About Us

What are the Humanities?

Many academic disciplines fall under this category, ranging from philosophy, history, and religion to modern and classical languages. At their core, the Humanities consider the enduring, as well the contingent, questions that have shaped the trajectories of human inquiry from the ancient past into the future.

The Institute follows the National Endowment for the Humanities adherence to the 1965 National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, which states: “The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.”  (National Endowment for the Humanities)