Despite the ever-on-going cry of “crisis in the humanities,” applications to humanities programs are on the rise.  Most students have been sufficiently warned about pursuing education in the humanities at the graduate level, so we’ll skip the soap-box. With the rise in applications, though, you’ll need a stellar humanities Statement of Purpose.  And we can help with that.

The humanities consist of fields that focus primarily on the study of humanity and culture, including literature, philosophy, history, performing arts, modern languages, such as Spanish, French, and German, as well as classical languages such as Latin and Greek.  Research approaches in the humanities are widely varied, but tend towards qualitative rather than quantitative methods.  This approach is distinct when compared with the primarily quantitative approach taken in the sciences.

You will notice that humanities Statement of Purpose essays tend to be more creative and personal than Statements in other fields.  They still discuss the student’s academic and research goals, but they also contain information about the applicant as a person.  They tend to have story-like introductory hooks, and can even read like a narrative.  Statements in humanities fields do not rigidly adhere to genre conventions like in other fields, and you have a lot of room to be creative.  Just make sure that in your creativity you still include the important information: Why you are applying to this particular school and what you plan to do there.

Below you will find links to our current collection of humanities Statement of Purpose examples.  If you have a Personal Statement that received admission from a program in the humanities we would love for you to share it.  Please do so here.

Humanities Statement of Purpose Examples:

1. Farms and Agrarian Literature (English)

2. The Living Nature of Past Literature (English)

3. Imitating Literature (English)

4. Reading on the Road (Comparative Literature)

5. I Write. (MFA)

{Need more help? Check out our ebook Hacking Your Statement of Purpose for a concise guide to writing and revising your Statement of Purpose.}