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.

U of Alberta Suspends 20 Programs

Posted by Geoffrey Rockwell

Humanities News, Voices For the Humanities

On August 16th the Dean of Arts at the University of Alberta suspended admission to 20 small enrollment programs. (You can see a PDF of the memo here.) The programs suspended include programs in classics, a number of modern language programmes, printmaking, composition and theory, world music and technical theatre. Current students in these programmes […]

Opinion Piece by Christine Henseler, “Calling All Humanists: Let’s Reach Out and Touch Someone!”

Posted by Alan Liu

Advocacy Statements & Campaigns

Over the last few years and months, economic and quantitative data have driven public conversations about the humanities, emphasizing ideas related to “decline” and “lack,” “unworthiness” and “uselessness.” Through such notions, directives have justified cuts in funding and programs; they have oversold technical and professional schools and undermined the value of a balanced liberal education. […]

New Translations of 4Humanities Posts

Posted by Alan Liu

Advocacy Statements & Campaigns, Uncategorized

Volunteers from around the world have begun contributing translations of selected posts on our site. The newest volunteer translations of 4Humanities posts from English into other languages include: Fabio Ciracì’s translation into Italian of Jerome J. McGann’s “Memory Now” (original English version) Dr. Nobuhiko Kikuchi’s translation into Japanese of Ernesto Priego’s interview of Daniel O’Donnell […]

“The Humanities Matter!” Infographic

Posted by Alan Liu

Advocacy Statements & Campaigns, Humanities Infographics

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 […]