‘Love humanities’ day gets Massey support

‘Love humanities’ day gets Massey support

Studying the humanities often gets a bad rap through persistent misunderstandings – but a national day of action calling for the nation to ‘love humanities’ aims to highlight its value to our society.

It is a theme that Massey University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences has ardently voiced and proactively addressed, through the launch of its refreshed Bachelor of Arts degree last year. College academics also contribute regular think pieces to mainstream media and run public debates on the relevance and vital importance of arts graduates to the modern workplace and society.

The Tertiary Education Union’s (TEU) Love Humanities national day of action and social media campaign (#lovehumanities) on Wednesday 22 February at universities across New Zealand is timely and a great way to raise awareness, says Massey’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley.

At Massey’s Manawatū campus, TEU representative Heather Warren is running a ‘love-bombing’ event at lunchtime, inviting participants to write why they love the humanities onto a cardboard heart then have their photo taken for sharing on social media. There will be a movie or show ticket prize for the top slogan.

At the Auckland campus in Albany, TEU representatives will be handing out postcards with inspirational quotes from humanities writers and thinkers. Humanities staff members across Massey’s three campuses are being invited to take part in the on-campus and social media campaigns.

Humanities subjects are those that, literally, teach and research human culture and the human condition, and include history, literature, linguistics, modern and ancient languages, philosophy, classical studies, religion and musicology.

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