Restructuring spells the end for the humanities

Dylan Hostetter, Opinions and Humor Editor

As an English major and member of the College of Humanities and Sciences here at VCU, I have a vested interest in the recent plans proposed by the VCU Academic Repositioning Task Force regarding future academic restructuring. 

The Richmond Times Dispatch’s recent article brought this story to my attention. It reported that the College of Humanities and Sciences has shrunk by about 1% in the past year, while the College of Engineering and School of Business grew by 11% and 5% respectively. 

As a result of these statistics, the Academic Repositioning Task Force made suggestions that will “focus on making some departments more business-focused,” with one of their ideas being “to merge the School of Media and Culture with the School of Business or the Brandcenter, VCU’s renowned graduate school for advertising, branding and marketing.”

The growth of more business-focused schools could mean danger for the College of Humanities and Sciences and other arts-focused departments. Though Fotis Sotiropoulos, senior vice president for academic affairs, said he has no plans to cut humanities, it is clear where his priorities lie.

Sotiropoulos framed these new changes as being to better serve students who are seeking degrees that will directly translate to jobs. I understand that students want a more concrete promise of employment from their degree, but in today’s ever-fluctuating job market, I do not think that is a reality.

I empathize with people who seek security in a college degree, I really do. I myself am not sure exactly where an English degree will lead me, but I trust it will instill me with the skills necessary to forge that path. Pursuing an English degree is not about learning the English language, it is about learning to think critically and communicate effectively — skills which prepare you for many avenues of employment.

To study the humanities at large is to study what it means to be human — arts, culture and language. A student in the humanities is not looking for a business degree or the most lucrative career, they are searching for fulfillment in their lives.

The arts and humanities face enough disrespect as it is, and combining the Schools of Media and Culture with the School of Business is just another example. It would more or less completely extinguish its artistic identity — in a business-focused university, which do you think would take academic priority, art or business?

Eliminating the arts would eliminate the very heart of higher education. This world does not need more drones punching numbers into computers — we have AI for that — what we need is more people finding creative solutions to the problems of our world.

The task force even cited artificial intelligence as a concern for the future, yet is choosing to promote a school housing majors that AI will surely make irrelevant in the coming years, such as accounting and information systems.

Sotiropoulos cited a comment made by Mark Cuban to CNBC in which he said AI will reduce the demand for computer science degrees and that “creativity, collaboration and communication skills” will make the difference.

It is counterintuitive to me that Sotiropoulos referenced such a comment, which clearly heralds the importance of the humanities, while at the same time calling for the change of such programs here at VCU. While restructuring may not be the same as outright cutting, it still points towards a lack of respect for the department. 

The College of Humanities and Sciences may have shrunk, but restructuring — changing the very heart of what it means to be a humanities student — to draw in job-minded students would only serve to disenfranchise those who are interested in the major for its true meaning.

A degree in the humanities and a degree in business are not meant to mesh. They are quite separate for a reason — different degrees, different departments, different schools. Forcing arts-minded students and faculty into business-focused fields is like mixing oil and water. It would have disastrous effects for everyone involved.