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Why Universities Better Invest in the Humanities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

Theo D’haen
Theo D’haen*
Affiliation:
English Department, KU Leuven/University of Leuven, Blijde Inkomststraat 21–3311, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In the Western world, the humanities have been under pressure for the last two or three decades. There are various reasons for this, which have to do with the changed status of humanities disciplines within universities, but also with the public at large. Employment prospects are deemed slimmer for humanities graduates than for STEM graduates. Aging populations requiring more health and old age provisions, and globalization increasing economic competition, are leading to economization and rationalization in the world of academe, relegating the humanities often – quite naturally, so to speak – to the end of the funding chain. Still, there are good reasons to continue funding, and promoting, the humanities. These reasons have to do with questions of identity, but also of economics.*

Type
Conflicts and Dialogues between Science and Humanities
Information
European Review , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , May 2018 , pp. 395 - 405
Copyright
© Academia Europaea 2018 

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References

References and Notes

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