Defending letters: a pragmatic response to assaults on the humanities

This paper is a mainly pragmatic response to utilitarian criticisms of the humanities. It first outlines political, public and practical fronts on which the humanities are under assault, identifying critics and their conspirators. Then, as a part of its defence of the humanities it expounds some of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of higher education policy and management 2016-12, Vol.38 (6), p.610-624
Main Author: Hay, Iain
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arts
Assaults
Credibility
crisis
Criticism
defending
Foreign Countries
Higher education
Humanities
Humanities teaching
Income
Institutional research
Intellectual disciplines
Liberal Arts
Philosophy
Role of education
Skill Development
Skills
STEM Education
University administration
utility
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Summary:This paper is a mainly pragmatic response to utilitarian criticisms of the humanities. It first outlines political, public and practical fronts on which the humanities are under assault, identifying critics and their conspirators. Then, as a part of its defence of the humanities it expounds some of their central strengths. These range from the philosophical to the practical: lending critical perspectives to knowledge production, enriching lives, developing skills for uncertain and increasingly connected futures, improving science and supporting institutional income and credibility. Finally, the paper suggests that humanists must not only continue valuable conceptual and empirical disciplinary work but must add the very defence of the humanities to professional activity.
ISSN:1360-080X
1469-9508
DOI:10.1080/1360080X.2016.1196933