Search

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including "Interest Fading in Humanities, Colleges Worry" in the October 31, 2013 issue, "No Morsel Too Minuscule for All-Consuming N.S.A." in the November 3, 2013 issue, and the article on international aid relief for Syrians in the October 31, 2013 issue.

The article features news briefs regarding higher education from September 2013. In a paper released by data provider College Measures it is reported that the average first-year earnings of graduates are influenced by major, college, and type of degree. While 2011 saw an increase in humanities majors, federal financial support for related subjects remains minimal. The arrest and detention of two Canadian professors, Tarek Loubani and John Greyson, in Cairo, Egypt is discussed.

The article discusses the importance of U.S. college humanities and social sciences programs to the U.S., according to the 2013 report "The Heart of the Matter" by the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, which was formed by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and U.S. legislators. Topics include comments by Sally T. Hillsman of the American Sociological Association, and the report's recommendations regarding the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including "In Looser Tone, a Call to Take Risks and Be Engaged" in the June 16, 2013 issue, "Humanities Committee Sounds an Alarm" in the June 19, 2013 issue, on treating obesity as a disease in a previous issue.

The author presents his thoughts on "Mapping the Future," a report from Harvard University which addressed the declining number of humanities majors. In order to recruit more students to the humanities, he suggests that higher education should promote the importance of teaching and that the control of undergraduate education should be transferred from research-driven departments to university departments committed to learning.

The article examines attempts to reinvent the humanities department at colleges in the U.S. like Harvard University as more college students enter higher education with concerns that a degree in subjects like English, Classics, or History will not result in a job after college.

The article focuses on a plea from Harvard on March 25, 2013 for its graduates to donate their time and intellects to the rapidly growing field of online education in support of a humanities course titled "The Ancient Greek Hero."

In this article the author argues that college students majoring in liberal-arts disciplines should be required to complete an introductory course in business education in order to provide them with a basic understanding of economics and business operations. He discusses the unemployment rate for individuals under the age of 30 in the U.S., comments that universities should offer business courses tailored to the needs of liberal arts students, and explores how such courses will aid graduates in the job market.

In this article the author argues against a proposal from a higher education task force in Florida which would base college tuition structures on the need for professionals in various academic fields. The author comments the plan would require students pursuing degrees in the arts and humanities to pay higher tuition than those students in the computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. He explores potential problems with students changing majors and provides information on starting salaries in each field.

In this article the author discusses graduate education in the humanities disciplines and advocates for universities to adopt the policies outlined in the white paper "The Future of the Humanities Ph.D. at Stanford," authored by Stanford University faculty members including Russell Berman. The article outlines how the proposal deals with issues including academic dissertations and interdisciplinary doctoral education and comments on its possible adoption as U.S. graduate education policy.

The article argues that the U.S. academic discipline of English in the 21st century is not in decline. Details are given citing figures, such as intellectual William Deresiewicz, who suggest the field is suffering a marked decline. The author then proposes a counter argument, asserting that the discipline is actually quite resilient in the long term. A large scale overview of the discipline since 1971 is then provided, noting stability or growth in the Humanities between then and 2010. Concluding remarks are given asserting the need to expand attention to the discipline, particularly in regard to international cooperation and in relation to digital media.

The article discusses the author's experience while teaching arts and humanities at the Navajo Nation's Diné College in New Mexico. The author says he welcomed the chance to observe a diverse body of students learning to recognize and express ideas formed by their tribal identity. He highlights the obstacles and rewards of teaching and learning in an Indian reservation environment. He says awareness of the tribal tradition is important in promoting literacy of tribal students. Convictions the author has developed while teaching on the reservation are discussed including the knowledge that the medium of print is fundamental. He says students should be guided by the same professor throughout the course.

In this article the author discusses failure and argues that college teachers of students in the humanities should emphasize to them the potential benefits of failure within writing and research. She comments that failure should be viewed as a step towards improving one's writing or research, discusses the psyche of humanities students, and explores the different views of failure held by computer science and humanities students and professors.

The article presents a profile of Daniel J. Cohen, director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Particular focus is given to his work in expanding George Mason's development of digital humanities tools such as software and websites. Comments on Cohen's work is presented by Princeton University professor Anthony Grafton and Center founder Roy Rosenzweig.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Invisible Gorillas Are Everywhere," by William Pannapacker in the January 23, 2012 issue, which discusses possible reforms to the digital humanities and comments on the quality of higher education.

An interview with University of Central Florida college student Lyndsey Fitzgerald is presented in which she comments on several topics including proposed budget cuts to college humanities programs, her decision to major in anthropology, and her career plans following graduation.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Keep Your Hands Off the 'Fierce Humanities'," by Cary Nelson, which was published in the August 28, 2011 issue.

In this article the author comments on the measurement of university and college faculty productivity in Texas while simultaneously explaining school budget cuts towards modern language programs. He is critical of the productivity assessment methods of Texas A&M University. It is explained that Texas legislators have erroneously targeted higher education humanities programs for overspending. The effects of economic recession on faculty tenure are also examined.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "The Case Against Health" by Richard Klein in the November 26, 2010 issue.

Several charts are presented on the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in the U.S. including one on the percentage of all bachelor's degrees awarded since 1967, another on the percentage increase in bachelor's degrees awarded since 1988, and one on the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in the humanities field since the late 1960s.