When I tell people I’m majoring in sociology and Spanish, their response is almost guaranteed to be something vaguely critical of the social sciences and humanities. My favorite response I’ve received is “you’re just wasting your parents’ money” from a Floridian taxi driver. Despite the popular misconception that degrees dedicated to the social sciences and humanities are unnecessary, the current sociopolitical climate has rendered them more important now than ever.
Not only are the social sciences and humanities scoffed at by the general public, they’re relentlessly pitted against the fields related to science, technology, engineering and math. These two fields of study are based in completely different skill sets but cannot escape comparison. I find it offensive that the social sciences and humanities are criticized simply because their content matter is misunderstood.
The social sciences and humanities are much more than just using common sense. The humanities — the critical study of literature, art, language, history and philosophy — are imperative to understanding the human condition, which aids us in creating connections across cultural boundaries. The social sciences — the study of how humans behave and interact within societies — are imperative in understanding how society and its many institutions function.
These fields of study cultivate the ability to analyze data, think critically and make connections between concepts, clearly communicate ideas and practice creativity.
As our society has become increasingly technology-focused, the social sciences and humanities have become less and less respected and pursued. In our post-industrial society, engineering, coding and medicine are the fields backed by prominent figures and institutions. However, the social sciences and humanities still play a silent role in our everyday lives. Though we rarely pause to examine the role of history and anthropology in modern times, they are fields essential to understanding the current sociopolitical climate.
The humanities and social sciences are undeniably intertwined with modern politics. A comprehensive understanding of history, anthropology, political science, sociology and psychology is dangerous to regimes looking to obtain absolute power. These fields teach students how to recognize historical patterns of injustice and intervene. The ability to think critically inspires intervention; as a result, institutions that promote the social sciences and humanities are under attack.
President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders actively highlight his goal to control the historical narrative. On March 27, Trump issued an executive order claiming that the Smithsonian Institution promotes a “divisive, race-centered ideology,” calling to restore it to “its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness.”
The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846, maintains 21 museums, libraries, research centers and the National Zoo — its goal is to increase and diffuse knowledge. The Smithsonian acknowledges the importance of both “look[ing] back to understand our history and learn[ing] from it” and “look[ing] forward to the future.” In coming years, the Institution plans to open two new museums: the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, which they hope will “tell a more complete story about who we are as a nation and give us the opportunity to be the model for the next generation of museums.”
Although the Smithsonian Institute maintains science, art and history museums, Trump’s executive order is directed towards those that highlight narratives of people of color and expose the United States’ history of systematic discrimination. Unsurprisingly, Trump is attacking centers of education that highlight the injustices faced by marginalized groups in the United States. The social sciences and humanities highlight the truth and importance of the narratives mentioned in the executive order. Trump, however, claims that educational institutions subject people to “ideological indoctrination [and] divisive narratives that distort our shared history.”
The “shared history” he refers to is the dominant white, straight, cisgender male narrative that has shaped our country’s discriminatory practices.
Now more than ever, it’s imperative to uplift the centers of knowledge that expose the general public to the suppressed narratives of African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos and American women, among many others.
The social sciences and humanities are fundamental to the diffusion of these narratives. Both STEM and the social sciences and humanities are necessary fields of study. One cannot exist without the other. An understanding of how the physical world works means practically nothing if we can’t understand ourselves, and vice versa.