Marymount, a Catholic university in Arlington, Virginia, is eliminating degrees in theology and religious studies, philosophy, mathematics, art, history, sociology, English, economics, secondary education, and M.A. programs in English and the humanities. Ouch. Marymount University should now be considered a […]
humanities
Are the humanities making a comeback?
Here is a taste of Jennifer Kingson’s Axios piece, “STEM who? The humanities mount a comeback: Driving the news: When the University of California, Berkeley, reported an uptick in humanities majors this academic year, there was elation — and shock — at the […]
College in the age of A.I.
New York Times columnist David Brooks encourages college students to take courses and learn to think in ways that “machines will not replicate.” Here is a taste: If, say, you’re a college student preparing for life in an A.I. world, […]
The National Endowment for the Humanities announces a new round of grant winners
Here are few that caught my eye: Azusa Pacific University: Outright: $149,910[Humanities Initiatives at Hispanic-Serving Institutions]Project Director: Nori HenkProject Title: Engaging Ethnic Studies and the HumanitiesProject Description: A three-year curricular development project to create and pilot three new ethnic studies […]
History in crisis
Historian Jon Lauck‘s editorial at Middle West Review has been making the rounds on social media. The piece is behind a paywall, but here are the first couple of paragraphs: You can see it in the empty chairs. History conferences […]
“What is the State of the Evangelical Mind on Christian College Campuses?”
In September 2017, the founders of Current (Jay Green, Eric Miller, and yours truly) participated in a conference in Indianapolis on the “State of the Evangelical Mind.” (This was 3-4 years before we launched Current). We spoke at a session devoted to the legacy of […]
Arizona State University hosts “Humanities Week”
I love this! We do something similar at Messiah University, but not to this extent. Here is the ASU press release: This fall, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University will host a collection of inspiring and high-impact […]
National Endowment for the Humanities funds 226 projects
Read the press release here. These funded projects caught my eye: Northern Arizona University Outright: $189,860[Landmarks of American History and Culture]Project Director: Richardo GuthrieProject Title: Racialized Spaces on Route 66Project Description: A combined virtual and residential program for 72 K–12 […]
Are humanities scholars shirking their professional responsibilities?
Steven Mintz, a historian at the University of Houston, thinks so. Here is a taste of his recent blog post at Inside Higher Ed: Editors, I’ve discovered, are desperate to find scholars willing to review articles, prospectuses and book manuscripts. […]
Are intellectuals and historians “yoking their reputations to the delirious churn of outrage media?”
Joseph Keegin, the editor of The Point, gives us a lot to think about in this piece at The Chronicle of Higher Education. Here is a taste: As academic humanities departments shed undergraduates and lose both prestige and funding, professors […]
Are humanities scholars engaged in too much activism?
Today I recorded Episode 100 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. It will drop on Sunday with the title “Christian Historians as Activists?” I have no guest for this episode. Instead, I use the episode to redeliver my […]
The Author’s Corner with Kocku von Stuckrad
Kocku von Stuckrad is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Groningen. This interview is based on his new book, A Cultural History of the Soul: Europe and North America from 1870 to the Present (Columbia University Press, 2022). […]
Will Christian colleges and universities survive?
There is A LOT to consider in Catholic moral philosopher Charles Camosy‘s recent piece at America. Here is a section that got my attention: As institutions’ connections to Christianity become frayed, other ideologies have gained ground. Too often, Christian values […]
“A university that is only good at STEM education is nothing more than a trade school.”
Avi Kak came to Purdue to work in a university, and not in a trade school. In a letter to the editor of the Purdue Exponent he says that the Purdue English Department deserves more respect. Here is a taste: […]
90% of people who majored in a humanities-related field are living happy and fulfilling lives
Here is Scott Jaschik at Inside Higher Ed: Articles suggesting that humanities graduates are poor or unhappy are abundant. But the opposite is true. According to a 2019 Gallup poll cited in a new report by the Humanities Indicators Project of the […]
NEH Announces August 2021 grant winners
Read the entire list here. Here are a few that funded projects that caught my eye: Auburn University Outright: $189,837[Landmarks of American History]Project Director: Elijah Gaddis; Keith Hebert (co-project director)Project Title: Bloody Sunday, Selma, and the Long Civil Rights MovementProject […]
“The disposition that constitutes the humanities is not the exclusive possession of deans and donors and hiring committees”
With the decline in the humanities at colleges and universities, it is important that non-academic institutions raise the questions that animate humanities learning. What does it mean to be human? What is truth? What is beauty? How shall we live? […]
The humanities are on the rise in community colleges
And they are shrinking everywhere else. Here is Scott Jaschik at Insider Higher Ed: Before the pandemic, the humanities were experiencing a period of substantial growth at community colleges but shrinkage everywhere else. And that extends to the entire world. […]
“The humanities face continued marginalization despite increasing evidence of the broad civic and social harm that results from neglecting them.”
The quote in the title of this post comes from Grant Kaplan’s piece “The Crisis in Catholic Theology” published last week at America. Here is a taste: Today, although concern for the future of Catholic universities remains high, relatively little […]
Class of 2021: What’s in your toolbox?
Historian David Perry offers some advice to the class of 2021: We understand more or less the science of viruses, of germ theory, of infection. We know how to quarantine and that it works, and with modern telecommunications, quarantine didn’t […]