Humanities

Classicist hopes her retirement will allow more of the ‘precariat’ to get a foot on the academic career ladder

Monograph publishing needs partnerships between university presses and scholarly societies, say Helen Beebee, David Teira and Brian Scrivener

Universities should equip students to deal with changing nature of work through broad education, says National Humanities Medal recipient

Median age at degree completion shrinks, although share of field’s graduates with job commitment does too, American Academy of Arts and Sciences finds

Scholars say Russia’s war is to blame for decline in first-year students, with some noting ‘unprecedented’ increases in Polish and Ukrainian languages

The humanities do not have uniquely transformational qualities or a monopoly on critical thinking and empathy. With departments under threat outside the UK’s elite institutions, better to insist on the importance of everyone’s being able to interrogate the stories we tell ourselves, writes Joe Moran

The latest A-level data show concerning long-term trends in the popularity of humanities subjects, says Julia Black

As the Indian and the US examples both show, openness and flexibility is easily limited by parochialism and provincialism, says Saikat Majumdar

The idea that revisionism is something to be ashamed of harks back to a mythical golden age of classics, canons and objective truth, says Harvey Graff

If authors are no longer required to justify their fundamental assumptions, where does that leave referees, asks Martyn Hammersley

Despite holding its own at Peking University, Yuanpei College still encounters resistance to its approach, professor says

The perception of technicians as non-intellectual workers contributes to the undervaluing of technical career paths, says Urszula Pawlicka-Deger

We distract from the debate on the importance of the arts if we don’t review and re-energise our humanities offerings, says Chris Husbands

An internalised, colonial-era emphasis on exam grades is preventing students from deeper learning, forum hears

Humanities benefit individuals, societies and economies. They should be accessible to students from all backgrounds, says Neal Juster

The passions roused by the culture wars show that people care deeply about history and culture right now, says Edward Harcourt

UCU ramps up criticism after announcements on cost-cutting programmes

Population declines and employment shifts key factors, but universities also seen ignoring non-teaching career pathways

Academics warn against ‘technocratic’ solution when venues for publishing in languages other than English are struggling

Squeamish western Europe should take a more integrated approach to understanding war, says Ukrainian academic

Inhaling one another’s insights could help scholars assuage public confusion about this crucial but confusing concept, says Jacques Berlinerblau

The technological objectification of thought plagued education long before classes were conducted over Zoom, says Kishore Saval

Higher education must double down on the liberal education values of interdisciplinarity, experiential learning and critical thinking, says Eric Skipper

Privileging one set of subjects with a catchy acronym may once have served a purpose, but that has long since been outlived, says Andy Miah 

Coyness, contention and competing agendas all hamper historians and sociologists of sex. Matthew Reisz speaks to those who choose, nevertheless, to probe this most sensitive and intimate of subjects

Scrutiny of graduate outcomes is appropriate but the issue is much more complex than arts v science, says Anna Vignoles

Nobel literature laureate on his dual career, childhood memories and why decolonising the curriculum is nothing new

Scholars attacked for research into colonialism and atrocities of empire need professional support and counselling, says broadcaster

Geneticist warns of the dangers of ‘fetishising’ DNA and turning a blind eye to racism

Universities should ensure all students, including in sciences, can access ‘great humanities education’, Berkeley dean tells THE summit

The problem – amid a general mood of satisfaction – may trace to unrealistic expectations, American Academy of Arts and Sciences says

A public exhibition during COP26 hopes to engage policymakers with the slow-burn issues that science doesn’t address, says Gerald Taylor Aiken

University libraries are changing in major ways, but there are important lessons to be learned from the past, argues author of new book

With contention about diversity adding to concerns about employability and declining student numbers, does Classics in the US need rebranding or rethinking? Paul Basken reports

Questioning and rethinking how and where we live will determine whether we go on living at all, says Ulrich Loening

Academic and author honoured for ‘uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee’

Google Translate’s limitations spell out why we must revisit old questions about artificial intelligence, says Lionel Tarassenko

Increased digital literacy will also help boost employability and finally end the crisis narrative, says Jo Fox

Report argues that embedding digital and numerical education would improve employability of graduates

A new consortium will embody the spread of liberal arts beyond the West, say Bryan Penprase and Thomas Schneider 

Ambitious AHRC-funded programme should help break down barriers and enable scholars to ask difficult questions about heritage

College’s defenders say its demise will dilute free expression, but education minister says its original critics opposed it for the same reason

Johann N. Neem enjoys a sharp historical analysis of why the humanities always seem to be overpromising on what they can do

Uncritical and misinformed imitation of physics or biology is a misconception of collaboration, says Harvey J. Graff

Fait accompli shutdown ‘a metaphor for the decline of Western liberalism in Asia’, say experts after Singapore decision

AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton tells THE summit that non-science disciplines are vital to shaping how tech is used

The narrative that the humanities are haemorrhaging students, funding and political favour is deeply felt around the world. But the evidence of the disciplines’ decline is considerably more nuanced, finds Simon Baker

Resistance to the knowledge generated by science will only be overcome with the help of the humanities. But what can universities do to bridge C. P. Snow’s famous divide between these fields, which endures to this day?

Shutting off the talent pipeline into the creative industries risks the UK’s reputation for creativity and its potential for growth, says Anne Carlisle

The pandemic highlighted UK creative industries’ innovative capacity. Public research spending choices should reflect that, says Andrew Thompson

University council backs shuttering despite widespread opposition

Scholars say that the new institute, whose remit describes the genocide as ‘baseless’, will lack credibility

THE forum hears Manchester v-c spotlight social sciences and humanities, plus universities’ local roles, in vision for post-pandemic future

Report looking at hidden aspects of admissions data finds some universities and courses are faring better than others

Fields essential to country’s development could become ‘unviable’ as faculty are forced out, observers say

Professors and institutions admit worry as at least 20 US states move to block curricula exploring systemic biases

As post-92 departments close, non-traditional students and scholars risk being shut out – again, says Panikos Panayi

Public confusion is one thing, but some subjects provoke quizzical and sometimes dismissive frowns even among colleagues from different departments. Here, nine academics set the record straight about what they do – and why it matters

Robert Eaglestone finds much to admire in an unapologetic attempt to justify the humanities in their own terms

Even in a post-pandemic era of STEM and vocational education, the study of history must remain an option for all, says Sir Keith Burnett