tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/humanities-3051/articlesHumanities – The Conversation2023-07-25T03:04:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2101942023-07-25T03:04:30Z2023-07-25T03:04:30ZA changing world needs arts and social science graduates more than ever – just ask business leaders<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539141/original/file-20230725-29-22m2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5455%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The headline job loss figures from New Zealand’s university funding crisis are in the public domain: over 100 gone at <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/494134/university-of-otago-makes-more-than-100-staff-redundant-in-cost-cutting-bid">Otago University</a>, with as many as 250 potentially about to go from <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/490714/victoria-university-lack-of-government-funding-blamed-for-proposed-job-cuts">Te Herenga Waka–Victoria</a> and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/300931718/please-dont-let-it-happen-protesters-front-up-to-massey-university-council-over-restructures">Massey</a>. But these are only the losses we know of. </p>
<p>Behind the institutional veil, academic and administrative staff are quietly upping sticks for other, more secure working environments. </p>
<p>The proffered reasons for the proposed cuts include the loss of international students during the COVID-19 years, a steep <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pro/the-crisis-in-tertiary-education-caused-by-inadequate-funding">reduction in the value</a> of the public subsidy for domestic students over the past decade, and a funding model that encourages competition in a shrinking demographic pool. </p>
<p>More broadly, the sector-wide retrenchment is also framed around accountability to the taxpayer. What has not been interrogated more deeply is what price the notional taxpayer will pay over the long term if cuts of this magnitude occur.</p>
<p>The threat to the country’s research and development strategy from underfunded science departments is perhaps clearer. But the risks from losing more staff in the humanities and social sciences (where I work) are arguably less well appreciated.</p>
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<h2>Thinking critically</h2>
<p>Essentially, studying social sciences and humanities subjects is about making sense of things: oneself, the societies in which we live, the connections between past, present and future. </p>
<p>If that sounds a little “ivory tower”, it is in fact a <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/0038/latest/LMS202213.html?search=sw_096be8ed81d0f262_critic_25_se&p=1&sr=0">statutory obligation</a> of tertiary institutions to be a “critic and conscience of society”. That is, to enable people to think for themselves, challenge received wisdoms and ask questions of those in positions of power.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-campus-numbers-plummeting-due-to-online-learning-do-we-need-two-categories-of-university-degree-208172">With campus numbers plummeting due to online learning, do we need two categories of university degree?</a>
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<p>More practically, the attributes and dispositions imparted in the humanities and social sciences – the capacities to think critically, synthesise complex information and hold contradictory ideas in balance – are extremely useful in today’s rapidly changing labour market. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, it has been fashionable (at least in New Zealand, less so in more mature societies) to deride the bachelor of arts degree as one that won’t get you far. The old joke that BA stood for “bugger all” never seems to get old.</p>
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<h2>Business and the humanities</h2>
<p>And yet, the hard-headed world of business and commerce is <a href="https://www.bca.com.au/the-true-value-of-humanities">increasingly aware</a> of the value of just such an education. Maybe most famously in New Zealand, the highly successful international property developer Bob Jones has long <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/education/the-art-of-business-success/QSNAYZSYXPTRTUAUQ7BLZARYKM/">expressed a preference</a> for employing arts rather than business graduates.</p>
<p>More recently, the former CEO of Westpac Institutional Bank, Lyn Cobley, <a href="https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A84189">spoke about</a> the need for the kinds of diverse skills an arts degree can provide: </p>
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<p>We’re not focusing as much on the traditional skillset that we once thought was necessary in banking – financial modelling, accounting, commerce – but rather we’re looking for people who display diversity of thought, critical thinking skills, cultural awareness, communication and collaboration skills. </p>
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<p>Paul Newfield, philosophy graduate and now CEO of infrastructure company Morrison & Co, is another who is <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300812373/ceo-paul-newfields-journey-from-backpacker-philosophy-to-global-infrastructure">acutely aware</a> of the importance in business of diverse views and backgrounds:</p>
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<p>The magic for us is being a culture where people respect different perspectives, and really engage in debate and in the ideas, and then you get good answers.</p>
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<p>In other words, workplace-specific skills can be taught on the job. But that’s a lot easier to do when you’re working with curious people possessed of good, nimble minds – the kind of minds fostered in the arts disciplines.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/starved-of-funds-and-vision-struggling-universities-put-nzs-entire-research-strategy-at-risk-207708">Starved of funds and vision, struggling universities put NZ’s entire research strategy at risk</a>
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<h2>No technical fixes</h2>
<p>The sense-making skills cultivated in the humanities and social sciences are <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/top-10-work-skills-of-tomorrow-how-long-it-takes-to-learn-them/">valued by employers</a>. But they are even more important in the wider context of a world facing numerous challenges.</p>
