Voices For the Humanities

4Humanities is a platform for people from different parts of society and the world to give voice to the enduring and contemporary importance of the humanities. Why study and creative expression in such areas as literature, history, languages, philosophy, classics, art history, cultural studies, and others (see “What Are the Humanities?”) so valuable to individuals and societies? The voices gathered here say why.

* 4Humanities seeks out both original and reposted statements about the humanities from people in business, the sciences, entertainment, universities, high schools, and other sectors. We also report on significant developments and initiatives related to the humanities.

* Listen to the voices in our sections on “Advocacy Statements & Campaigns,” “The Changing Humanities,” “Student Voices,” and “International Correspondents.”

* Also listen to the voices gathered in our special projects “Humanities, Plain & Simple” and “Backpack Mini-documentaries.”

For those wishing to consult resources in framing their own statement for the humanities, 4Humanities offers a “Guide to Issues in Humanities Advocacy” and its “The Humanities Matter!” infographic.

“The Humanities Matter!” Infographic

Posted by Alan Liu

December 21, 2014Humanities InfographicsAlan Liu

The University College London (UCL) Centre for Digital Humanities–in collaboration with 4Humanities–has created a new The Humanities Matter! infographic with statistics and arguments for the humanities in high-impact visual form. [Download PDF] Countering clichéd, factually ungrounded criticisms, The Humanities Matter! draws on published statistics and a crowdsourced poll to give a shout out to the humanities in sections on “What the Humanities Do,” “But the Evidence Shows,” and “Culture is Important.”

The digital version of The Humanities Matter! is a large, vertical-format banner available as a PDF file. A limited number of printed posters made from the infographic is being mailed to newspapers and magazines, national councils and commissions, public and private funding agencies, humanities centres and programs, and digital-humanities associations and programs around the world.

As a follow-up to the UCL Centre for Digital Humanities’ “Quantifying Digital Humanities” infographic from 2012 (PDF), The Humanities Matter! starts a more expansive effort by the Center and 4Humanities to gather statistics and create infographics about the humanities. The Humanities Matter! is part of the 4Humanities Humanities Infographics initiative, including Infographics Friday online posts.

4Humanities invites additional statistics (including from more parts of the world) so that it can expand the infographics initiative and, funds allowing, produce future versions.

The Humanities Matter! was created by the UCL Centre for Digital Humanities under the supervision of its director Melissa Terras, who is also a co-leader of 4Humanities. Terras collected data for the infographic with assistance from Ernesto Priego (an international correspondent for 4Humanities), Lindsay Thomas (lead research assistant for 4Humanities), Victoria Smith (research assistant, Humanities Computing, U. Alberta), and the other co-leaders of 4Humanities: Christine Henseler, Alan Liu, Geoffrey Rockwell, and Stéfan Sinclair.

Please download The Humanities Matter! and help 4Humanities circulate it ; feel free to print in small or large format and distribute. The Humanities Matter! is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Christine Henseler, “Stop Repeating Age-old Stigmas: Careers in the Arts and Humanities are Plentiful and They Pay”

Posted by Alan Liu

January 13, 2023Advocacy Statements & Campaigns, Voices For the HumanitiesAlan Liu

By: Christine Henseler It baffles me to hear parents tell their kids that art is a hobby, not a career; that you can’t make good money with a degree in English. Wasn’t it just yesterday evening that these same adults binged for hours on the entire season of Grey’s Anatomy? For the second time? It so […]

Arts and Humanities — What Are They? (Students Asking Students)

Posted by Alan Liu

November 30, 2022Student Voices, Voices For the HumanitiesAlan Liu

In fall 2022, students in Professor Christine Henseler’s sophomore research seminar at Union College on “Arts and Humanities: Don’t Leave College Without Them” created for their final project a Shout Out for the Humanities campaign in the shape of essays, infographics, or other public-facing narratives. One creative group of students (branding themselves STC Productions) produced […]

New Guidebook on How Humanities & Arts Lead to Professions and Careers

Posted by Alan Liu

January 20, 2022Advocacy Statements & Campaigns, HomepageAlan Liu

A new, open-access guide book has been published online by 4Humanities.org’s co-leader, Christine Henseler. Called Arts and Humanities: Don’t Leave College Without Them! (2022), the work takes the form of a “flipbook” giving a broad overview and specific examples of the humanities and arts, and the kinds of careers they lead to: This guide provides […]

The Entrepreneurial Humanities
(Call for Essays)

Posted by Alan Liu

February 24, 2021Advocacy Statements & CampaignsAlan Liu

Edited by Alain-Philippe Durand and Christine Henseler Call for Essays When the general public hears the word “entrepreneurship” and reads articles and magazines that sell us on the “100 Most Entrepreneurial People in __________ (fill in the blank),” they usually think of new business models and products in technology and the sciences. “Entrepreneurship” is rarely […]

Creativity and Human-Centered Teaching is the Wave of the Future — An Interview with Christine Henseler

Posted by Alan Liu

January 5, 2020Uncategorized, Voices For the HumanitiesAlan Liu

By Megan Brown In a world that is seemingly angled towards math and science in education, Professor Christine Henseler of Union College is making strides to rebalance that trend. Professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies, and a teacher of courses in English on Social Change and the Arts and Humanities, Henseler is using her ingrained […]

The Millennial Wave and the Changing Nature of Work

Posted by Alan Liu

August 29, 2019Uncategorized, Voices For the HumanitiesAlan Liu

By Susan Frost and Christine Henseler. It was the onset of a business revolution. Information management professionals were in high demand. Data became increasingly vital to a new-age economy. Sounds like today, right? Well, it might surprise you to learn that we’re talking about the mid-nineteenth century. In 1853, the modern office, as we know […]