Philosophy, religion, and history. Music and art; language and literature. How dull life would we be without them; how little we would understand ourselves without the context these bring to the facts of human life.

The humanities could be defined as the study of how we process and describe the human experience. Sciences and mathematics provide factual knowledge and logical framework. Humanities give them meaning.

That meaning is fluid; as man and his understanding evolve, so do our cultures as expressed through the humanities. History is rewritten. Music and art vary by century, decade, and even year. Religions and their interpretations and understanding shift; philosophies continually evolve as we apply, adjust, and rethink how we think.

Literature describes it all, sometimes like an atom bomb on a society not ready to consider it; sometimes in subtle whispers which take root so slowly we hardly notice.

Humanities don’t just tell the human story; they are the sum of human experience.

Civilization’s leaders were slow to recognize that value until that Aquarian revolution known as “the ‘60s,” when the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities were created. The endowments help fund organizations such as the Idaho Humanities Council, whose local board provides educational grants, sponsors reading programs, and partners with schools and libraries to sow the seeds of expanded knowledge which the arts and literature bring.

IHC’s speakers bureau brings nationally and internationally known distinguished lecturers to their annual dinners, such as tonight’s Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of presidents, political commentator, and historian who was featured in Monday’s Press.

Like Goodwin, IHC speakers are generally prize-winning journalists and authors. Fiction or nonfiction, invariably they are great storytellers. (For more information about IHC, see Idahohumanities.org.)

The human experience is, after all, a story. Through the humanities, the stories of others help us understand our own.

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Sholeh Patrick, J.D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.