Broccoli Is Not Boring

It’s that time of year when things are beginning to get really busy and exhaustion is writ large on every face and in every expression. These days, beneath the exhaustion lies a depressing feeling of lack of control. For this reason, I want to share with you what I heard and learned from a talk I attended last week.

The talk was by a faculty member from Penn State. He teaches a large undergraduate course on video games and co-teaches a course with an astronomer called “Being in the Universe.” And if you thought he was a computer scientist or a physicist, you would be wrong.

Meet Eric Hayot, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and Asian Studies at Penn State University. Thanks to the School of Liberal Arts for inviting him to speak at the 2026 John D. Barlow Lecture in the Humanities. The title for the talk was: The Humanities: Five Defenses Offenses.

Prof. Hayot began his talk with data describing the declining interest in the humanities that we are witnessing alongside a declining trust in higher education. Much has been said and written about this topic. What made this talk memorable was that he then shared ways we can move from defense to offense. Rather than simply lamenting the loss of interest in the humanities, he shared actionable ideas - modularizing curriculum, thinking beyond (or perhaps outside) the box of ‘majors,’ and renaming courses that universities offer like Classical Literature in Two Languages or Classical Literature in Three Languages to add a bit of excitement and interest among Gen Z’s (my AI tool suggested alternatives like Lost in Translation or Code Switching the Classics).

The Q&A that followed (thanks to our faculty) also focused on actionable ideas we might want to implement. At first glance, Gen Z may not seem interested in a humanities major, but could a course on ‘The Good Life’ spark student interest? Could such a course include content from the classics, require writing and reflection, and be co-taught by faculty who bring different areas of expertise all into the ‘Good Life?’ Do majors matter if students take the same number of courses without requiring the specific sequencing we currently do? In short, the discussion centered on how we might intentionally design courses and programs to pique student curiosity without compromising the integrity of the content. This is an approach that every program or major can consider.

Broccoli is nutritious but may seem boring. But combine it with the right sauces and spices, and you can create a dish that is popular even with your teenager or toddler!

Being at the talk reminded me of something a mentor used to say: there are two groups of people in the world - one notices only the yellow leaves and the second group always spots green shoots amidst the yellow. The first group shares only problems, while the second shares the same problems but pairs them with solutions. It was clear to me from the faculty discussion following Dr. Hayot’s talk that our faculty belong to the second group.

Thank you Dean Eitle and thank you to our faculty in the humanities at the School of Liberal Arts.

Go Jags!

Latha Ramchand
Chancellor