I’m an English major who is hardly ever happier than when analyzing a poem and who would never tire of rereading parts of “Gilead.” But rather than taking as many English classes as possible, I have taken classes in history, politics, and philosophy. I’ve found it a fruitful approach among many possible rewarding courses of study, and would encourage fellow students with a broad interest in the humanities and who have only one major to do likewise.
To an underclassman considering an English, history, politics, or philosophy major, I would encourage you to find your deepest love in the humanities. It may be hard to choose, but don’t double-major and don’t have any minors. This method will allow you to have a clear focus, and help you maintain the necessary balance in education between breadth and depth.
But then, from that central major, you can branch outward. Take the other classes in the humanities that interest you. And certainly take classes in math, science, or whatever else you find intriguing. All knowledge is ultimately connected. There are direct applications between the insights of 17th-century political thinkers that you learn in Western Heritage II with Assistant Professor of History Matthew Gaetano that can illuminate your appreciation of those same thinkers in the Congress class with Associate Professor of Politics Kevin Portteus.
Extra humanities classes are enjoyable, make your mind work in different ways, and ultimately reinforce the central trunk of your main major. I think I’m a better English major because I’ve taken American Political Thought and Medieval Philosophy. From the outset of my studies here, I have been able to think about exactly what studying English means in part by considering it alongside similar alternative disciplines. Biochemistry could show you what English is not. But by being more related, history, philosophy, and politics have showed me what is unique to my major as well as the strengths all four disciplines share.
But even if you are an upperclassman, you can still follow this approach. Maybe you’re a history major who hasn’t taken a politics class beyond Constitution. For your last semester here, you could take a politics class on a person you’ve covered in a history class, such as Locke. Maybe you’re an English major who isn’t planning on taking a philosophy class. You may be surprised how much Instructor of Philosophy Lee Cole’s teaching Aquinas on human nature helps you to think more deeply when Robinson talks about the soul in “Gilead.”
Maybe you’ve decided what you think about the intellectual disagreements between the history and politics departments, and you’d rather take classes with what you consider a more robust account of Lincoln. Being willing to take classes in departments with a different angle on the world but examining the same sorts of topics that your favorite department does is a way of showing that you are open to dialogue and discussion. And what is liberal education without the exchange of ideas? Hearing what Associate Professor of History Richard Gamble has to say about Lincoln may help you to refine your own perspective. Maybe you’ve taken Intro but are intimidated by an upper-level philosophy course. You might get it the second time around, and much of the difficulty that comes with philosophy is simply the difficulty of pursuing wisdom and thinking rightly. It’s a worthy challenge.
Regardless of your specific circumstance, you should still try to take all four, not omitting the one that scares you or you might disagree with the most. Yes, you may have taken core classes in all of these disciplines. Though the introductory classes are a necessary beginning, further classes truly introduce you to the discipline and the style of writing proper to it. Here’s an example: In Western and American Heritage, you don’t have to write a full-length paper. You could go through Hillsdale as a humanities major without writing a history research essay. Going beyond is simply finishing what you started.
Yet what I have appreciated most about these extra classes in all four disciplines is that they remind me that my discipline, beautiful and insightful as it is, is not the best at finding answers. And they help my understanding of man’s multifaceted nature be a little more complete than it otherwise would be.