Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 For such a time as this: the Council of Societies for the Study of Religion, 1969–2009
- Part I Inventing and reinventing the field of religious studies
- Part II Method and theory in religious studies
- Part III Teaching religion
- Part IV Women and the bible in religious studies
- Part V Religion and religious studies in civic life
- 24 Contemporary socio-political change and the work of religious studies
- 25 The scholar of religion as a cultural critic: perspectives from Denmark
- 26 What are the humanities and why do they matter? The case of religion and public life
- 27 Response to Gary Lease's “What are the humanities, and why do they matter?”
- 28 So, what are we professing here? Religion, the liberal arts, and civic life
- 29 Response to Raymond B. Williams's “So, what are we professing here? Religion, the liberal arts, and civic life”
- 30 Response to Raymond B. Williams's “So, what are we professing here? Religion, the liberal arts, and civic life”
- 31 Response to Raymond B. Williams's “So, what are we professing here? Religion, the liberal arts, and civic life”
- 32 Rejoinder
- Part VI Religious studies and identity politics
- Part VII Islam and 9/11
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgments
- Index
27 - Response to Gary Lease's “What are the humanities, and why do they matter?”
from Part V - Religion and religious studies in civic life
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 For such a time as this: the Council of Societies for the Study of Religion, 1969–2009
- Part I Inventing and reinventing the field of religious studies
- Part II Method and theory in religious studies
- Part III Teaching religion
- Part IV Women and the bible in religious studies
- Part V Religion and religious studies in civic life
- 24 Contemporary socio-political change and the work of religious studies
- 25 The scholar of religion as a cultural critic: perspectives from Denmark
- 26 What are the humanities and why do they matter? The case of religion and public life
- 27 Response to Gary Lease's “What are the humanities, and why do they matter?”
- 28 So, what are we professing here? Religion, the liberal arts, and civic life
- 29 Response to Raymond B. Williams's “So, what are we professing here? Religion, the liberal arts, and civic life”
- 30 Response to Raymond B. Williams's “So, what are we professing here? Religion, the liberal arts, and civic life”
- 31 Response to Raymond B. Williams's “So, what are we professing here? Religion, the liberal arts, and civic life”
- 32 Rejoinder
- Part VI Religious studies and identity politics
- Part VII Islam and 9/11
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgments
- Index
Summary
In his article “What Are the Humanities, and Why Do They Matter?” Gary Lease suggests that the study of the humanities in a university setting concerned with “establishing a basic, indeed fundamental ‘habit’ of thought.” In its fostering of conversation guided by rules of ratiocination, and extending both across temporal and cultural boundaries, the humanities are the primary place in which “individual and collective values are forged, debated, and ultimately shared.” This is necessary, it would seem, “for the construction of community on one hand, and the mitigation of destructive egoism on the other.” If indeed this is what the humanities in a modern American university are all about, as well as teaching “the ability to express oneself clearly and accurately, the skill of critical evaluation, the courage to make choices based on shared values and priorities” then it's hard to see why any sensible person, or even a legislator or corporate donor, wouldn't give them full support.
One issue, however, is whether the values Lease articulates emerge in actual humanities courses, and whether students perceive the formation of certain habits of thought as the goal of the humanities courses they take. Lease suggests that the “humanities not only avoid dogma, they are positively anti-dogmatic.” Yet in the last century scholars in the humanities have, at several points, felt that they have come to understand human truths so fundamental that they demand committed action, including using them as the absolute basis for the kinds of analysis undertaken in basic humanities research.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Reinventing Religious StudiesKey Writings in the History of a Discipline, pp. 179 - 181Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2013