Humanities

A new book argues that American democracy depends on an unlikely source: the English department.

• By James McWilliams

An influential conservative online ecosystem targets teachers whose expressed opinions question the dominance of white men.

• By James McWilliams

An emphasis on the humanities in medical school trains future doctors to become proficient in the social and cultural context of health care.

• By Angira Patel

It's true that much of the scholarship that professors in the humanities produce is micro-focused and barely relevant to larger social concerns. But those academics would also be best served by ignoring that critique.

• By James McWilliams

Forget the tut-tutting of politicians: The skills you learn in the humanities are exactly the skills you use in a job search.

• By Ilana Gershon & Noah Berlatsky

Why our methods of measurement in academia matter.

• By Fredrik DeBoer

As technology advances, doomsaying remains constant.

• By Michael Dirda

English Ph.D.'s and astrophysicists unite! Devan Kreisberg explains that it’s not just the humanities that are under attack, but exploration for its own sake—and that anthropology and astronomy are equally at risk.

• By Devan Kreisberg

The latest entry in a special project in which business and labor leaders, social scientists, technology visionaries, activists, and journalists weigh in on the most consequential changes in the workplace.

• By John Seely Brown

Navigating the emotional stress of doctoral programs in a down market.

• By Ted Scheinman

Until recently, the reigning theory on who the first Homo sapiens in North America were pointed to the Clovis people, evidence of whose culture was discovered in the American Southwest. That theory has been powerfully challenged by, among others, Meadowcroft, an archaeological dig in western Pennsylvania that began in the 1970s.

• By Steve Moyer

The influenza pandemic of 1918 has taught us many lessons and, according to new research, some of them are decidedly low-tech.

• By Anna Maria Gillis

The Corpus of Historical American English is making it easier than ever to discover subtleties of American usage.

• By Ammon Shea

While it's not perfectly tangible, the financial value of a degree in the humanities certainly exists.

• By Paul Hiebert

The humanities and social sciences in America could use a white knight, but instead they got a white elephant.

• By Michael Todd