Question Competency Identify key traditions and ideas influencing our culture. Humanities and How They Influence Culture Instructions In a written response of one to three pages, explain in detail what the Humanities are and how they influence culture.
Humanities and How They Influence Culture
Humanities refer to the branches of knowledge that study various aspects of human culture and society. Some aspects of humanities include art, politics, philosophy, and linguistics. These aspects significantly influence society, hence the need to study and understand them. One may also look at humanities from the way people conduct themselves in society and how their conduct is exhibited in the way they live. To that end, further aspects of humanities, such as technology, ideals, and regulations, come in. These aspects of humanities are depicted in the people’s cultural practices. Another aspect of humanities is realized in how people from different parts of the world communicate and understand one another through the cultural realm. Humanities mirror people’s image and the image of the world, thus having a significant influence on culture.
One of the impacts of humanities is their influence on the social composition of a community. Firstly, social cohesion is enhanced by helping people communicate better and express their points of view (Cunningham et al., 2014). Also, it enables citizens in an increasingly cultural world to understand the points of view of people from different cultural backgrounds. For instance, societies like South Africa and the US contain a highly diverse population. These people have different cultural backgrounds, but branches of humanities, such as history, help create a common ground that fosters cultural understanding. It becomes easier to understand one’s tendencies by learning about their historical background.
Another way humanities influences culture is by challenging widely accepted social norms and traditions. Once social norms are subjected to critical examination, they give rise to new ideals that form part of the culture (Cunningham et al., 2014). A good example of critical discourse is the extensive criticism against female circumcision, a practice that was traditionally practiced in a section of the Islamic culture. However, the recent revelations by science have overturned this practice and given rise to a completely different cultural alignment.
The impact of art on society also gives an insight into how humanities affect culture. Art influences society by changing opinions, instilling new values, and translating experiences across space and time (Boetzkes & Vinegar, 2014). Some popular art forms include paintings, sculptures, music, and literature. Unlike historical records, art provides a near real-time experience of how it felt to exist in a given period (Boetzkes & Vinegar, 2014). A good example of how art has been influential to culture over the period is the ‘Grave of Bonaparte’, which emphasizes the significance of freedom at home and abroad. The artwork played a significant role in influencing the anti-slavery movement in the US.
Culture also influences art, and this is expressed in the way artists create art. By using their cultural identity, artisans create artworks exhibiting different shapes, colors, sizes, people, patterns, and places that reflect their individual cultural identities (Boetzkes & Vinegar, 2014). Once artisans incorporate culture when creating cultural art, they create cultural arts that represent specific cultures. Some of the representations of cultural art are common in cuisines, graffiti, drawings on clothes, and patterns on curtains. Some of the most influential cultures on art include the Chinese and Islamic, which have been used for many years to shape art. These cultural arts primarily communicate the way of life and hospitable ideals that these cultures hold close. It is, therefore, obvious that culture influences art by expressing other branches of humanities.
Given the inter-relationships between humanities and people’s way of life, the study of humanities is fundamental. Firstly, the study of humanities helps preserve people’s most valued traditions and transmits them to the next generation. Humanities generally listen to people’s valued views and traditions and transmit them through branches of humanities such as archaeology, history, art, religion, and languages. Another benefit of studying humanities is that they have real-life applications in people’s everyday lives. For instance, artworks that represent wartime give people the opportunity to imagine bad times and prepare to avoid surprises. With such knowledge in mind, people can prepare and make informed decisions in their everyday lives. Also, the study of humanity is fundamental to fostering social cohesions. The study of humanity includes studying people’s history, religion, language, and cultural background, which helps people understand one another’s points of view.
In conclusion, humanities influence culture in a myriad of ways. One way in which the humaniti