The comprehensive spending review has hit humanities departments hard. They must find a way to argue for their importance—without reference to reductive notions like "impact"
Last month’s Browne report was eagerly awaited by some academics, in the hope that it would allow universities, struggling with funding, to raise student fees. Browne did indeed recommend lifting the fee cap, but the comprehensive spending review has since cut the university teaching budget outside Stem subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) to zero. Universities may thus find themselves even worse off than before, and humanities departments especially so. (Read the pros and cons of this debated here, plus Jean Seaton on why we have fallen out of love with universities here.)
Whatever the real answer to it, “Why science?” is a question it feels foolish even to ask. The question “Why humanities?” on the other hand—as Francis Mulhern observed at a
Rene Wolf
The whole conference can be listened to (including Onora O’Neill’s keynote lecture
on the previous day at Senate House) here:
http://backdoorbroadcasting.net/2010/11/why-humanities-conference-page/
RS_HARPER
I understand that both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition studied PPE. Does that count as impact? It is strange that most leading politicians, Margaret Thatcher being an exception, have studied arts subjects but think that young people should not follow their example.
R
Given that the philistinism of our masters, with their purely economic evaluation of education, can be taken for granted, the rest of us need to make sure that within our own professional lives we confront lazy hiring practices.
I work in management consultancy and am heavily involved in our recruitment activities, and I would far rather hire someone who has a background in a rigorous academic discipline within the humanities (history, philosophy, classics etc) than someone who read business management or equivalent as their first degree. I think, and have observed, that intellectual breadth is reflected in more imaginative consultants. Besides, any bright person can pick up all the nearly all of the ideas you learn on an MBA by reading a few books after work or on the tube – try doing the same with Ancient Greek. [I don’t dispute the value of a high-end MBA, but it’s more to do with network and personal branding than education]
If employers value the humanities then so will the government, universities and students. I would love to make a higher minded argument about education as an end not a means, and I passionately believe this, but I fear it would fall on stony ground in the current climate.
Dale
I wish they included Humanities modules in my science degree (biochemistry) at least we would have had a better grasp on the ethics (not taught), politics of research and may have learnt how to debate effectively.