Dr. Zia Ahmed
Since the advent of market-driven universities, a serious issue has emerged regarding the status of humanities education. This situation has been further intensified by the rise of artificial intelligence, through which aspects of teaching and learning in the humanities are increasingly being outsourced. Consequently, humanities are being portrayed as vulnerable or even expendable disciplines, while universities appear more inclined to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, potentially at the expense of humanities departments. However, shutting down or marginalising the humanities would cause irreparable harm, particularly to young people. We are already witnessing high levels of stress, frustration, and anxiety among the youth, often identified as Generation Z. Many young individuals attempt to cope with their pressures through harmful or destructive behaviours. Recent reports from higher education institutions, including cases of attempted suicide and suicide, indicate a profound crisis. This crisis reflects not merely personal struggles but also a deeper lack of meaningful humanistic education that cultivates emotional resilience, ethical reflection, and critical self-understanding.
In earlier times, before the dominance of social media and artificial intelligence as sources of guidance, young people turned to philosophers, sages, elders, and experienced intellectuals for counsel. Societies benefited from sustained dialogue, ethical deliberation, and critical debate. These interactions fostered relatively stable and cohesive communities. Today, however, we increasingly seek solutions from artificial intelligence while relying less on the reflective disciplines of the humanities. As a result, anxieties, social fragmentation, anger, road rage, unstable relationships, and emotional distress appear to intensify with greater speed and depth. This condition calls not for the elimination of humanities education but for its renewal and strengthening.
Human beings are not machines, even if they are trained within mechanistic systems. They are complex beings shaped by emotions, psychology, empathy, and moral consciousness. Such beings cannot be treated solely through technological solutions. Human problems require human responses, and such responses cannot emerge without the intellectual and ethical foundations provided by the humanities. Consider psychological distress: it cannot be meaningfully addressed without understanding its social, cultural, and emotional causes. Effective solutions require insights drawn from psychology, sociology, philosophy, and literature-disciplines that cultivate interpretive depth and humane sensitivity. A stable and healthy society depends not only on technical expertise but also on individuals trained in these human-centred fields.
The growing trend toward reducing humanities education stems largely from economic considerations. Humanities disciplines often do not produce immediate financial profit compared to technology-driven industries. Market-oriented universities prioritise measurable returns on investment, whereas the humanities generate social, ethical, and political value rather than direct financial gain. Yet the original purpose of universities was not merely to produce economic profit but to cultivate knowledge, wisdom, and skills that contribute to a stable, humane, and thoughtful society. The market model increasingly narrows this broader mission.
Our age, marked by environmental crises, financial instability, geopolitical conflict, and widespread psychological distress, demands human-centred solutions more urgently than ever before. We need empathetic leadership, ethical reflection, and intellectual maturity to address the tensions of contemporary life. While science and technology provide indispensable tools, they cannot by themselves secure meaning, happiness, or social harmony. Human well-being ultimately depends on dialogue, community, ethical frameworks, and shared responsibility, which are the foundations historically strengthened by humanities education. Moreover, the erosion of ethical education has serious consequences. Moral frameworks that once guided social behaviour are weakening, and societies increasingly rely on punitive measures rather than moral formation to address crime and violence. Across the globe, conflicts and wars continue to escalate, and technological advancement in weaponry has not eliminated violence. Military solutions alone have never resolved the deeper causes of conflict. Even the world wars could not secure and guarantee peace for humanity. The violent crimes have increased more than ever in the presence of the highly advanced punitive measures and crime control departments. In comparison, many issues have been resolved through dialogue and shared knowledge and skills. The best solutions come up when the minds are sensitised instead of the bodies. Therefore, sustainable peace requires influencing the human mind by cultivating ethical reasoning, empathy, and intercultural understanding. Such transformation can only occur when disciplines like literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and related fields are given central importance within universities.
Humanities, therefore, are not destined to disappear because of university policies. Universities are ethically duty-bound to serve and improve the social health of society, which can be done best by promoting the humanities education. The state and societies should both come up to play their role in the promotion of a transformed model of humanities instead of eliminating the discipline altogether. Rather, universities risk intellectual decline if they fail to support and fund the humanities adequately. The future of higher education depends not solely on technological advancement but on maintaining a balanced commitment to both scientific innovation and humanistic wisdom. Only through such a balance can universities fulfil their true mission: nurturing thoughtful, ethical, and socially responsible human beings.
The writer is a professor of English at Government Emerson University, Multan. He can be reached at zeadogar@ hotmail.com and Tweets @Profzee
