Understanding the Greater Story: Inside SUA’s Humanities Concentration

October 10, 2024

• Humanities
• Campus News

If you step into a humanities classroom at SUA, you might overhear a lively discussion about a Shakespeare play, Japanese cinema from the silent era, or the music of Kendrick Lamar. You might dive into the cultural context of a medieval Chinese novel, an Expressionist painting, or why an oompah band from Germany sounds similar to Norteño music from Mexico. You will likely leave the classroom having learned something about an artistic movement or a moment in history. But most importantly, no matter the topic, you will have examined some of the essential questions about what it means to be human.

The Humanities Concentration at SUA includes courses in history, literature, philosophy, art history, and music history. Unlike a traditional college major in any one of these fields, however, a SUA liberal arts degree with a Humanities Concentration equips students to think broadly and follow lines of inquiry across disciplines.

"We try to find points of inquiry where we can look at many different fields at once," said John Kehlen, director of the Humanities Concentration and professor of Asian literature. "We make comparisons and try to serve as a bridge between cultures, people, and languages."

An example of this interdisciplinary approach is Music and Ecology, a class developed by Professor Michael Golden, who teaches music composition and theory in the Creative Arts program as well as world music and music history within the Humanities Concentration. This course investigates the relationships between humans and our social and physical environments through the lens of our musical behaviors, or musicking. In pursuit of this question, the course explores a wide range of fields, including ethnomusicology, evolution, ecology, systems thinking, and the philosophy of cognition, among others. Golden believes that engaging with music is an essential part of being human and that studying it from multiple perspectives can help us understand and appreciate our own humanity.

Exercising SUA's Founding Values

Cultivating this kind of deeper understanding is central to SUA's mission of fostering open-minded and compassionate global citizens. Nalini Rao, associate professor of world art, emphasizes that learning the historical context of a work of art allows us to refrain from passing judgment and instead strive to understand the time and culture in which an artist lived.

"In that way, you're understanding people," she said. "You're not just understanding oil paint or stone."

Being a scholar of the humanities is often an exercise in SUA's founding values: the wisdom to perceive the interconnectedness of all life, the courage not to fear or deny difference, and the compassion to maintain an imaginative empathy that reaches beyond one's immediate surroundings.

"A humanities student very quickly learns that there is always something deeper," Kehlen said. "There is always a greater story beyond the story."

Knowledge of the Past, Skills for the Future

While students gain a great deal of discipline-specific knowledge, the Humanities Concentration primarily equips them with "the ability to read deeply, to think critically, and to communicate clearly," as Kehlen put it. These skills are applicable to a wide range of careers, whether students plan on pursuing graduate studies or joining the workforce after graduation.

Natsuha Kataoka '23, who is currently earning a Ph.D. in Asian and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Cambridge, credits the humanities classes she took at SUA with instilling the intellectual rigor to become a responsible scholar.

"I read extensively, wrote frequently, and revised continuously," she said. "The habit of challenging my own thinking…truly prepared me for the tough but rewarding journey of becoming a more well-rounded thinker and global citizen."

Current students agree that their scholarly training in the humanities has enabled them to hone their critical thinking and writing skills.

"My writing has improved a lot," said Allison Etrata '25. "I've always been such an uncomfortable writer, because writing is a manifestation of your thoughts, and that's very vulnerable. Humanities professors really helped me come out of my shell in that sense."

Hannah Schneider '25 is interning at a nonprofit organization in Jewish language advocacy, and her experience studying humanities has helped her excel in her current position.

"I've had a lot of different types of responsibilities that I've never had before," she said. "I'm able to be flexible and shine within different roles that I wasn't necessarily directly educated for, but I can adapt because the humanities give you that type of adaptive thinking."

Marina Inoue '25 especially values the way the concentration has enabled her to apply a humanistic lens to global issues.

"It transcends nationality, religion, gender, any barriers that humans are creating," she said of this approach to examining real-world problems. She added that the conversations she has had with professors and other humanities students have helped her "better understand the way to connect theory to life and practice."

The humanities provide a rich foundation for living a contributive life, but sometimes students still worry about their employment opportunities if they choose this concentration.

"The idea that you can't make a living if you study humanities is a dangerous myth," Golden said. "The success of our graduates, including achieving advanced degrees and professional success in many fields, academic and beyond, is proof of the value of the kind of training in broad humanistic thinking that is the focus of our concentration."

SUA graduates in the humanities have worked in publishing, journalism, film and television, and video game design. They have founded NGOs to promote literacy and worked for major cultural institutions like the Guggenheim Museum. They have made contributions to theater and performance, education, the nonprofit sector, and international business. Many have gone to graduate school and become experts in translation, ethnomusicology, art history, art conservation, archeology, museum studies, ethnic studies, classics, literature, history, and many other fields. One alumnus even went on to study traditional Chinese medicine.

