From Identity Politics to Academic Masturbation

Julian Vigo / Truthdig Mar 28, 2018 How did we arrive at this moment where university learning means parroting incoherent political rhetoric? Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Arts Committee Disbands, Citing Trump’s ‘Hateful Rhetoric’

Emily Wells / Truthdig Aug 20, 2017 The post-Charlottesville fallout continues. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

White House Arts and Humanities Medals Recognize Americans’ Collective Experience

Clara Romeo / Truthdig Sep 28, 2016 As the nation nears the end of a highly divisive political season, President Obama uses the awards ceremony to focus on common ground. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

U.S. Public Schools Should Revive Stagnant Humanities and Arts Education

Staff / Truthdig Jul 13, 2016 The best remedy against cynicism in young students is a curriculum that teaches contemporary events while establishing parallels with history. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

What’s the Point of a Professor?

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig May 10, 2015 When he was a student in the early 1980s, Emory University English professor Mark Bauerlein and his peers spoke with their professors regularly and at length, knowing “that these moments were the heart of liberal education.” Today, polls show, one-third of students never do so. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Debate: What’s the Value of a Humanities Education?

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Sep 30, 2013 A prominent technologist and advocate for the inclusion of women in the tech economy tells Guardian art critic Adrian Searle she wasted her youth on a languages degree, and that young Britons need to get with the "coding" revolution if they wish to pay off their university debts and be relevant to society. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Philosophy by Another Name?

Staff / Truthdig Mar 10, 2012 A British philosopher suggests that popular confusion over what philosophers do requires the epochs-old discipline follow the suit of other academic subjects and update its name. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Connecting With Daily Life of the Past

Staff / Truthdig Aug 28, 2011 The struggle for the serious study and appreciation of literature continues in our society, where enormous emphasis has been placed on the "practical" disciplines of math and science, and specialized academics more and more produce arcane, overtly politicized work that the public seems to find joyless and irrelevant. (more) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Enlightened but Unemployed

Staff / Truthdig Jun 19, 2011 The well-intentioned handwringing over what to do about the slow asphyxiation of the traditional American humanities education continues over at Salon.com, where novelist Kim Brooks laments the failure of liberal arts colleges to prepare students for professionally and financially rewarding careers. (more) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

A Teachable Moment From an Esteemed Teacher

BLANK Jul 12, 2010 At a time when our country's educational system is sliding down our government's priority list, it takes reminders like this one, by noted California educator Jim Mamer, to set us straight and offer some much-needed inspiration.Educator Jim Mamer offers some much-needed inspiration and a timely reminder about the need to keep our nation's educational priorities straight. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Troy Jollimore on Why Democracy Needs the Humanities

BLANK Apr 23, 2010 In a short and powerful manifesto, renowned philosopher and critic Martha Nussbaum issues a passionate call to resist persistent efforts to reduce education to a tool of the gross national product.Philosopher and critic Martha Nussbaum issues a call to resist persistent efforts to reduce education to a tool of the gross national product. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

Where Neuroscience Meets Literature

Staff / Truthdig Apr 1, 2010 How about a little cognitive psychology with your English literature? Professors who normally spend their time thinking about Virginia Woolf's characters and story structures are taking a page from scientific texts to add a new dimension to their exploration of fiction. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )