Introductory Assignment

After reading through The New Humanities textbook, I realized that the benefit of the class lies in the reality that all people need to be able to convey their ideas in a coherent, efficient, and professional fashion. I also realized that the writing education that I have had in high school never placed too much emphasis on the non-fiction prose. It is important for me as a reader and writer to push myself to adopt a new mindset that allows me to be able to connect various areas and schools of thought in different ways. Ultimately, being able to explore the world through different lenses, making sense my environment, and analyzing my observations are keys skills that go beyond just being able to write. It involves being able to think.

Going into this course, I believed that as engineer, writing would be less useful to me than my other classes, however, after reading through I understand that this course will not only help me in my career, but also in my everyday life as a globally aware and responsible citizen. The textbook mentioned that because of specialization, we as a people tend to shy away from areas outside of our comfort zone, yet some of things we avoid could easily educate us in ways that makes more informed about the issues of our time. A narrowed line of thinking can prevent us from thinking in a connective fashion that is useful in our daily lives. And being able to master this flow of thought that analyzes and connects various areas of thought is what the the textbook meant by “writing as a way of thinking new thoughts”

“The New Humanities… enlarge the arena of human concern… They invite us to take academic knowledge beyond the confines of the university. In a certain sense, this operation requires that we become our own teachers...” This ideology addresses the faults in the old humanities. The antiquated mindset that focuses solely on specialization and academic knowledge prevents us from looking at our life experiences and and making making more philosophically challenging decisions. This quote shows us that we should be looking at the here and now instead of becoming obsessed with the past.

The shared horizon is the connection of various different texts and subjects that combine knowledge into a more unified and coherent picture. It is when, as a reader, we make connections from the text to the outside world, other classes, or even other texts that we have read. Another important term is perspective view. Since it is also important to be creative while reading, thinking about the possible directions a book could go in is also very key.

All in all, The New Humanities will force me to excercise my writing and reading abilities, but will also for me to learn how to think in a more connective manner that will allow me to have a more whole picture of my education.