Knowing our Strength : Humanities Skills as Transformative Skills

Abstract

In this paper, I take inspiration from Matthew Arnold's notion of cultural criticism, to uphold an aspirational and idealistic undercurrent of literary studies as a cultural and social good of particular importance in these times of intersecting crises. I link Arnold's vision of culture with contemporary educational frameworks, particularly Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), which emphasizes competencies like systems thinking, values awareness, and critical reflection. Through their long-established pedagogical practices, I argue, the humanities are well-positioned to cultivate such skills, making them central to fostering societal change. Rather than to call our fundamental mission and our traditional methods into question in face of the many institutional, political and social challenges we are facing, we should reclaim the utopian potential of our discipline, and assert its indispensable role in shaping a more just, sustainable future through education and intellectual inquiry.