<P> The word "humanities" is derived from the Renaissance Latin expression studia humanitatis, or "study of humanitas" (a classical Latin word meaning--in addition to "humanity"--"culture, refinement, education" and, specifically, an "education befitting a cultivated man"). In its usage in the early 15th century, the studia humanitatis was a course of studies that consisted of grammar, poetry, rhetoric, history, and moral philosophy, primarily derived from the study of Latin and Greek classics . The word humanitas also gave rise to the Renaissance Italian neologism umanisti, whence "humanist", "Renaissance humanism". </P> <P> In the West, the study of the humanities can be traced to ancient Greece, as the basis of a broad education for citizens . During Roman times, the concept of the seven liberal arts evolved, involving grammar, rhetoric and logic (the trivium), along with arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music (the quadrivium). These subjects formed the bulk of medieval education, with the emphasis being on the humanities as skills or "ways of doing". </P> <P> A major shift occurred with the Renaissance humanism of the fifteenth century, when the humanities began to be regarded as subjects to study rather than practice, with a corresponding shift away from traditional fields into areas such as literature and history . In the 20th century, this view was in turn challenged by the postmodernist movement, which sought to redefine the humanities in more egalitarian terms suitable for a democratic society since the Greek and Roman societies in which the humanities originated were not at all democratic . This was in keeping with the postmodernists' nuanced view of themselves as the culmination of history . </P> <P> For many decades, there has been a growing public perception that a humanities education inadequately prepares graduates for employment . The common belief is that graduates from such programs face underemployment and incomes too low for a humanities education to be worth the investment . </P>

What historical distinction does it have as a liberal arts institution