Humanities the Renaissance Period Changed the World, Term Paper

Humanities

The Renaissance period changed the world, after the disasters, indecencies and barbarism of the dark ages it was a hope of light for mankind. It gave human beings the cultural upheaval; flourished in Europe it steadily transformed the way of living. The elements introduced and worked on in that era are still present in our daily lives, being enjoyed and cherished more or less by every human being. Its power introduced many new fields and transformed the existing ones; fields like philosophy, art and fine art, music, affairs of state, science, religion, literature and other scholarly aspects. It promoted creativity and introduced humanistic methodology to studies of natural sciences, praised Christianity as a religion and paved way for many inventions one still uses in everyday life. The focus of scholars back to historical texts, its reinterpretation and spread of simpler versions educated the masses in Europe. Among many uncountable contributions some major ones are; The invention of printing, advancements in western traditional medicine and modern architecture, discovery of the Americas by advancement of navigation, development of trade and commerce, advancements in the field of aerodynamics, renewed focus on evidence rather than historical traditions or even religions and development of scientific methods. It was a conscious age of enlightenment performed by men using his thinking and critical abilities for challenging descriptions and justifications provided by men of ancient times. It was not a disregarding era or an era of fixing the fixed rather an era of inquiry and further development of unfinished work. It was a discovery made by man of abilities and potentials possessed by man; a courage and heroism not attainted by the way of war or trickery but heroism achieved by intellect and performing arts. Renaissance encouraged individualism and challenged religious teachings; scholars started proposing theories of their own which soon proved true hence many important scientific discoveries were made which led to the industrial revolution period. With enlightenment man became more aware, more civilized and societies developed and flourished in the renaissance era giving a halt to violence and war. Upheaval of society and culture through introducing and giving the real meaning to the artistic fields such as painting, music, writing, sculpturing and many others ignored by man first through wars and the devastation of many plagues. The elements of society one sees today in most developed countries have definite links to development of man in the renaissance era. Essential elements such as increased self-awareness, focus on collective prosperity, freedom of speech, equal opportunity and thirst for knowledge made us who we are today. Man in this age although not a "Renaissance Man" but may be close to it (Strathen 2007).,

Michelangelo is regarded as the man of many talents, a sculptor, architect, engineer, physician and a poet. His immense contribution to renaissance era is undoubted, only Leonardo Da Vinci and Rafaello Sanzio (Rafael) come close to his genius. He was not a good student but was obsessed with learning the art of drawing. Michelangelo was a true interdisciplinary, not only crossed the traditional boundaries of various fields but also achieved phenomenal success and accolades. Remembered as the most distinguished artist of 16th Century, his work as a painter is admired throughout all following ages, astonishing paintings elaborating scenes from Genesis, ceiling of Sistine Chapel and The Last Judgment. Before he turned thirty he had achieved more than most people achieve in a lifetime, as a sculptor he created unparalleled art as Pieta and David, introduced Mannerist style and designed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica proving his skills as an architect and mathematician. He wrote 300 sonnets and madrigals as a poet with some poems provoking controversy due to their erotic nature, his poems are highly regarded and are translated in many languages. One may argue that his skills and abilities were only limited to arts and literature but his work on anatomy of human body and knowledge about it made him equal to most doctors of that time. His true interdisciplinary nature is revealed when he combined painting and sculpturing with architect and devised most majestic building as well as combining anatomy with painting and sculpture to create life like pieces of art.

Michelangelo was indeed an interdisciplinary; his strong belief in Christianity did not stop him for seeking in to other unknown domains instead his work of art showed great respect towards God and his prophets.He went beyond the odds and dissected human body; a forbidden act for ordinary men without having qualifications of a doctor. He combined in his work of visual art with religion and philosophy creating everlasting masterpieces interacting with its viewers in seminal ways (Rolland 2009).

The world is not producing the similar level of people with variety of interdisciplinary skills, the reason stems from the way our children are raised these days. Parents and children inspire to adopt a profession which is most rewarding monetarily and all the efforts are invested in acquiring specialization. The lack of passion for learning new things has dried down in the current generation; Michelangelo was not a good student, his passion led him to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. He was stubborn and somewhat passive but he considered his work personal and an achievement. The breed of this age runs after a profession that can be beneficial to him and promises a better future ignoring the passions, hobbies and other potential talents. Electronic and Social media along with other time consuming activities have crippled the youth and a single and simple path is chosen. It is almost impossible to assimilate someone like Michelangelo in today's world as many students believe and remain in confinements of their chosen fields of study. Other tertiary skills are acquired by students like computer skills but problem solving across inter-domain and inability to think out of the box has limited our critical approach and inventiveness.

Another contributing factor is the lack of Interdisciplinary method of teaching in our schools and colleges. This method of teaching requires an interdisciplinary teacher with an understanding and ability to integrate more than one academic subject in problem solving. These teachers tend to feel threatened by collaboration and varying viewpoints and try to enforce their own point-of-views.

Students at school level remain glued to text books and learn text by heart in order to score good marks hence problem solving and critical thinking methods are not used in our schools preparing our students for a mechanical college life where script from text books is the only source of education. For example, marketing major does not know business mathematics while finance or engineering major has no or less interest in marketing or the subject of human resources. In real business this can lead to disaster as a brand manager may demand for increasing marketing budget without understanding finances of the company and sometimes inability to read firm's balance sheet. Many disciplines themselves are conservative in nature and do not share their specific ways with students from other disciplines; for example many business students remain unaware of technical fields such as engineering or architect etc. One must acquire working knowledge of many disciplines, read many books and pursue his or her artistic passion along with traditional path of academics. The youth is driven by technology these days and is indulged in it almost obsessively; real conversations, hobbies and debates among teenagers are rare these days. Short-term solutions and quick fixes have deteriorated our youth with no or inconsiderable change in teaching styles and curriculums.

The focus of universities and colleges should be on providing interdisciplinary education, research and experiential learning should be encouraged with strength in core discipline in order to assemble a well-rounded graduate. Industrial liaison between University students and businesses should be enhanced, equipping them with real-world skills rather….....