What If?

Those of us who work in the humanities are all too familiar with how difficult it is to define what we do to those outside the humanities. The word “humanities” does not lend itself to the sound bite people have come to expect when explaining a concept, idea, or, in our case, a mission. But when asked this question — what the humanities are, what their value is — I often say the best way to understand both is to consider a world without them.

The thought experiment goes something like this:

First, imagine your hometown. Picture fully its streets, its buildings, its businesses and natural spaces, its attractions, the activities you undertake there, and all the experiences you associate with it.

Have all that in your mind?

Okay. Now, as if in some science fiction movie, begin to “vanish” parts of that vision.

Start with the obvious: your library. Not just the building itself, but all its books, magazines, DVDs…everything that has fed your curiosity about places beyond your town. Next, raze the museums and historical societies. All these havens of learning, where our civilization is chronicled and clues to its future are found.

Speaking of civilization, without the humanities, we might as well void those forums by which we exercise our democracy, such as the town halls and municipal buildings where our local government meets to wrestle with laws, ethics, civics (all disciplines of the humanities).

Same with the places where we find our arts, as the arts are deeply entwined with the humanities, each informing the other by asking us to consider the broadest questions of our existence, the questions we all stay up at night reflecting on — love and marriage, children, mortality, what gives our lives meaning.

Sooner or later, we arrive at a familiar place: our homes. No, I don't ask people to eliminate their homes! But I do ask them to consider what a dinner conversation now sounds like without a discussion about your child's school day, or the cultural sites you'll visit on your upcoming vacation, or the life issue your spouse is facing at work.

In fact, across all callings and jobs, the humanities — and the skills they give us — are active, whether it's in how we communicate with coworkers to how we respond to matters that test our judgments, our ethics, and our values.

It's not an exaggeration to say that our talent for being among humanity (what some people call our “emotional intelligence”) is made better by a closer relationship with what it means to be human; otherwise known as the humanities.

So, what does the picture in your head look like now?

It's true that you may still have your town without the humanities, but there's a more important question to ask: Is your town still worth living in?

This is the work of the humanities.

And that is the mission of Mass Humanities.

— David Tebaldi, Executive Director

Thousands of people — including teachers across the state — subscribe to Mass Moments, an online compendium of important events in Massachusetts history, one for every day of the year.

We bring families and storytellers together in public libraries through Family Adventures in Reading.

We offered Literature & Medicine, our reading and dicussions series that gives those who work in health care the chance to examine important issues that relate to their work, at seven MA hospitals in 2010, the most ever.

See how the Clemente Course in the Humanities
empowers residents of
Dorchester and New Bedford
in a video we produced
about two college-bound
2010 graduates, at our Web
site.

In 2010, we gave out more
than $300,000 in grants to museums, historical societies, educational
organizations that work with schools, and other agencies.

Many of our grants focus on art history or the use of art to explore issues that have historical and comtemporary
relevance.