on first round of apologies

we had the first round of apologies today and I thought overall they were pretty good. However, I think there is obviously some confusion on what an apology is and what exactly we are defending I think. I thought we had established that this is not an apology like we are sorry for something but rather that we are defending something (apologetics for anyone familiar with high school Bible classes). The presenters were right in saying that we shouldn't apologize for being English majors because there is no reason to. Most of them apologized for literature by saying that it was entertaining and that it was inspiring. That is all well, but I think someone needs to establish a concrete answer for why the study of literature (not just literature in general) is worthwhile. Why it is important to read and look at literature and why that is just as important if not more so than more "practical" field like architecture or engineering. I found even Sidney's apology didn't do this because he was defending poetry against philosphy and history, two fields now considered to be just as worthless as literature because they all fall into the humanities. I'm trying to come up with a defense that can be given to business majors or engineers because those are the type of people I find myself trying to defend myself against. I haven't totally formed it yet, but I have a few ideas, mainly relying on the fact that these other fields look at how we live our lives (careers, money, "success") while literature can teach us why we live our lives (emotions mainly). Anyone who answers the why with the answers for the how is a pathetic dolt. I find one way to explain this is that when you ask people what makes their life worth living, the answers usually can be traced back to some emotion (love of family, joy of skiing, comradery of friendship, etc.). So once it is established that non-tangible things like emotions make life worth living, doesn't it make sense then that the most valuable field of study would be the one that deals with these things? Engineering can't explain love. Business can't teach us about the joys of adventure. Architecture doesn't teach us morals. Chemistry doesn't instill compassion for those around us. Literature does all of these.

Not to sound too idealogical, but:
People are too caught up in material things. Possessions, money, "success" can all be had with a business major but we all know those things are not what are really important. If studying literature isn't important, then what is?