Dean’s Message

The study of the Humanities is what sets a degree from Howard Payne apart from that of a technical or professional school. When people talk about a “liberal arts university,” one of the things they mean is a school that requires courses in the Humanities. Such degrees have added value because they signify a broad-based education that emphasizes adaptability, reading and writing skills, and critical (and creative) thinking. Such characteristics serve in any career and endure over a lifetime of employment, no matter what the economy might do.

Of equal importance, the Humanities teach us what it is to be human, what it means to live a fulfilling life. To major or minor in the School of Humanities allows one to speak and interact in foreign cultures, to read carefully, to write with style and grace, and to understand the present through a knowledge of the past. Our courses demonstrate how societies and civilizations are organized, how their laws are formed and enforced, and how their most needy are cared for. Our classes open a door into the workings of the human mind and personality. To quote Matthew Arnold, these disciplines give you “the best that is known and thought in the world.”

Every student at Howard Payne, in every degree, is required to take a significant number of Humanities courses as part of his or her education. Click on the “Department” link at the left and take the next step, by considering a major or minor in one of these fields. It will be one of the hardest and most rewarding things you have ever done.

Sincerely,
Dr. Millard Kimery, Dean
School of Humanities
Howard Payne University
mkimery@shorinji-kempo.net