4Humanities@UCSB will hold its initial meeting of the 2013-14 academic year on Thursday, November 7th (noon – 1:30, South Hall 2509). Continuing and new participants in the group are invited to come discuss the important recent report titled “The Heart of the Matter” (summary [PDF]) (full report [PDF]) which the American Academy of Arts & […]
Stephen Ramsay, “Blindness”
This post originally appeared on Stephen Ramsay’s blog. It is reposted with permission on 4Humanities. A suspected Chinese organ trafficker gouged out the eyes of a 6-year-old boy to steal the corneas for the black market. The boy was playing outside his home in Shanxi province last week when a women kidnapped and drugged him. […]
Opinion Piece by Christine Henseler, “Painting By Numbers: The Humanities”
The great irony of the summer of 2013 is that it has been painting the humanities by numbers. With every article, and there have been many, the Humanities have been measured by diverse sets of data that motion to its decline, its rise, or its bubbling (see links to some relevant articles, reports, and posts […]
Add Your Name to “The Humanities Matter!” Mailing List
Last month, the University College London (UCL) Center for the Digital Humanities and 4Humanities released The Humanities Matter!, an infographic of statistics and arguments for the humanities (see the original post here, and download the PDF here). We now have about 100 extra print copies of the infographic, and we want to send them to you! For […]
U of Alberta Suspends 20 Programs
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 […]
Language Teaching Crisis
The Guardian online has a disturbing article about Language teaching crisis as 40% of university departments face closure. The Guardian is reporting that the universities in the UK offering degrees in modern language has dropped from 105 in 2000 to 62 today. Some of the reasons given for this drop include: The decision that languages […]
Opinion Piece by Christine Henseler, “Calling All Humanists: Let’s Reach Out and Touch Someone!”
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. […]