain to us why they were important. That’s the question Doug and I wanted to answer in the “Hi-Tech Humanities” presentation, we wanted to tell students where and why they would use their liberal arts and humanities education.

??? S.T.E.M. skills were great for getting to work. However, a world without humanities is a bleak and sterile world. In his presentation, Doug talked about the many instances of when humanity was at its worst, including the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, along with other examples of such depraved treatment of human beings (Sangster, 2024). His point, I believe, to this end was to say that if we focused only on S.T.E.M. and its bolstering of the workforce, then we would have a world where ethics were only the most the most basic of peacekeepers, things that maintained order, but deprived humanity of justice.

??? “Oh Logan, don’t you know, we don’t need to take literature and philosophy to be ethical, we just know how to behave because the law tells us to.”. If I had to hear that with my own ears, then you can at least read it. It was uttered by an acquaintance of mine a few years ago in the midst of a debate I was having with a friend. To answer this question, I simply offer it as evidence as to why it’s so important we teach history and philosophy to our next generations. These things we call morals, ethics, and the like, they are not guarantees. We cannot treat them as if they are inalienable fragments of reality. They can go away and have gone away (Think of 1940’s Germany as an example of this sort of depravity), when they are not taught and reinforced in our schools and in our societies.

?? This is why it’s so important to teach history, lecture on the meanings in a piece of poetry, and debate philosophical concepts, so we may maintain our humanity. These are the notions that separate us from mindless machines who drone along in algorithmic fashion. They are our humanity. So no, you may not find too many job listings for an associate philosopher, but you will find deeper meaning to your life, and the lives of those around you. To me, that makes it worth it by itself to keep these subjects in our universities and colleges.

?? University was never meant to work solely on the premise of landing a job. It was to impart the values needed to be a participating member of one’s community and society. It has been a long-standing idea (only a couple thousand years or so…) that it takes an educated populace to be actively engaged members of the world around them (Azam, 2022). People need to know their history, their literature, their philosophy, so that they know the needs and their duties to their society. The university is meant to be the delivery system of the skills needed to keep a well ordered society up and running.

?? Liberal arts and the humanities were not meant to be job skills (at least not in the strictest sense). How do I interact with my government? How do I participate with my neighbors? Why is this or that notion illegal or immoral? Liberal Arts and humanities were meant to help us explore these questions with meaningful answers.

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The Conclusion

?? What you have just read was a two-part exposition into the importance of higher education, particularly within the realm of liberal arts and the humanities, and my first big foray in higher education. I want to say just how grateful I am to have a career in higher education, and I hope to have many more years in it as I climb the ladder and make my way through the industry. Thank you all for taking the time to read this article this far. It is my sincerest hope to do my part in bolstering the field of higher ed and helping the students who pass through the halls of my college, and others like it. -Go Knights!

-Logan Cupp

References

Azam, H. (2022, September 20). Features. Life Letters Magazine. https://lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2022/09/the-value-of-the-liberal-arts/

Davidson, C. N. (2022). <> new education how to revolutionize the university to prepare students for a world in Flux Cathy N. Davidson. Basic Books.

Sangster, D. (2024, September). What it Means to be Human in the 21st Century. Hi-Tech Humanities. Monroe; LA.