A Case for the Humanities Not Made

Stanley Fish:

The humanities and social sciences "enable us to participate in a global economy that requires understanding of diverse cultures and sensitivity to different perspectives."

In each of these sentences, and many others that might be instanced, the key words -- "framework," "context," "complex," "meaningfully," "understanding," "diverse," "sensitivity," "perspectives" -- are spectacularly empty; just where specificity is needed, sonorous abstraction blunts the edge of what is being asserted, rendering it unexceptionable (no one's against understanding, complexity and meaningfulness) and without bite.

Then there are the recommendations.

"Increase NEH funding." Fine idea, but only political efforts of a kind not mentioned here will do that trick. College teachers should "reach out" to their colleagues in K-12. Sure, let's have a joint bake sale or a dance. "Embrace the chance to connect with the larger community." What exactly does "connect with" mean and where does the "chance" reside? "Deepen knowledge of other cultures." Add "deepen" to the list of words that say nothing. Develop "intercultural skills." First tell me what they are and how they differ from mono-cultural skills. "Expand the pool of qualified teachers." Wait a moment while I wave my magic wand. "Promote Language Learning." Yes, that's something we could and should do, but it will take money, and money has systematically been withdrawn from public higher education for decades.

The report alludes to this unhappy fact, but doesn't take it up. Nor does it take up the converging factors that accelerate the rush to vocationalism and short-term payoffs -- the mania for online education, unsupportable student debt, rising costs in every area of a college's operation, the Internet's preference for chunked-up bits of information, the elimination or radical downsizing of French, Russian, German, religious studies, theater and other programs because they cannot be justified under zero-based budgeting assumptions.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at June 27, 2013 12:30 AM
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