 Dear Reader,
As a new report details a decline in certain humanities majors for the eighth consecutive year, I thought about my recent re-reading of The Odyssey, Homer’s epic poem about one man’s tortured journey back to the island of Ithaca during the Trojan war, and wondered what will become of the few who care deeply about studying such texts. Only 4 percent of college graduates in 2020 majored in English, history, philosophy or foreign languages and literature. Instead, students are increasingly gravitating toward majors with clear job prospects in business, engineering and health-related fields, our columnist Jill Barshay explains.
At The Hechinger Report, we’ve spent years covering trends like this one, largely focusing on the inequality that permeates higher education along with innovations that are changing it forever. But re-reading The Odyssey and a delightful book helping to explain it by the classicist Daniel Mendelsohn, I came upon his words defending study of the classics “for teaching us how to be human beings and citizens” – a critical lesson during this fraught time when the pandemic is forcing all of us to live with loss.
“You can study accounting, it’s authentically practical in one way,” Mendelsohn wrote. “But when your father dies, your accounting degree is not going to help you at all to process that experience. Homer will help you. The Odyssey will help you. Great literature will help you think about mortality and losing loved ones. That seems very practical to me now.”
Give it some thought and us know what you think; we love to hear from our readers. And for those returning home or traveling elsewhere for Thanksgiving, safe journeys ahead, from all of us at The Hechinger Report.
Liz Willen, Editor
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