<p>Highly complex issues – the climate crisis, the emergence of artificial intelligence, disinformation and <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/undercurrent">political extremism</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/09/here-be-trolls-new-zealands-female-politicians-battle-rising-tide-of-misogyny">race</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/09/here-be-trolls-new-zealands-female-politicians-battle-rising-tide-of-misogyny">gender</a> prejudice, and <a href="https://www.inequality.org.nz/understand/">social inequality</a> – are not wholly amenable to technical fixes. </p>
<p>Each has fundamentally to do with human behaviour and interactions. And therefore each requires the sorts of practices cultivated in the arts disciplines: careful thought, calm deliberation and meaningful collaboration.</p>
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Read more:
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<p>And this isn’t simply special pleading from those within the threatened disciplines and departments. </p>
<p>Robert May, president of the Royal Society, member of the House of Lords and Chief Scientific Adviser to the British government, put it this way: </p>
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<p>I think many of the major problems facing society are outside the realm of science and mathematics. It’s the behavioural sciences that are the ones we are going to have to depend on to save us.</p>
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<p>The proposed reductions in staffing within those disciplines in New Zealand universities run counter to that sentiment. Public policy, functioning democracy and social cohesion are all at stake in the longer term.</p>
<p>Archaic assumptions about the “value” of the disciplines of the humanities and social sciences need to be put to rest. We need to acknowledge their importance to the economy and society. </p>
<p>Filling a hole in this year’s budget may only mean the price we pay in years to come will be far larger.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Shaw is a member of the Tertiary Education Union.</span></em></p>From commerce to public policy, cuts to New Zealand’s university humanities departments will have repercussions well beyond the so-called ‘ivory towers’.Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2077932023-07-19T12:23:49Z2023-07-19T12:23:49ZFirst contact with aliens could end in colonization and genocide if we don’t learn from history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536178/original/file-20230706-15-uc6ukv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C0%2C4928%2C3260&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">SETI has been listening for markers that may indicate alien life -- but is doing so ethical?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/4TpL_oVkUcQ">Donald Giannati via Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We’re only halfway through 2023, and it feels already like the year of alien contact. </p>
<p>In February, President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/02/16/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-united-states-response-to-recent-aerial-objects/">gave orders</a> to shoot down three unidentified aerial phenomena – NASA’s title for UFOs. Then, the alleged <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/05/19/ufo-navy-video-jeremy-corbell-orig-jm.cnn">leaked footage</a> from a Navy pilot of a UFO, and then news of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/whistleblower-ufo-alien-tech-spacecraft">whistleblower’s report</a> on a possible U.S. government cover-up about UFO research. Most recently, an independent analysis <a href="https://douglasjohnson.ghost.io/senate-intelligence-bill-gives-holders-of-non-earth-origin-six-months/">published in June</a> suggests that UFOs might have been collected by a clandestine agency of the U.S. government.</p>
<p>If any actual evidence of extraterrestrial life emerges, whether from whistleblower testimony or an admission of a cover-up, humans would face a historic paradigm shift. </p>
<p>As members of an Indigenous studies working group who were asked to lend our disciplinary expertise to a workshop affiliated with the <a href="https://seti.berkeley.edu/">Berkeley SETI Research Center</a>, we have studied centuries of culture contacts and their outcomes from around the globe. Our collaborative preparations for the workshop drew from transdisciplinary research in Australia, New Zealand, Africa and across the Americas. </p>
<p>In its final form, our <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2sq6f3b0">group statement</a> illustrated the need for diverse perspectives on the ethics of listening for alien life and a broadening of <a href="https://doi.org/10.17953/aicrj.45.1.shorter">what defines “intelligence” and “life.”</a> Based on our findings, we consider first contact less as an event and more as a long process that has already begun. </p>
<h2>Who’s in charge of first contact</h2>
<p>The question of who is “in charge” of preparing for contact with alien life immediately comes to mind. The communities – and their interpretive lenses – most likely to engage in any contact scenario would be military, corporate and scientific. </p>
<p>By giving Americans the legal right to profit from space tourism and planetary resource extraction, the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/COMPS-15975">Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015</a> could mean that corporations will be the first to find signs of extraterrestrial societies. Otherwise, while detecting unidentified aerial phenomena is usually a military matter, and NASA takes the lead on <a href="https://theconversation.com/blasting-out-earths-location-with-the-hope-of-reaching-aliens-is-a-controversial-idea-two-teams-of-scientists-are-doing-it-anyway-182036">sending messages from Earth</a>, most activities around extraterrestrial communications and evidence fall to a program called <a href="https://www.seti.org/">SETI, or the search for extraterrestrial intelligence</a>. </p>
<p>SETI is a collection of scientists with a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/project-seti">variety of research endeavors</a>, including Breakthrough Listen, which listens for “<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/abf649">technosignatures</a>,” or markers, like pollutants, <a href="https://theconversation.com/signatures-of-alien-technology-could-be-how-humanity-first-finds-extraterrestrial-life-191054">of a designed technology</a>. </p>
