Humanities @ Hamilton (H@H)

Hamilton College

Humanities are the historic core of the liberal arts. Today, they are the primary site within our current academic structure for posing questions about meaning, value and ethics. The humanities and the skills learned through their study are thus necessary for both personal and professional success. Scholars across the humanities explore issues of meaning in the broadest sense, from philology to metaphysics, from the meaning of words to the meaning of life. We ask questions about literary, artistic, and other kinds of value. We ask questions about value itself, what it means, and how else it has been thought and might be conceived. As the social expression of these concerns, the humanities also focus on ethics and the implications of various systems of meaning and value. In the broadest sense, then, the humanities ask questions about what it means to be human. As a result, among other things, we consider again and again the meaning and value of great works of art and culture from the past. And this perspective enriches and informs our appreciation and understanding of our contemporary moment. Abilities and habits of thought learned in the humanities are necessary not only to decisions of personal consequence. They are also necessary for professional success as crucial elements in business and leadership decisions. For the humanities cultivate abilities of skeptical judgment, empathy, discernment, and interpretation that must be taken into account in even the most practical of decisions. H@H has organized lecture series and brown bag lunches on the Hamilton campus.

Our Faculty Advisory Committee can be found [here](http://academics.hamilton.edu/humanities/about/steering-committee).