Initiative for Humanities and Culture
New and increasingly complex challenges — political,
cultural, technological, and financial — are profoundly altering conditions for
the humanities in the United States. The Academy's Initiative for Humanities
and Culture provides a framework for examining the significance of the
humanities to our national culture and for developing resources and policies to
ensure the health of the humanities in the 21st century.
This initiative is the latest in a long series of
projects that reflect the Academy's commitment to the humanities. The Academy
joined with a small group of learned societies to found the American Council of
Learned Societies (ACLS) after the First World War, and was later instrumental
in forming the Independent Research Libraries Association. In the mid-1970s,
the Academy was the principal catalyst in the development of the National
Humanities Center in North Carolina, now regarded as one of the world's leading
institutes for advanced study. The Humanities and Culture Initiative furthers
the Academy’s tradition of leadership by advancing research about the
humanities in American life.
The Initiative is led by a committee of distinguished
Academy Fellows, co-chaired by Patricia Meyer Spacks (University of Virginia),
Steven Marcus (Columbia University), Denis Donoghue (New York University),
Francis C. Oakley (Williams College), and Leslie Berlowitz (American Academy).
Current Projects
-
Humanities Indicators:
The Academy, in collaboration with humanities institutions throughout the
country, is establishing a framework and institutional base for the
compilation, analysis, and publication of comprehensive longitudinal
statistical data about the humanities. See Press Release
-
Humanities Departmental Survey:
This project is designed to collect new data about the humanities in higher
education. A newly developed survey instrument was administered as a pilot
project during the 2007-2008 academic year to approximately 1,500 college and
university humanities departments.
-
Scholarship on the Humanities:
This series of related studies analyzes the evolution of humanities disciplines
and institutions, examines the conditions and intellectual climate in which
they operate, and assesses the role and value of the humanities in society.
-
Humanities Resources Center Online: (under construction) This website provides
humanists, administrators of humanities organizations, educators, and the
general public with information and data about the humanities in the
United States.
Past Projects
-
Considering
the Humanities: This study mapped the development and evolution of
seven humanities disciplines over the last century.
-
The Humanities and the Dynamics of Inclusion Since 1945: This study
examined how the humanities have incorporated previously marginalized groups
and doctrines into the American cultural conversation.
-
Tracking Changes in the
Humanities: Humanities scholars and educational policy researchers came
together to identify common research questions and to shape initial efforts to
refine and improve the statistical data available about the humanities.
-
Foundation Funding for the
Humanities: This report examined and analyzed changes in U.S.
foundation support for the humanities between 1992 and 2002.
-
Making the Humanities Count: To
understand where the humanities in the United States are headed requires
understanding the state of the humanities today. This 2002 report evaluated
existing humanities data, assessed their usefulness, and argued for a
coordinated, systematic, and sustained method of data collection and analysis
in the humanities disciplines.
-
1990s
-
1980s
-
1970s
-
1960s
Back
to main Project page
|