<p>SETI investigators are <a href="https://www.seti.org/become-pi-or-affiliate">virtually always STEM</a> – science, technology, engineering and math – scholars. Few in the social science and humanities fields have been afforded opportunities to contribute to concepts of and preparations for contact.</p>
<p>In a promising act of disciplinary inclusion, the <a href="https://seti.berkeley.edu/listen/">Berkeley SETI Research Center</a> in 2018 invited working groups – including our <a href="https://doi.org/10.17953/aicrj.45.1.atalay_etal">Indigenous studies working group</a> – from outside STEM fields to craft perspective papers for SETI scientists to consider.</p>
<h2>Ethics of listening</h2>
<p>Neither Breakthough Listen nor SETI’s site features a current <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119711186.ch13">statement of ethics</a> beyond a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2010.0311">commitment to transparency</a>. Our working group was <a href="https://bis-space.com/shop/product/do-no-harm-cultural-imperialism-and-the-ethics-of-active-seti/">not the first</a> to raise this issue. And while the <a href="https://www.seti.org/event/seti-live-ethics-outer-space">SETI Institute</a> and <a href="https://www.pseti.psu.edu/seminar/">certain research centers</a> have included ethics in their event programming, it seems relevant to ask who NASA and SETI answer to, and what ethical guidelines they’re following for a potential first contact scenario. </p>
<p><a href="https://seti.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/">SETI’s Post-Detection Hub</a> – another rare exception to SETI’s STEM-centrism – seems the most likely to develop a range of contact scenarios. The possible circumstances imagined include finding ET artifacts, detecting signals from thousands of light years away, dealing with linguistic incompatibility, finding microbial organisms in space or on other planets, and biological contamination of either their or our species. Whether the U.S. government or heads of military would heed these scenarios is another matter. </p>
<p>SETI-affiliated scholars <a href="https://youtu.be/1Op7AN0MeNw?t=1237">tend to reassure critics</a> that the intentions of those listening for technosignatures are benevolent, since “what harm could come from simply listening?” The chair emeritus of SETI Research, Jill Tarter, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1814k0q">defended listening</a> because any ET civilization would perceive our listening techniques as immature or elementary. </p>
<p>But our working group drew upon the history of colonial contacts <a href="https://doi.org/10.17953/aicrj.45.1.shorter">to show the dangers</a> of thinking that whole civilizations are comparatively advanced or intelligent. For example, when Christopher Columbus and other European explorers came to the Americas, those relationships were shaped by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004421882_011">the preconceived notion</a> that the “Indians” were less advanced due to <a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska-paperback/9780803253445/">their lack of writing</a>. This led to decades of <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-other-slavery-andres-resendez?variant=39936147849250">Indigenous servitude</a> in the Americas. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537513/original/file-20230714-23-b71osm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white engraving of a group of armed and armored men standing on the shore speaking to many naked men. Large ships sail in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537513/original/file-20230714-23-b71osm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537513/original/file-20230714-23-b71osm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537513/original/file-20230714-23-b71osm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537513/original/file-20230714-23-b71osm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537513/original/file-20230714-23-b71osm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537513/original/file-20230714-23-b71osm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537513/original/file-20230714-23-b71osm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">This 16th century engraving shows Christopher Columbus landing in the Americas, where he and his explorers deemed the Indigenous people there as ‘primitive,’ as they had no writing system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbus_landing_on_Hispaniola.JPG">Theodor de Bry/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>The working group statement also suggested that the act of listening is itself already within a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848619862191">phase of contact</a>.” Like colonialism itself, contact might best be thought of as a series of events that starts with planning, rather than a singular event. Seen this way, isn’t listening potentially without permission just another form of surveillance? To listen intently but indiscriminately seemed to our working group like a <a href="https://doi.org/10.17953/aicrj.45.1.shorter_tallbear">type of eavesdropping</a>. </p>
<p>It seems contradictory that we begin our relations with aliens by listening in without their permission while actively working to stop other countries from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI_rUsLT5Iw&ab_channel=WION">listening to certain U.S. communications</a>. If humans are initially perceived as disrespectful or careless, ET contact could more likely lead to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-could-we-build-an-invisibility-cloak-to-hide-earth-from-an-alien-civilization-57092">their colonization of us</a>.</p>
<h2>Histories of contact</h2>
<p>Throughout histories of Western colonization, even in those few cases when contactees were intended to be protected, contact has led to brutal violence, pandemics, enslavement and genocide. </p>
<p>James Cook’s 1768 voyage on the HMS Endeavor was initiated by the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.1969.0003">Royal Society</a>. This prestigious British academic society charged him with calculating the solar distance between the Earth and the Sun by measuring the visible movement of Venus across the Sun from Tahiti. The society strictly forbade him from any colonial engagements. </p>
