[iDC] The Future of the Humanities

Sat Jul 9 14:47:59 UTC 2011

A little tangential but NSF is thinking of cutting their Social Science
research programs. David Brooks has a good op ed (which is very science
oriented but probably necessary for the audience he is trying to reach)

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/opinion/08brooks.html

All best,
Biella

On 07/09/2011 09:26 AM, Simon Biggs wrote:
> Hi Mark
> 
> The arts and humanities are under attack, especially in the UK where, other
> than Scotland, there has been a 100% cut to the government undergraduate
> teaching grant in all except STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering
> and medicine) and a tripling in student fees to make up the difference.
> Whilst STEM is ring-fenced by government policy the rest have to justify
> themselves in a now competitive market. Some institutions, without STEM
> programmes, now receive no government income for teaching. The subsequent
> instrumentalisation of arts, humanities and social sciences is no surprise.
> 
> Here in Edinburgh, which will be affected by the changes south of the border
> but in as yet uncertain ways, we are trying to look beyond the arguably
> false dualities inherent in UK government HE policy. This September we have
> a new MSc by Research starting up in Interdisciplinary Creative Practice. It
> welcomes graduates from all subjects and we are keen to ensure a spread of
> students, from STEM, social sciences, arts and humanities as the mix will
> inform what the students can do together. It is its first year so we will
> see how it goes but recruitment has been promising.
> 
> http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/finder/details.php?id=656
> http://ddm.ace.ed.ac.uk/ICP-info.html
> 
> Best
> 
> Simon
> 
> 
> On 06/06/2011 07:09, "Mark Marino" <markcmarino at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Hi, IDC-ers,
>>
>> Last summer I met a computer scientist who shared with me his hierarchy of
>> knowledge.  In his schema, the sciences were at the top and all branches of
>> knowledge and learning in the academy fell underneath.   By his account, at
>> one time, due to a collective ignorance, much of knowledge was ordered under
>> the Humanities, but slowly over time that ice cap had been chipped away and
>> had floated off and melted into the larger sea of Science where it
>> belonged.  By his account medicine, astronomy, and many other realms of
>> knowledge had been relocated to their rightful place, leaving only certain
>> types of speculative philosophy, perhaps a few arts, and other trivial or
>> superfluous enterprises.
>>
>> I don't think this computer scientist was misrepresenting his perspective to
>> be provocative, though I do believe he knew exactly which of my buttons he
>> was pushing.  His pedestal for positivism was built upon a larger progress
>> narrative (that a humanities course might even critique).  Nonetheless, it
>> took a long coffee break with a philosophy librarian friend to pull me back
>> from the ledge or perhaps get me off the war path.
>>
>> In an age where very reasonable folks are questioning the value of a college
>> education, when the digital humanities seem to be flourishing, and when the
>> US and global economies are still flagging sending students into their most
>> pragmatic shells, I wonder if it isn't time for a new kind of humanities
>> course.   I guess I am thinking about something different than what I know
>> to be "digital humanities" in as much as that can mean the humanities plus
>> computers (not to reduce -- I just don't mean that version of DH.)
>>
>> Remember last year and Cornell's President Skorton's address?
>> http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/01/humanities
>>
>> From an Inside Higher Ed article on the topic:
>> Robert M. Berdahl, president of the Association of American Universities,
>> said he has noticed increasing concern among university leaders about "the
>> marginalization of non-scientific work" in higher education. "At every
>> meeting these days, there is concern expressed about the status of the
>> humanities and the fear that the humanities and to some extent the social
>> sciences are being sidelined in a discussion about higher education that
>> seems to focus almost exclusively on the economic value of universities."
>>
>> Are the Humanities under attack?  If they need rescued and if so how?
>>
>> So here's an idea, and this is not new:  humanities need to be able to show
>> what they can offer even the sciences. (Now I don't mean getting caught up
>> in the debate over the "value" of the humanities directly -- as that's like
>> trying to defend a fine arts program on the basis of the Christie's auction
>> price on a few Picasso's. Also Stanley Fish's retort that the humanities
>> need not justify themselves comes to mind, but it's probably easier to make
>> that claim when you are the Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor
>> and a professor of law.  That's not to slight, but to say it's easier to
>> claim the humanities don't need to argue their value when you've already
>> established/earned your own security.
>>
>> Here is where my personal interest comes in with Critical Code Studies in
>> the Humanities and Critical Code Studies (HaCCS Lab), where one of the goals
>> is to create new spaces for humanities and computer scientists to meet and
>> discuss.   While I think it is naive to suggest that the humanities will all
>> of the sudden be valued the way the sciences are, I'd be interested to hear
>> about humanities courses geared toward scientists.  Not Rocks for Jocks but
>> Greeks for Geeks.   Critical Theory for Civil Engineers.  I'm interested in
>> classes that teach the traditional humanities topics but that are aimed at
>> the science students --  beyond, say, the History of Science or the History
>> of the Philosophy of Science. Which is another way of asking: what can the
>> humanities teach the sciences (which probably plays into a completely
>> useless binary)?
>>
>> I guess I've been thinking a lot about what humanists can offer code studies
>> and can't help feel that we could design humanities courses geared toward
>> science students that would be (actually and hopefully perceived to be)
>> valuable to their pursuits -- with perhaps the long-term goal of not erasing
>> but seriously smudging the division between the sciences and humanities.
>> Don't get me wrong -- these would INCREASE humanities offerings, not take
>> the place of current classes.
>>
>> I know I'm preaching to the interdisciplinary choir, but can anyone reply
>> with actual courses they've taught or offered at their institution that seem
>> to fit this bill?  Can we propose imaginary courses that might accomplish
>> these goals?   Or does this in effect undervalue that work that any good
>> humanities course does already?
>>
>> Thoughts?
>> Mark Marino
>> HaCCS Lab
>> University of Southern California
>> http://haccslab.com
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> 
> 
> Simon Biggs | simon at littlepig.org.uk | www.littlepig.org.uk
> 
> s.biggs at eca.ac.uk | Edinburgh College of Art
> www.eca.ac.uk/circle | www.elmcip.net | www.movingtargets.net
> 
> 
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-- 
Gabriella Coleman, Assistant Professor
NYU, Department of Media, Culture, & Communication
On Leave 2010-2011, The Institute for Advanced Study
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty_bios/view/Gabriella_Coleman