Def: The study of the inter-webbing of all events, disciplines, and cultures as they relate to society and the human-experience.
This definition is best explained through the units in which we combined two seemingly opposite disciplines in order to more deeply examine the human experience. In Eric Kandel’s “Reductionism in Art and Brain Science: Bridging the Two Cultures,” the author explains that science and art are intertwined. Through readings and studies of art throughout history, we found a way to apply psychology and anatomy to our understanding of reductionist art. This was carried on throughout both of our study trips in Washington DC and Europe, where we viewed more art and observed how our bodies interacting with the space around us can affect the messages we take away from art pieces. For example, while in Berlin we visited a memorial for the women resisting Fascist Germany, in which depending on where you stood, you could interpret the message differently. From one angle, I felt surrounded by the sculpture and encapsulated by the women fighting for humanity, but if I positioned myself in line with the sculpture of the man sitting on a couch looking at the sculpture from across the lawn, I interpreted the piece to be one about complacency and the hidden evil behind it. Through these moments, I learned that Humanities involves your whole mind, all of your senses, and every niche of intellect.