<p>Though he achieved his scientific goals, Cook also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743921305001262">received orders</a> from the Crown to map and claim as much territory as possible on the return voyage. Cook’s actions put into motion wide-scale colonization and Indigenous dispossession across Oceania, including the <a href="https://doi.org/10.17953/aicrj.45.1.lempert">violent conquests of Australia and New Zealand</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537303/original/file-20230713-17-55wdsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting showing five men, two dogs, and a statue of a woman standing in a clearing near the ocean shore. The center man, James Cook, is holding his hat out." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537303/original/file-20230713-17-55wdsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537303/original/file-20230713-17-55wdsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537303/original/file-20230713-17-55wdsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537303/original/file-20230713-17-55wdsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537303/original/file-20230713-17-55wdsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537303/original/file-20230713-17-55wdsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537303/original/file-20230713-17-55wdsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The 1768 voyage of British captain James Cook, center, put into motion wide-scale colonization and Indigenous dispossession across Oceania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135646842/view">John Hamilton Mortimer via the National Library of Australia</a></span>
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<p>The Royal Society gave Cook a “<a href="https://bigthink.com/thinking/star-trek-prime-directive/">prime directive</a>” of doing no harm and to only conduct research that would broadly benefit humanity. However, explorers are rarely independent from their funders, and their explorations reflect the political contexts of their time. </p>
<p>As scholars attuned to both research ethics and histories of colonialism, we wrote about Cook in our working group statement to showcase why SETI might want to explicitly disentangle their intentions <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/COMPS-15975">from those of corporations, the military and the government</a>. </p>
<p>Although separated by vast time and space, both Cook’s voyage and SETI share key qualities, including their appeal to celestial science in the service of all humanity. They also share a mismatch between their ethical protocols and the likely long-term impacts of their success.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">This BBC video describes the modern ramifications of Captain James Cook’s colonial legacy in New Zealand.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The initial domino of a public ET message, or recovered bodies or ships, could initiate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2010.0236">cascading events</a>, including military actions, corporate resource mining and perhaps even geopolitical reorganizing. The history of imperialism and colonialism on Earth illustrates that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520601056240">not everyone benefits from colonization</a>. No one can know for sure <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-religion-ready-to-meet-et-32541">how engagement with extraterrestrials would go</a>, though it’s better to consider cautionary tales from Earth’s own history sooner rather than later.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct the date of James Cook’s voyage.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207793/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Delgado Shorter has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the University of California, and the California Community Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Lempert has received funding from Bowdoin College, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the Fulbright IIE US Scholar Program, the Lois Roth Endowment, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kim TallBear does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Three Indigenous studies scholars draw from colonial histories and explain why listening for alien life can have ethical ramifications.David Delgado Shorter, Professor of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, University of California, Los AngelesKim TallBear, Professor of Native Studies, University of AlbertaWilliam Lempert, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Bowdoin CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085642023-06-28T01:15:49Z2023-06-28T01:15:49ZBailout, Band-Aid or back to basics? 3 questions NZ’s university funding review must ask<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534469/original/file-20230627-29-ynyh5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5288%2C3520&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The University of Otago: funding boost still won't avert some cuts.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Yesterday’s announcement of <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132427555/128-million-boost-for-struggling-tertiary-sector-welcomed">NZ$128 million in new funding</a> for universities has naturally been welcomed as a badly-needed reprieve. But we have to ask, is this a bailout for struggling institutions, or is it just a Band-Aid on a tertiary sector with deeper structural wounds? </p>
<p>It’s clear the pandemic massively exacerbated the challenges caused by years of funding below inflation rates. All universities have seen previous redundancy rounds, some of which may have been inevitable. </p>
<p>But whatever academic fat there was to lose is gone. Recent cuts have bitten into flesh, and now the bone saws are out. The choices being made about which teaching programmes should go – teacher training, modern languages or geophysics – are no choice at all, other than which limb to amputate.</p>
<p>So the government’s simultaneous proposal to review the tertiary funding model offers a chance to take the system back to basics – to remind us why these institutions are publicly funded in the first place, and to give them a warrant of fitness for the 21st century.</p>
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<h2>The ‘per student’ funding problem</h2>
