Assignment- NHR Response

NHR Response

The New Humanities Reader advocates for the concept of interdisciplinary learning. Rather than encouraging specialization in a single subject, it calls for the cultivation of well-rounded and well-versed individuals, who can utilize their knowledge and experience from a variety of fields, to deal with issues of modern society. In a traditional curriculum, teachers emphasized in-depth analysis of singular topics, while training students to establish philosophical themes in works of literary merit and provide textual evidence to support sed claim. However, the New Humanities Reader looks to move away from classical works of the past towards relevant modern topics, and teach students to approach these issues with a holistic perspective. In essence, the vision of the New Humanities Reader is to provide students with a breadth of subjects, and enable them to draw connections and synthesize information into a common concern. This type of learning is built on the foundation that a specific issue can be addressed with the collaboration of different practices, and by training students to peer through several lenses, rather than one, they will be more equipped to handle the challenges that impede a twenty-first century world.

In earlier years of schooling, English class was focused around developing young adults who
can comprehend reading material, formulate a coherent argument, reinforce their argument with evidence, and perhaps even connect the work to a more universal theme. It is necessary that individuals possess these skills as they enter the next phase of their lives, whether it be continuing their education or starting a successfull career; though, the masteration of these skills is only prepartation for more complex topics and real-world matters. The New Humanities Reader expands on what high school and elementary educators initially taught students by allowing students to apply these skills to a diverse, complex set of problems, as opposed to a specified, more simplified one.