Humanities

Students in Humanities classes probably rarely think about the name of the Faculty that groups together the diverse subjects under this banner. Even though students in Years 7 to 9 study a subject called ‘Humanities’ for a whole year, they are more likely to think about these classes under the discrete labels of History or Geography. As they move through the remaining years of Senior School to VCE the Humanities branches into the many diverse subjects from History to Politics, but at St Catherine’s we also include subjects that focus on business interests in the Humanities. What then links these diverse subjects together? The central concern of the Humanities is the importance of people working individually and together to share the world around them, and how the world influences people and society. A Humanities student learns to explain and evaluate how the choices people make impact on society and other people in many ways, be it the emperors of Ancient Rome, the Indigenous owners of Uluru or economists working for governments. In 2021, the world outside of School was again more strongly perceived by students than in previous years, however, as always, the Humanities provides a window to the wider world. The Humanities show students they have a role in responding to and shaping the world based on their knowledge of past events, present challenges and future opportunities.

Mr Paul Gilby

Head of Humanities