Intended for administrators and policy makers, as well as teachers, this digest examines the current state of humanities instruction and the evolving place of humanities in the high school English classroom. The digest first explores differing definitions of the humanities, and discusses reasons for the decline in emphasis on humanities instruction in public education. It then explores the role of the humanities in the English classroom, and presents several ways in which multidisciplinary techniques are used to incorporate the humanities into English instruction. The digest also discusses ways in which a thematic approach can be used to explore the humanities in the English classroom. A brief list of references is included. (HTH)