1 Module Three- Project Three Introduction and Proposal Vishaal A. Girdharie-Lennard Southern New Hampshire University IDS 100- Perspectives in Liberal Arts Dr. Bell September 17, 2023
2 As we progress through life, we are faces with various situations, highs, lows, trials, and tribulations, all opportunities for growth. What determines the way we handle ourselves in these instances are the way we process given information through experience or knowledge and the way we communicate said knowledge. Great conversation can be attributed to the way that we respond to questions, comments, or concerns, utilizing intellectual thoughts with a hint of opinion and a dash of educated guesses. Being versed in the lenses of liberal arts can directly impact the value of our conversational skills, amongst other things. History, Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences, provide a wide overview of what, why, when, and how of every topic, while simultaneously helping us to fully comprehend the information being absorbed. Each of the four lenses is comprised of their own individual functions that aid with understanding, comprehension, perception, and growth. First up is the history lens which focuses on the past and how it relates to present day in terms of advancement in many categories including people, civilizations, countries, and world events. The main forms of evidence analysis used in the history lens consists of pictures, books, maps, and artifacts. From another angle, the history lens could also be seen as a comparative device, or simply, understanding something using an analogy. "In short, our initial reaction to any situation is to try to understand it by analogy. We use our experiences from an earlier, presumably similar, situation to give us a sense of understanding in the new situation. The use of analogies based on the past is one meaning of "lens of history" -- we use past experience to make sense of present dilemmas." (The Lens of History | AHA, n.d., para.1) The humanities lens is another facet of liberal arts which examines culture and experience, but unlike the history lens, its sights are set more on the arts and what motivates the creativity and expressiveness of people. Humanists employ literature, art, language, religion, and
3 philosophy to gather evidence and conduct research. Another outlook can be viewed from the social sciences lens, which analyzes human behavior and how they are affected by their surroundings. At closer glance, this lens provides insight into communication, relationships, and society. The social sciences lens uses information gathered from surveys, statistics, and social experimentation to gather insight in the most unbiased ways. On the other hand, natural science which is quite possibly the lens that we are all most exposed too, is the emphasis of the physical world, living and natural things. Natural science is umbrella-like, covering subjects such as Chemistry, Biology and Physics under its shadow. This lens utilizes observation, experimentation, and data analysis to provide accurate results. The main difference among the four lenses is the way in which their respective data is collected or processed,