TOM ROBERTS was recently honored with The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities’ Honorary Chairs’ Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities for his cultural work as an educator, writer, performer and producer. Roberts is a senior history lecturer at the Rhode Island School of Design and founding executive director of the council.
What influenced you to get involved with the R.I. Council for the Humanities during its inception in 1973?
I was working in public television promoting an interest in history outside the classroom. I met the remarkable Judge Florence K. Murray, who had just formed the core group that would become the R.I. Council for the Humanities. She wanted RICH to “get people thinking,” and she had great faith in my ability to make that happen.
How do you convince people that the humanities are equally as important to society as STEM fields?
STEM education is important but it neglects the study of human achievement, what has made us who we are. The humanities enhance STEM-trained students’ critical-thinking skills, their understanding of what came before them, their appreciation of other cultures in this global marketplace. Shakespeare knew science and Galileo knew literature; that’s part of what made them great.
What can we do as individuals to harbor an interest in the humanities in our communities?
Thinking and learning shouldn’t end when we finish school, at whatever level. If it’s enjoyable and rewarding, we should keep doing it. Libraries in every community are extraordinary resources for materials and activities. RICH supports countless opportunities to get involved with historical and cultural events throughout R.I. Exercising our minds is just as essential as exercising our bodies.
What is most rewarding about your role teaching history at RISD?
Students come to RISD because they have a passion to create and need to sharpen it. No one goes there to study history. My reward is when their passion extends to what I’m teaching, when they embrace history as a means of intensifying their creative skills. As with STEM students, the humanities make them more complete people. •
