Conference: The Changing Role of the Humanities in the Academy and Society: Historical and Transnational Perspectives


The conference ‘The Changing Role of the Humanities in the Academy and Society: Historical and Transnational Perspectives’ ’ will take place from 15th to 17th September 2011 at the Centre for British Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
There has been much debate among both humanities practitioners and in the media about the challenges currently facing the humanities as a staple part of the modern university curriculum. Discussion has generally centred on the implications and effects of financial pressures faced by universities and the consequent tendency to favour the applied and natural sciences which are seen as representing a more lucrative investment for universities, However, the current ‘crisis of the humanities’, as it is often termed, is equally a product of the impact of globalisation upon the perceived role of the humanities as a subject area and of the university as a socialising agent. Historically, the rise of the humanities to prominence within the academy was closely linked to the emergence of the nation state and the ideal of the university as a guardian of national culture in the nineteenth century. In the context of the Humboldtian university, the humanities served as an agent of socialisation, a builder of national consciousness. However, in an increasingly globalised world, where the category of the nation state is being progressively eroded in favour of transnational and cross-border connections, this role has been fundamentally undermined. In order to reinvigorate the humanities, it is vital to reconceptualise their role in a globalised world.

Principal investigators
Christinidis, Georgia Dr. (Details) (British Literature and Culture)

Financer
Fritz Thyssen Foundation

Duration of project
Start date: 06/2011
End date: 10/2011

Publications
Sonderband des Journal of the Knowledge Economy (in Vorbereitung)

Last updated on 2025-27-01 at 15:58