 It was German-born physicist Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientific minds to ever live, who said “all religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.”
If that’s the case, certain branches are more healthy and flowering than others. As our technological advancement continues its relentless forward momentum and competition in global markets grows ever fiercer, the arts are losing ground, particularly in academia.
“As a historian, I cannot help but worry over the changes that threaten to overwhelm the humanities,” says Professor Robert Zaretsky of the University of Houston, in a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
In the Caribbean, the humanities are feeling it as well. From the secondary to the tertiary education level, subjects such as history, English literature and certain languages are seeing persistent decline in student interest.
In response, The UWI Regional Office of the University Registrar and the Faculties of the Humanities and Education (FHEs) jointly hosted “Transforming the Humanities”, a workshop for staff, students, and the public. They came together to find ways to re-energise the humanities and better communicate their potential for the development of Caribbean society.
The workshop convened on February 14, 2019 at The UWI Regional Headquarters, Mona Campus. Online audiences joined their Cave Hill, Mona and St Augustine colleagues through Zoom. Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles welcomed on campus and online attendees. FHE Deans from St Augustine, Mona, and Cave Hill (Dr Heather Cateau, Professor Waibinte Wariboko, and Professor Evelyn O’Callaghan respectively) spoke at the workshop. Dr Heather Hemming, Vice President Academic at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada, gave the keynote address.
UWI St Augustine Campus Principal Professor Brian Copeland, speaking on innovation and entrepreneurship, said the nexus of science and art was instrumental to innovation. “Studies have shown that creativity cuts across disciplines,” he said.
Not enough people seem to be getting the message. In her remarks, Dr Cateau noted the declining student enrolment at the St Augustine Campus in subjects such as history, carnival studies, linguistics, French, early childhood care and education, and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).
The picture was similar across campuses. Pro Vice-Chancellor of The UWI Board for Undergraduate Studies Professor Alan Cobley compared the 2015/2016 academic year with 2016/2017; it showed total enrolment in the FHEs on all four campuses (including the Open Campus) was lower.
This is not just a tertiary-level phenomenon. Unsurprisingly, the data correlates falling FHE enrolment with falling CSEC enrolment between 2014 and 2018 for secondary school humanities subjects. This was echoed at the CAPE level over the same period.
The workshop, however, was about much more than identifying the issues. Participants came bearing solutions. Dr Cateau proposed several strategies for widening access (including more flexible entry requirements, new programmes, and expanding programmes into its South Campus), and for moving the humanities from the abstract to the applied. These included re-engineering traditional disciplines and aligning programmes more closely to the developmental needs of the region.
She emphasised the importance of partnerships between the campuses as well as other institutions:
“Our small size means that the demand in certain specialisations per campus may prove to be challenging. Thus, we need cross campus and in some cases international collaboration to develop these areas.”
She also said that the Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) and film students would benefit from the next phase of development through the creation of graduate programmes.
“We think that the last 10 years have been about introducing these new areas (creative and festival arts and film) to the University at the Bachelor of Arts level. The next phase is to develop graduate programmes,” she said.
Dr Cateau also spoke on the strategy of “inter-disciplinarity”, partnering the humanities with other disciplines.
In his presentation, Professor Cobley spoke on the humanities and their role in developing well-rounded, emotionally healthy, and moral Caribbean people.
“An ideal Caribbean person values and displays the creative imagination in its various manifestations and nurtures its development in the economic and entrepreneurial spheres and in all areas of life.”
That is how you get an Einstein who, not only was trained in music from childhood, but once said that if he were not a scientist, he would have been a musician and that he thought in music.
Right now in secondary school or at The UWI, there may be a Caribbean Einstein, or Marie Curie (a gymnast in her younger years before becoming a Nobel Prize winning scientist), or even an actress like Hollywood film star Hedy Lamarr, an inventor who developed technology used in the US Navy.
The humanities can be an asset – once the tree is properly maintained.
Sabrina Vailloo is a writer and editor, and certified event coordinator. She is currently the head of branding at a local start-up. |