<p>The proposal to spread the $128 million (over two years) across all tertiary institutes – universities, wānanga and <a href="https://www.xn--tepkenga-szb.ac.nz/">Te Pukenga</a> – looks fair and consistent. As such, it looks far less like a bailout of particular institutions than an admission that the current policy settings are not fit for purpose.</p>
<p>But that fairness also reveals the problem with our funding settings. Tertiary education subsidies are allocated “per student”, and this structurally advantages larger institutions. </p>
<p>There is a baseline cost of operating a teaching programme or department, on top of which additional students cost relatively little. We fund research in universities in this way, through baseline funding topped up by contestable grants, but not teaching.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/starved-of-funds-and-vision-struggling-universities-put-nzs-entire-research-strategy-at-risk-207708">Starved of funds and vision, struggling universities put NZ’s entire research strategy at risk</a>
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<p>The University of Auckland, for example, is currently in an enviable financial position, by local standards at least. Yet it will pick up more new funding than any other university by virtue of having the most students.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the new funding <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018896115/major-job-losses-for-universities-despite-govt-rescue-package">won’t avert</a> all the proposed redundancies. The downside of “fairness” is that the funding holes at Victoria and Otago universities will not be covered. It will likely be the same story at AUT, Massey and Waikato.</p>
<p>So yes, the $128 million is perhaps just a Band-Aid. But it does buy time to rethink and re-strategise while the system is reviewed – which was the most important part of yesterday’s announcement. </p>
<p>University leadership accountability is now under the microscope – under many microscopes, even. Any redundancies with strategic implications for what a university can teach or research should now be delayed as much as possible.</p>
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<h2>Value and equity</h2>
<p>First and foremost, the New Zealand public owns and operates tertiary education institutions because they deliver economic and social value: value for the student who learns and acquires a qualification; and value for those who don’t attend but will rely on those who do (such as doctors and nurses).</p>
<p>There is a question of equity, too. Some New Zealanders might be able to pay for their children to study overseas, but equal access to education at home should be a fundamental principle.</p>
<p>All this becomes important when we ask what our university system should look like. For example, do we need eight universities competing for both students and funding?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-campus-numbers-plummeting-due-to-online-learning-do-we-need-two-categories-of-university-degree-208172">With campus numbers plummeting due to online learning, do we need two categories of university degree?</a>
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<p>I don’t think there is an easy answer to that. The University of Auckland has long had a strategy of leveraging its size to claim the position (and reputational advantages) of being New Zealand’s “highest-ranked” university internationally. </p>
<p>The smaller universities, by contrast, have been strategic about facing their local communities more directly, and building reputations in specific fields. We should therefore not be cavalier about downsizing the sector in general. The benefits of a university to a community should be widely distributed.</p>
<p>Minister of Finance Grant Robertson touched on this at the funding announcement when he said universities had perhaps spent too much on marketing. And that may be true of their efforts to maximise international rankings to maximise international student revenue.</p>
<p>But the fact that each university has its own identity, developed over many years in collaboration with its local community, is also something to celebrate.</p>
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<h2>3 important questions</h2>
<p>Overall, then, yesterday’s announcement offers hope because it recognises the need for coordination between universities on teaching – with a report to Cabinet in a month on the risks to specific programmes – and because it acknowledges the immediate threat to New Zealand’s national research capacity. </p>
<p>The two-year time frame for the review of funding structures is probably realistic, given the complexity of current funding models. The interdependence of research and teaching income streams needs to be examined carefully.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/battered-and-broken-i-must-get-out-what-staff-told-us-about-teaching-and-working-in-universities-today-208179">‘Battered and broken. I must get out’: what staff told us about teaching and working in universities today</a>
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<p>The different sizes of institutions, and different levels of research and teaching focus, mean seemingly simple models can have unanticipated biases, whether towards certain (larger or more research-intensive) institutions, or towards particular types of scholarship (such as science over the humanities). </p>
<p>The anticipated outcomes of any proposed new model will need to be measured against the Education Act’s definition of a university and its reasons to exist:</p>
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<li><p>does it maintain a balance (and interdependence) of teaching and research?</p></li>
<li><p>does it maintain a diversity of scholarship, the sciences and the arts, the quantitative and the qualitative?</p></li>
<li><p>and does it deliver for its community, and thus justify its independent existence? </p></li>
