HUMANITIES AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF HISTORY AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE

Abstract

Humanities are academic disciplines that study human culture. In the middle ages 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 contrasted with natural, physical and something social science as well as professional training. The debatable question from many people from different disciplines has always been: of what use is humanity towards the development of human life? This question goes a long way to challenge the usefulness of humanities to the development of man unlike science and technology which have “revolutionized” the planet. Findings indicate that this question arises as a result of improper research on the discipline or just ignorance about the discipline. Humanities are the natural history of culture and our most private precious heritage. The humanities consist of the study of what makes us human and what it means to be human. As the study delves into every aspects of existence it intersects with the natural and social sciences. Both literature, theatre, film, television and computer games are stories and ideas through which one expresses one’s humanity. Nobody is an exception to these and other contributions of humanities. This work establishes a nexus between humanities and history especially with regard to their relevance towards the development of mankind. This paper also looks at how life would have looked like without humans and their history which is buried in their culture. The study pretexts that science, technological innovations and development would have been difficult to be appreciated and calculated without humans to record the detail which is the main domain of history being one of the most vital fields of humanities.