In a book of retrospection, given to him by his children, my engineer brother recounted his experience of school.  Predictably, his favorite classes were math and science.  He had no meaningful memories of his humanities courses!

    Today, many colleges and universities, whether driven by politics, financial need, or simple pragmatism, are reducing their emphasis on the humanities and focusing their resources on programs that, they say, will enable students to earn a reasonable living in today's highly competitive (and materially obsessed) world.

    While I understand the motivation, I believe people are more than numbers and money.  Sure, we all want to live comfortably, and sure, we all want to find meaningful work.  Absolutely.  Yet if this is all that we find important, we are missing the core of who we are:  creatures of moral imagination.  And unless we are exposed to courses offering us opportunities to engage that imagination, we will fail in our efforts to construct a viable society.

    We'll lose our basis for wise and cogent deliberation, we'll miss our opportunities to understand ourselves as we deserve.  We will miss the point of existence.

    It's not about survival and fun.  It's about meaning.