The first assignment for the humanities class I am taking was to write three paragraphs explaining:
This was harder than I would have thought, mostly because it is difficult to come up with what I was bringing to the class. It's also hard to expand on the questions for more than a sentence or two. I've never been particularly verbose, so it's hard to fill out a paragraph on simple ideas.
In any case, it's the first assignment to turn in, so hopefully there will be some reasonable feedback for future assignments. It's difficult to know what the professor expects ahead of time, which is part of why the assignment was made to begin with. The professor wanted to evaluate everyone's writing, and give some feedback.
Understanding past cultures and how they expressed themselves through art encourages an understanding of your own culture and its historical context. Without this context it is difficult to be truly creative and innovative because you have not been exposed to what has already been done. It doesn’t matter if your profession is directly related to the arts or to sciences, an appreciation for other cultures other than your own, past and present, will help you better understand the people around you and what makes them unique. This understanding can only make you a better person and increase your ability to live and work in a diverse environment.
As the son of a professional artist I have some background knowledge of art throughout the ages, but most of it is from a more recent time period. I have been exposed to art mostly from the time period beginning in the 16th century or so and geographically from Europe and America rather than Africa and Asia. I’ve studied a little bit of art history vicariously through my mother while she took classes in the subject, and visited various museums, but otherwise have no formal exposure to the art of the world.
I’m looking forward to learning more about ancient and foreign cultures. There are many incredible works of art that have lasted for hundreds or thousands of years that rival anything that has been done by contemporary artists. Understanding how they were made, and why they were important to the cultures that created them, provides an insight into the people living in that time and place that is difficult to otherwise discern. History can be a dry subject to people that are not otherwise interested in it, but it can be brought to life by the art of the people being studied.