"I believe the best thing to do as an undergraduate today is get a broad perspective on the world and find something that inspires you," Golden said. "What the humanities can offer - developing a truly multidisciplinary perspective and critical thinking - these are the most important vocational training. If we're going to contribute to solving the world's problems, we need to become people who can think that way."

A Springboard for Future Endeavors: Humanities Capstone Projects

Students' capstone projects offer some of the best examples of how the humanities foster interdisciplinary inquiry. Similar to an undergraduate thesis, the capstone project at SUA gives students the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of a topic in their concentration by performing extensive research and producing a coherent and substantial treatment of the topic by the end of their fourth year. In many cases, the opportunity to explore an area of interest in depth ends up influencing students' pursuits after graduation.

"I am very proud of my capstone project," alumna Kataoka said, "where I explored the concept of the manipulation of nature in clothing in 11th-century Japanese court literature. The project allowed me to dive deep into a fascinating intersection of fashion, nature, and literary expression." Kataoka said this project "became a springboard" for her doctoral research at Cambridge, where she examines "women's experiences through fashion as a form of education in 19th-century Japan."

Rafael Schultz '21, who is currently finishing an M.A. at the University of Chicago Divinity School and plans to continue to a Ph.D. program, said his capstone project affirmed his choice to attend graduate school and study Japanese philosophy. His capstone examined nihilism across cultures through analyzing philosopher Nishitani Keiji's interpretations of Friedrich Nietzche.

Like alumni Kataoka and Schultz, current humanities student Schneider's capstone topic relates to her plans to pursue a graduate degree. She is currently applying to M.A. programs in Jewish studies while working on a capstone about S. Ansky's play The Dybbuk. Her capstone will use the play as a lens to study pre-Holocaust Ashkenazi civilization.

Humanities capstones facilitate a synthesis of different fields, sometimes including areas outside the concentration, such as psychology, sociology, or political science. For example, Etrata is working on a capstone that looks at the Hawaiian cultural renaissance and its impact on the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. After graduation, she plans to work in native Hawaiian advocacy, possibly through completing a native Hawaiian law program.

Inoue's capstone also spans several fields and has tangible, real-world applications. She is working on a peace-building project related to the war in Ukraine. Her research will look at how different types of art can instill empathy in people who are usually encouraged, through news and other media, to see the war through a political lens that lacks nuance and compassion.

Allison Johnson, who teaches music history and has overseen more than a dozen capstone projects, said she is always impressed with what humanities students accomplish.

"Soka students are boundless in their creativity," she said, "and how they take a concept and then make it their own."

"Find the Answer for Yourself": Advice for Potential Humanities Students

SUA students, faculty, and alumni offered some honest and insightful advice for students who are considering the humanities but are not yet sure whether it is the right concentration for them.

"People are scared of the amount of writing you have to do," Schneider said. "I would say don't be, because it's really meaningful writing. You're not doing that type of rote writing where you're just trying to fill a word count. You're really trying to think about how you approach an assignment, and I think it's very rewarding."

Concentration director Kehlen stresses that contrary to what some students believe, students in the humanities do not need to have a natural knack for writing. Instead, they must simply be willing to work diligently at self-improvement. In doing so, students will also learn that there are no definite answers in the humanities.

"I can't tell a student, 'The poem means this,' or 'This is the purpose of the film,'" he said. "You have to find the answer for yourself and express it in your own language, which is a demanding but liberating task that can even become an expression of the joy of learning itself."

Rao, who teaches both history and art history within the concentration, recommends that students in the humanities take every course in their area of interest. If there are no courses offered in a topic you would like to learn about, she said, try suggesting it to your professors. She advises following your curiosity and reading every book and journal article you can about the subjects that interest you.

Humanities professors often encourage students to pursue this kind of independent inquiry, which is one of the reasons why Inoue recommends taking a class with a humanities professor, even if you are not concentrating in humanities.

"All my general education courses, I took with humanities professors," she said. "They made me want to take humanities. It's just the way they challenge your view on life."

Music history instructor Johnson agrees that any student, no matter what they plan to study, will find something valuable and relevant in a humanities course.

"There's so much relatability [in the humanities]," she said. "It's not some esoteric study that you'll never use again. I can almost guarantee that you're going to come in and learn something that's related to what you do in other classes or your other interests."

Alumni emphasized that it's important to remember how the humanities can offer more than purely intellectual growth.

"By all means learn to read these various thinkers in a scholarly and detached manner," Schultz said, "but don't forget to let them speak to you either." Fellow alum Kataoka agreed, highlighting the delight and wonder she experienced as a student.

"I never imagined how much joy there could be in engaging in dialogue with thinkers and authors across different times, cultures, and languages," she said. "The humanities…allow you to have the most intimate, heartwarming conversations with those who walked on the earth before us and left something wise to say about the human experience."