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<p>Academic freedom is enshrined in the law as meaning universities operate as the “critic and conscience” of society. But their responsibility to community is a useful way of thinking about what that means, in my opinion. Either way, these seem like the necessary questions to ask if we want to get back to basics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208564/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicola Gaston receives funding from the Tertiary Education Commission as Co-Director of the MacDiarmid Institute, and from the Royal Society Te Aparangi as an Investigator on Marsden research grants.</span></em></p>The $128 million funding boost for the tertiary sector is only a stop-gap measure. But it can buy time for a genuine rethink of the entire system.Nicola Gaston, Co-Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2030462023-04-13T20:09:38Z2023-04-13T20:09:38ZWhy arts degrees and other generalist programs are the future of Australian higher education<p><em>This article is the first in our series on big ideas for the Universities Accord. The federal government is calling for ideas to “reshape and reimagine higher education, and set it up for the next decade and beyond”. A review team is due to finish a draft report in June and a final report in December 2023.</em></p>
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<p>There is a persistent idea that a generalist degree, such as a Bachelor of Arts, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/students-still-flock-to-humanities-degrees-despite-huge-fee-increases-20220601-p5aq6n.html">is less likely to land you a job</a> when compared to a specific qualification. This is personified by the stereotypical arts student as a directionless young person who has chosen to explore sprawling and eclectic subjects with no clear outcomes. </p>
<p>This was reinforced by the introduction of the <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22media%2Fpressrel%2F7407903%22">Job-ready Graduates package</a> in 2020, which made most arts and humanities subjects more expensive to study from 2021. The cost of a Bachelor of Arts degree rose by 113%. (Incidentally, Universities Australia called for Job-ready Graduates to be scrapped this week, <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/media-item/a-strong-university-system-to-serve-australias-interests/">noting</a>, “price signals as a driver of student choice simply do not work”.)</p>
<p>Either way, the idea a generalist degree just leads to overqualified graduates serving coffee <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/article-reality-bites-turns-25-if-not-the-voice-of-a-generation-at-least-a/">Reality Bites-style</a> is not only wrong, it is also a misguided understanding of what we need from graduates today and in the future. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-universities-accord-could-see-the-most-significant-changes-to-australian-unis-in-a-generation-194738">The universities accord could see the most significant changes to Australian unis in a generation</a>
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<h2>Arts degrees do lead to jobs</h2>
<p>Research shows social science and humanities graduates are getting jobs after their studies.</p>
<p>The 2022 <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/surveys/graduate-outcomes-survey-(gos)">Graduate Outcomes Survey</a> found almost 73% of humanities, culture and social sciences graduates were working in a range of government, non-government and business roles within several months of graduating. </p>
<p>This was an increase of 15% on the previous year, and was noticeably better than the overall average increase of just under 10%. </p>
<h2>Why are we so fixated on ‘vocations’?</h2>
<p>Since the 19th century, “work” has been understood through types of “occupations” that were undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life, with opportunities for improvement and promotion, and potentially framed as “careers”. </p>
<p>But the idea individuals train to learn a set of skills or knowledge that prepares them for one stable career is outdated.</p>
<p>What US professor Frank Parsons (considered the father of careers counselling) called “choosing a vocation” in 1909 has been supplanted by <a href="https://aage.com.au/employer-survey">employers who want</a> people who are good at problem-solving and analytical thinking, have <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/building-lucky-country/articles/path-prosperity-future-work.html">digital skills</a>, and can demonstrate leadership, initiative and resilience.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-inequity-of-job-ready-graduates-for-students-must-be-brought-to-a-quick-end-heres-how-183808">The inequity of Job-ready Graduates for students must be brought to a quick end. Here's how</a>
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<h2>A new definition of ‘employability’</h2>
<p>We also need to reposition our understanding of “employability” by considering the uncertain future university graduates are heading into.</p>
<p>Along with the pandemic and climate change, we face increased global conflict, and important questions about how to support displaced peoples around the world and in our own region. There is also growing anxiety about what artificial intelligence will mean for our lives and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2023/ai-jobs-workplace/">workplaces</a>. </p>
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<img alt="A young woman reads a book in a library." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520458/original/file-20230412-22-cehqyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520458/original/file-20230412-22-cehqyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520458/original/file-20230412-22-cehqyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520458/original/file-20230412-22-cehqyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520458/original/file-20230412-22-cehqyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520458/original/file-20230412-22-cehqyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520458/original/file-20230412-22-cehqyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Employers are increasingly looking for people with analytical and problem-solving skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mikhail Nilov/Pexels</span></span>
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<p>Research <a href="https://www.fya.org.au/resource/new-work-order-research/">shows</a> our society will need the skills, deep knowledge and understanding to reframe what it means to create cohesive multicultural and diverse communities. It will need to support all lives – including the very young and the aged – with meaning and purpose in order to forge humanity’s future. </p>
<p>To do this, we should reimagine the future workforce through values, competencies and skills, not “professions”. </p>
