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Faculty Contribution
Roger Schultz Professor of History Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
“Adorn the Doctrine of God our Savior in All Things”:
Christian Vocation in the Humanities
As a rising university junior and history major, I told my father that I planned to drop my teaching endorsement and replace it with a second major in the field of humanities. My father was a simple and practical farmer, and I was the first member of the family to attend college. He had envisioned a clear career path for me; I would return home, land a job in the local high school, and help out on the family farm. A humanities path was beyond his comprehension. I can still remember the look on my father’s face as he said, “But what could you do with that?” According to conventional wisdom, humanities degrees are dead-end credentials.1 Graduates in the humanities - in English, modern languages, religion, philosophy, history and art - will never land real jobs. The poor English major, mired in debt and marginally employed, faces the bleakest of futures. Indeed, humanities programs at American universities have steeply declined over the last decade.2 The Great Recession drove students, and their parents, to consider programs that were deemed surer tickets for employment. There is increasing evidence, however, of solid vocational opportunities in the humanities.3 “Contrary to popular belief,” Heather Long notes in The Washington Post, “English majors ages 25 to 29 had a lower unemployment rate in 2017 than math and computer science majors.”4 Earnings of humanities graduates, while initially smaller than STEM graduates, eventually catch and surpass those in STEM fields. Maybe it is time to steer students back to the humanities. Harvard professor David Deming is a new champion of career paths in the humanities and liberal arts. In a recent New York Times article, he shows that graduates from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) programs have an initial hiring opportunities and earnings potential, but “by age 40 the earnings of people who majored in social science or history have caught up.”5 The latest technological skills
can become obsolete as technology advances. “[S]kill obsolescence and increased competition from younger graduates,” Deming argues, “work together to lower the earnings advantages for STEM degree-holders as they age.” Deming’s counterintuitive work urges us to rethink counsel given to students about majors and careers.6 Some critics dismiss the soft skills of humanities programs. “[L]iberal arts education fosters valuable ‘soft skills’ like problem solving, critical thinking and adaptability,” Deming counters, which have value in multiple careers paths. Graduates with the ability to read, write, think critically and solve problems are always marketable. In a rapidly changing world, soft skills are invaluable.7 Indeed, some employers urge students to pay more attention to interpersonal and relational skills. Two large national employers recently visited Liberty University to recruit students. As one observer put it, they were less interested in finding “doctors in charge” than “nurses who care.” They sought prospective employees who could nurture and develop other people. No one academic discipline has a corner on the virtues of honesty, diligence, humility, compassion – the elements of Christian education that Liberty University has long advocated. Humanities disciplines, furthermore, do an excellent job at preparing graduates for law school, graduate school, professional schools and seminary. An emphasis on logic and critical thinking uniquely equips students for threshold entrance examinations. Philosophy majors, for instance, have outstanding success with the GRE, LSAT, GMAT and MCAT exams, required for admission to competitive schools and eligibility for coveted scholarships.8 In the summer of 2019, I visited with a recent graduate of Liberty University’s English program. The student was an honors graduate, who also
