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Check out blog posts written by Zoe Forest, a freshman from El Segundo, California, and the Townsend Center’s undergraduate humanities writer. She is spending Spring 2018 attending talks and panels, interviewing faculty and grad students, and generally soaking up the wealth of humanities programming at the Townsend Center and across campus. Throughout the process, she writes about what she has learned.

"All around the country, forward-leaning professors are breathing digital life into the ancient practice of interpreting art and culture."

"Bachelor’s-degree graduates in engineering and the sciences earn roughly $10,000 to $30,000 more, but humanities majors catch up over time — and humanities majors more effectively close the pay gap between younger and older workers."

"The future of our democracy depends on a citizenry that deeply understands its past; that communicates clearly and effectively; that is able to read texts with care and discernment so that fact can be sorted from fiction; that understands ethics and the underpinnings of logic and what is at stake in the leading of an ethical life; that understands how to frame a clear and compelling argument based in rigorously produced research; that embraces the rich mosaic of difference in all its forms and understands that our differences are what make us great; that is multilingual and values di

"Those who create the science and technology that’s flooding our lives are not necessarily the best people to decide how their creations should be used...Rare are the prizes that reward pioneers in the humanities. But we need such people as much as tech wizards, especially when the world we live in becomes so hi-tech that it’s practically incomprehensible to most people."

"Without a proper education in the humanities, where we learn how to understand people we may never meet, how to evaluate arguments and charged rhetoric, and imagine differing scenarios from those we see every day, we may be doomed to the fate of many a failed democracy before us."

Through studying the humanities, one has the opportunity to get to know oneself and others better, the opportunity to become better able to understand and grapple with complex moral issues, the complexities and intricacies of humanity.

"Humanities and, more generally, liberal arts majors often end up with higher lifetime earnings than specifically trained employees — according to field experts and recent research — thanks to their well-rounded background and academic foundation."

"Regardless of major — from those in the humanities, such as literature, art, music, philosophy and religion, to social sciences such as psychology — broadly educated students historically succeed in careers across the workforce spectrum"

"Of course, we need technical experts...but we also need people who grasp the whys and hows of human behavior."
"although many fields of study tell their practitioners to empathize, only literature offers practice in doing it."
"the deep cultural knowledge businesses need comes not from numbers-driven market research but from a humanities-driven study of texts, languages, and people.”

"The salaries of humanities majors have some of the biggest growth over time"

"the ever-expanding tech sector is now producing career opportunities in fields — project management, recruitment, human relations, branding, data analysis, market research, design, fund-raising and sourcing, to name some — that specifically require the skills taught in the humanities"

Reading philosophy, history, and other social science works will help these new leaders define themselves and their companies in new and appealing ways and establish a focus that embraces the values that millennials share.

"Your liberal arts degree is far from worthless. In fact, it can give you an edge in the tech industry."

But the funny thing is that I’m still hiring more humanities majors than STEM grads, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Here’s why.

"Tech workers cannot afford to disengage from the social context that shapes their creations."

These three women share how their liberal arts degrees helped them get their jobs at Microsoft.