<p>The rapid social change we are undergoing means future graduates will need to be highly flexible. Vocational degree training as we have understood it could leave students stranded and without the critical capability to understand how to adapt to new roles. For example, leaders in the profession of social work <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15228835.2020.1796892">have predicted</a> the vocational degree may need to be replaced by agile skills. </p>
<h2>This is where the generalist degree comes in</h2>
<p>This is why the generalist degree has a big part to play in the emerging higher education landscape for graduates. Humanities, social science, general science, technology and creative industries fields such as design can deliver adaptable, flexible mindsets. </p>
<p>Generalist graduates learn to argue, debate, discuss, engage with ideas, write and present.</p>
<p>These degrees also offer the so-called “<a href="https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/recruiting-tips/thinkinsights/top-skills-evolution-in-australia">soft skills</a>” such as emotional intelligence, communication and teamwork. </p>
<h2>A bold idea</h2>
<p>What if the upcoming <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-universities-accord-will-plan-for-the-next-30-years-what-big-issues-must-it-address-200367">Universities Accord</a> decided that generalist degrees, not vocational qualifications, were the future for university learning in Australia?</p>
<p>This could see more public-private partnerships to increase work experience and practical opportunities during study. This could create experiences in the community, industry and government. </p>
<p>In doing this, we should embrace the possibility of the broad curriculum that is offered by arts, humanities, social science and science degrees, but insist on elevating their transferable skills to set students up for a lifetime of work and learning.</p>
<p>However, a shift towards revaluing – and even elevating – generalist degrees will require a radical unpacking of degree structures, ways of teaching and learning, fee structures and models. </p>
<p>More students in Australia could be encouraged to expand their learning in a wide range of areas, but specialise and choose pathways by their second and third year of studies, with postgraduate credentials to follow. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/labors-promised-universities-accord-could-be-a-turning-point-for-higher-education-in-australia-183810">Labor's promised universities accord could be a turning point for higher education in Australia</a>
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<h2>Valuing young peoples’ choices</h2>
<p>Recent history <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01317-z">tells us</a> human adaptability will help us face future threats. </p>
<p>Young people want to engage in learning that will prepare them for futures we don’t yet see. Valuing the generalist degree – with graduates able to enjoy learning, develop the courage to think, reflect, interpret, evaluate, humanise, respond and create – will give young people confidence and a sense of their own agency.</p>
<p>Such a model could be world-leading.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203046/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catharine Coleborne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The idea a generalist degree just leads to over-qualified graduates serving coffee Reality Bites-style is not only wrong, it is a misguided understanding of what we need from graduates.Catharine Coleborne, Professor of History, School Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1906342023-01-10T17:29:49Z2023-01-10T17:29:49ZThe humanities should teach about how to make a better world, not just criticize the existing one<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503543/original/file-20230109-25-t9jq6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C619%2C5048%2C2660&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Learning to transform, not only criticize, circumstances is an important part of humanities education.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This coming spring, a new group of students will think about choosing university majors when they apply to campuses across North America. </p>
<p>In all likelihood, fewer of those students will choose humanities subjects — traditionally understood to include <a href="https://action.nationalhumanitiescenter.org/what-are-humanities/#">history, literature, philosophy, languages and the arts</a> — <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-the-number-of-college-graduates-in-the-humanities-drops-for-the-eighth-consecutive-year/">as their major, than in past years</a>. </p>
<p>This is because of an ongoing <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/the-humanities-face-a-crisisof-confidence/567565/">“crisis” in the humanities</a>, whereby the meaning, purpose, credibility and benefits of humanities majors are questioned.</p>
<p>Enrolment levels have dropped. Students have a harder time seeing the <a href="https://4humanities.org/2012/10/confronting-the-criticisms/">“relevance” of the humanities</a> and so they choose science, engineering or business in greater numbers. Research also suggests when students do choose a humanities major, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/02/college-major-regrets/">they often regret it</a>. This is bad news for both <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-should-be-preparing-for-the-end-of-american-democracy-176930">democratic societies</a> and leaders of university humanities faculties. </p>
<p>My pitch to reverse this trend: let’s teach students to be makers, builders and creators, the architects of the future, and not just demolition crews.</p>
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<img alt="Students seen walking across a campus." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503523/original/file-20230108-16875-vr61py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503523/original/file-20230108-16875-vr61py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503523/original/file-20230108-16875-vr61py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503523/original/file-20230108-16875-vr61py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503523/original/file-20230108-16875-vr61py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503523/original/file-20230108-16875-vr61py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503523/original/file-20230108-16875-vr61py.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The meaning, purpose, credibility and benefits of humanities study are being questioned.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Steven Senne)</span></span>
