Oregon Humanities

A Quiet Endeavor

I recently completed the Humanity in Perspective (HIP) course and am proud of the accomplishment. It isn’t merely that I completed the course, received the certificate or the credit. It was an achievement that changed my perspective, and a change in one’s point of view can be profound. Often in life our point of view is altered due to conditions outside our control. It seems sometimes that we are but the affected spectator. When we seek and welcome change and it positively affects our lives, those are rare and precious moments.

When I applied for the course, I did so out of a sense of curiosity and would have to admit, sheepishly now, that I didn’t really understand the humanities. At least not from any sort of bland course description I could find anywhere. There is a certain amount of irony in that statement. You see, I’ve always been one to read what I referred to as “history.“ It is a long-standing past time of mine. In pursuit of this hobby of reading “history,” I found it necessary—so that I might better understand the subjects I was interested in—to make long studies in other related subjects like human culture, politics, theology, literature, philosophy. Along the way I continuously encountered issues relating to liberty, freedom, justice, and ethics, among others. Who knew that many of these interrelated subjects are referred to academically as “the humanities”? Not I. Feel free to smile. I’m doing so now and without shame. All right, I’ve been a little embarrassed, I suppose, since that realization occurred. But, one tries to be honest and sometimes the truth hurts. I didn’t know what “the humanities” entailed, yet I have spent over thirty years of my life fascinated by them. Please understand, trees were blocking my view of that particular forest.

The treasure for me in this experience is that while I have read a great deal about humankind over the years I had not done so with a teacher and in the company of others who were interested or at least motivated to learn the material and therefore possessed of enough background information to have an in-depth discussion on the subject. I did so alone, because I had never known anyone interested in these subjects, had never been able to sit and discuss the themes with another person. Being involved with the HIP program and sitting with a group of people who had all read the same works, discussing the historical, philosophical, or political ramifications of certain instances in history served to shine a new light on my life’s own quiet endeavor. The difference in reading alone in self-study versus group discussion under the guidance of a teacher was phenomenal.

I would clarify though that the impact of the HIP experience in my life is not merely a deeper understanding of humanity, or of the role of this individual within community. Not that those are not true statements; the impact of those two statements are profound for me, no doubt. But there is yet another and it is much more personal and will change my life in all ways. I am now pursuing higher education and intend to continue with these same subjects. In private they have long been my life’s work, my passion, you could say. I discovered, regarding these themes and subjects, that I have something to say that others might find useful or enlightening and I need to give voice to those thoughts in some way.

In addition to these realizations I am fortunate also in having shared these experiences with that group of people because I understand how I had come to appreciate them individually for the power of their thoughts and words, the ease with which they so often disarmed and enlightened me. With all due respect to our professors, I consider my classmates to have also been my teachers. Time and again they caught me entirely unaware. Their words often moved me to a deeper introspection, and by my having experienced their personal insights, they provided me an opportunity to experience my own again, with a new or sometimes entirely different perspective. Ideas can hold the potential for great power, but only if they are shared. And they are best shared in conversation and through calm, intelligent, and well-reasoned discourse. Ideas, when they have been voiced into being, become powerful entities and they allow your mind to awaken to the possibilities around you.

The time I spent in this class was the most profoundly liberating and empowering experience of my life. Simply put, with the exception of fatherhood, nothing I’ve experienced has had a more deeply persuasive effect upon my life and thoughts than this Humanity in Perspective experience.

About Sam Nerveza

Sam Nerveza is a graduate of the 2010 Humanity in Perspective class and was the graduation ceremony’s student speaker. He lives with his family in Portland.

08 April 2010 | Posted by Sam Nerveza in Inside O. Hm. New Ideas
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