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 will be administered as a pilot project during the 2007-2008 academic year to approximately 1,100 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 Website: (under construction) This website will provide 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

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