While I was a Classics major in college, my older brother, a science major intent on becoming a high school teacher, would taunt me by asking, “What are you going to do with THAT major, open a Greek store?”

Fast forward thirty-some years, and we are both public school teachers, he of chemistry and physics, and I of Latin and Greek, and we have each gained respect for the other’s area of study and their respective places in the curriculum. Now, however, I find myself having to dust off my arguments in support of the Humanities in order to take on the “STEM” movement: Science – Technology – Engineering – Math.

These days in academic circles, the merest mention of STEM triggers a wave of approving murmurs and sage nodding. The Wall Street Journal recently published an opinion piece suggesting student loans be given only to students majoring in STEM fields. Some have advocated the addition of the Arts, making the acronym STEAM, but no mention of the Humanities in this new educational arena. Apparently the human race has evolved far enough that we no longer need to study philosophy, history, or literature in order to govern ourselves and be productive citizens. We simply need more engineers.

O tempora, o mores, opined the great Roman statesman Cicero: Oh times, oh customs. International terror threats, nations intent on world domination, refugees around the world fleeing poverty and violence of the most repulsive nature: how can we respond in the face of these and countless other challenges? For starters, our children must learn to deal with the real problems that confront us, including how to be ethically responsible with our technological capabilities and what our responsibilities are in the face of these threats. They can’t do that when the only valued learning has to do with science and technology.

They must learn compassion and trust from Charlotte’s Web and To Kill a Mockingbird, how to maintain a just society from Plato, Cicero, and Augustine. There must be continued debate over the value of human life and the duties of citizens, debates that are hollow without the insights of the Bible, Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, and Locke. They must understand, aided by Homer and Thucidydes, why humans fight wars, rather than desperately hoping that human violence can be negotiated away. And Vergil’s Aeneid will help them to understand that, while the journey of refugees is fraught with dangers, the resettlement and acculturation that ensues is often just as perilous.

When it comes to picking tomorrow’s true leaders, my money is on the students emerging from the “H” majors: history, literature, philosophy, theology, Classics. They’re the ones who will understand the past, and they’ll know that even if history doesn’t exactly repeat itself, it has a tendency at times to look awfully familiar to those who’ve taken the time to understand their ancestors’ lives and thoughts. Finally, the H majors will be there to guide the STEM majors in the ethical and responsible use of the cool things they have built, advising that material advances alone cannot ensure a stable and successful future.

Jane Lienau is a Latin and Greek teacher at Brunswick High School