The benefits of science and engineering are obvious and tangible, while the humanities seem to be in constant need of defense; given the choice, most people would rather give up their bookshelves than their cars, computers and air conditioning units. Colleges have only a finite amount of resources, but before we fire all our humanities professors and turn Vanderbilt into a gigantic Stevenson Center, let’s pause for a moment.

As the years roll by and the humanities advance, we encounter no dramatic milestones, like splitting the atom or landing on the moon. Or do we? When we look back on America’s accomplishments, have we not forgotten that our incredible social achievements — such as the Constitution, the abolishment of slavery, the defeat of Nazism and Communism and the triumph of the civil rights movement — were advanced in large part outside the scientific realm? It might seem a stretch to ascribe these milestones to the work of literature and history professors, but we know at some point in their lives Jefferson, Lincoln, Churchill, King and Reagan acquired an appreciation for values worth fighting for, formulated solutions and learned to communicate them effectively. No doubt their readings of history and literature assisted in this.

Not all of us are destined to change the world, either socially like King or scientifically like Newton. But regardless of our circumstances and innate abilities, our educations — both scientific and humanistic, both inside and outside the classroom — formulate our values and shape us into productive and compassionate members of society.

A humanities education is an excellent counter to political propaganda and myths. For example, today many right-wingers see homosexuality as an existential threat to Western civilization, and U.S. military orthodoxy has it that allowing gays to serve openly would reduce morale. However, in ancient Greece homosexuality was encouraged among hoplites to promote unit cohesion and accepted as a part of polis life in general. Conversely, ancient Greece was regressive on women’s rights and slavery by today’s standards. In the evolution of “Western Civilization,” which aspects of ancient society have been kept and which have been discarded? Which have been imported from the “East?” Which have been invented only recently? Asking questions like these can help deflate the claims of ignorant talk-show hosts and jingoistic right-wing groups, and similar arguments can be made against radical claims of the far left.

Another charge leveled against the humanities is they only teach “useless facts.” But how “useless” are these “useless facts?” Useless by definition, of course, unless you use them. Personally, I believe the value of cocktail-party banter is chronically underestimated. Knowing the details of Hitler’s childhood may not instantly make you the life of the party, but if you ever find yourself discussing Hitler or any one of a million other random topics with a new friend, coworker or boss, you stand a better chance of making a favorable impression than if your only memory from college courses was solving page after page of integrals.

Though humankind has attained impressive achievements in science and the humanities, we have only scratched the surface of what we are capable. In every aspect of our lives there will always be problems that need to be solved, and, armed with critical scientific and humanistic tools, they can be solved. All learning is good learning and students should be free to enroll in the courses in which they feel they would learn the most.

—Jesse Jones is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Science. He can be reached at jesse.g.jones@vanderbilt.edu.