It has not always been clear that service-learning and the humanities can work together, or even that they have common goals. Service-learning curricula at many universities consistently reveal the humanistic disciplines' playing a minor role in the spread of service-learning. Why they are apparently hesitant to embrace service is not altogether clear, but it is usually assumed that the humanities are simply less relevant to real social problems. The social sciences and other disciplines deemed more directly relevant to professional training have gained increased clout on campus by attracting off-campus financial support and because they seem to address immediate social and political concerns. Humanities, it is assumed, is the territory of abstraction and reflection, but not action. It is time to leave behind such false and debilitating assumptions and allow both service-learning and the humanities the opportunity to reach their full potential through mutual enhancement. Humanities and Consumerism
