What is Humanities?

What is a "humanities" class?

• We just got our class choices for next year and as I was looking over the AP choices, I noticed that AP humanities was on it. So I have a few questions about it: What is AP humanities? (The teacher has a bunch of art around his room so I'm assuming it has to do with art) What do you do in AP humanities? Is it a difficult class? (I know that AP classes are tough, and that it varies from teacher to teacher, but are they tough concepts? Do you have to learn alot of names and exact dates?)

• Answer:

  The term "humanities" does not refer to one particular subject; rather, it means the study of what are generally called arts and letters. English--literature, grammar, writing and composition. Also history, art, culture, and philosophy too. And humanities involves the relationships all these subjects have to one another, and how they contribute to our lives and to society. Keep in mind that the "humanities" is more or less the opposite of the "sciences"--math, biology, chemistry, etc. Whether the class is difficult or not I can't say, although it seems that if you are considering AP classes you're pretty much at a high academic level. What you'll probably do is read, discuss, compare, analyze and write. You'll most likely be called on to explore what things "mean."