By now, the latest anti-(humanities)graduate school screed, “Thesis Hatement” by Rebecca Schuman, has made the rounds on Facebook and Twitter. The author warns us against going to grad school in the humanities, stating, “I now realize graduate school was a terrible idea because the full-time, tenure-track literature professorship is extinct. After four years of trying, I’ve […]
4Humanities MiniDoc #2: “Books for Africa”
4Humanities@CSUN is pleased to introduce graduate student Naomi Carrington in its second MiniDoc presentation. In this short video, Carrington’s passion for literacy, diversity, and charity are exhibited as she discusses her project Books for Africa. Part of the charitable offerings of the organization Better World Books, this project allows a participant to send books to an underprivileged place of their choosing completely free of cost. Carrington describes how a trip to Africa in 2009 provided the impetus for her desire to dedicate some of her time and effort while in graduate school to their cause. Thus, in fall 2012, she reached out to Better World Books and asked for the materials to gather and send books to Africa. Her project ultimately brought in over four hundred pounds of books that were shipped overseas in December. (Read more)
Interview with Cara-Ann Simpson
By Eva Kekou, 4Humanities International Correspondent Eva Kekou: In your statement you define yourself as a multidisciplinary artist with a focus on sculpture, sound, space and the participant. Can you elaborate on this and tell us how you understand multidisciplinary work and what you would like to express through various artistic means? Cara-Ann Simpson: For […]
4Humanities Backpack Mini-Documentary #1: “A Harry Potter Cross-Generational Discussion”
4Humanities today debuts the first of the videos produced by its Mini-Documentary Backpack Project (produced by the local chapter of 4Humanities at California State University, Northridge: 4Humanities@CSUN). Mini-doc #1 features the humanities in action in Professor Ranita Chatterjee’s
Announcing 4Humanities@CSUN Mini-Documentary Backpack Project
By Kristin Cornelius This project facilitates the making of short, mini-documentaries that promote humanities scholarship by giving a narrative voice to the research process. Each mini-doc will depict the process of doing humanities research through interviews with students and scholars as they work on their scholarly activities. These short, 5-7 minute films will either be: […]
Michael Bérubé’s “The Humanities, Unraveled”: The Ongoing Crisis in Humanities Graduate Education
Michael Bérubé’s moving piece “The Humanities, Unraveled,” published today in The Chronicle of Higher Education, considers the state of graduate education in the humanities. Bérubé describes this state as “a seamless garment of crisis” that makes it “exceptionally difficult to discuss any one aspect of graduate education in isolation.” In a discussion that ranges from […]
Webinar: Alan Liu on “Advocating the Humanities: Values & Strategies for the Digital Age” (Feb. 11, 2013)
The Kean University Faculty Seminar on “The Global Crisis and Promise of Higher Education” (organized in partnership with 4Humanities) will run its next Webinar of the year on February 11, 2012, featuring Alan Liu on “Advocating the Humanities: Values & Strategies For the Digital Age.” The focus of his webinar will be on reframing humanities […]