A working definition of the humanities and characteristics of a liberally educated person are specified. The humanities embrace areas of human knowledge that possess these elements: central concern for human beings rather than for the processes of nature or the structures of society; primary focus on the individual rather than on the group; awareness of how we know what we know; attention to moral values, whether drawn from God, man, or nature; and insistence that the process of intellectual growth calls for forthright moral judgments as an equal partner with accurate descriptive knowledge. Study of the humanities yields a liberally educated person who: remains an active independent learner; stands on a system of values that demands the application of ethical concerns to action and that accepts the presence of alternate value systems in others; understands the cultural milieu of modern society; possesses skills in analysis and synthesis, critical thinking, reading, writing, and speaking; and welcomes productive work that calls for continually developing capacities and for flexibility in changing the direction of careers over a lifetime of work. Fields of study included in the humanities, as defined by the National Endowment for the Humanities, are identified. (SW)