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<h2>‘Elephant in the Zoom’</h2>
<p>Journalist Ryan Grim provides some insight into the problem in his June 2022 article <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/06/13/progressive-organizing-infighting-callout-culture/">“Elephant in the Zoom,”</a> which explores how “meltdowns have brought progressive advocacy groups to a standstill at a critical moment in world history.” </p>
<p>Grim examines the experiences of people working in non-profit organizations both after Donald Trump’s 2016 election, and following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police.</p>
<p>He found that workers in progressive organizations were skilled in analyzing and pointing out problems, but the skills required for <a href="https://hbr.org/1960/11/management-of-differences">constructively managing differences</a> were absent. </p>
<p>He suggests that for many managers, members of an older generation, the focus should have been on the work of non-profits, but for workers — presumably at least some who would be younger — the focus was on their own work environments. </p>
<p>Members of organizations like <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/08/19/sierra-club-resignation-internal-report/">the Sierra Club</a> created major disruptions in those institutions. </p>
<p>Many projects stalled as organizations were left with the task of simply <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/12/audubon-society-claims-intimidation-threats-436215">managing intense internal conflict</a>.</p>
<h2>Intense internal conflict</h2>
<p>Grim’s portrait is a typical caricature of humanities graduates – they learn how to spend more time in meetings fighting with one another than changing the world. </p>
<p>The fights Grim chronicled were often about whether an institution saw, in sufficient detail and with sufficient urgency, how their own internal dynamics were corrupted by <a href="https://ed.ted.com/best_of_web/j7Tzdz8r">systemic racism</a> or sexism or other systems of power and privilege. </p>
<p>These are valuable insights. But now we have <a href="https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/a-note-on-call-out-culture">“call-out culture</a>,” which is more concerned with criticizing someone for lacking an appropriate level of moral purity than with changing systems or making people’s lives better. </p>
<p>In other words, “call-out” culture replaces the hard work of socio-political change with the easy work of shaming one person. As a primary way of engaging the world, there are limits to what “calling-out” systems and people can achieve, and the relationships and <a href="https://delibdemjournal.org/article/id/1024/#!">alliances required for democratic life</a> risk being destroyed by such an approach. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Graduates seen in a line in caps and gowns." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503522/original/file-20230108-10033-jxjaif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C252%2C3004%2C1565&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503522/original/file-20230108-10033-jxjaif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503522/original/file-20230108-10033-jxjaif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503522/original/file-20230108-10033-jxjaif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503522/original/file-20230108-10033-jxjaif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503522/original/file-20230108-10033-jxjaif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503522/original/file-20230108-10033-jxjaif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Relationships and alliances are required for democratic life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Mel Evans)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Examining what we do</h2>
<p><a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/critical-theory/#">“Critical Theory”</a> emerged from the western Marxist tradition and aims to find and critique underlying assumptions in social life so <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-are-people-so-upset-about-it">that the power structures</a> maintaining domination can be challenged and transformed. </p>
<p>The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that today “<a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/critical-theory/#">any philosophical approach with similar practical aims</a> could be called a ‘critical theory,’ including feminism, critical race theory and some forms of post-colonial criticism.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4106182">Critical theory</a> has long been <a href="https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/12/a-case-for-the-humanities-at-stanford-part-i-demystifying-critical-theory/">a preoccupation of humanities work</a>. </p>
<p>Some might say critical theory has been the dominant way of doing humanities work particularly <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4106182">in North America since at least the 1970s</a>, and its ascendancy has coincided with declining humanities enrolment. </p>
<p>At its best, critical theory is a toolbox for examining what we do and why we do it, especially by considering the ways in which existing systems of power limit (or condition) how we can act. While the aim of critical theory is to transform our world, too often the assumption is that if we see the hidden ways power operates we will be transformed by that insight. </p>
<p>Where is the humanities toolbox for creating or making a better world? </p>
<p>I used the word “examining” to describe the work of critical theory because it offers more a way of seeing than a way of doing — and implies that seeing is all we need for change.</p>
<h2>Imagining a better world</h2>
<p>The humanities aren’t just instruments of criticism. They also hold the keys to how we might imagine a better world, particularly through their emphasis on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-telling-students-to-study-stem-instead-of-humanities-for-the-post-coronavirus-world-145813">public good and the skills necessary for</a> constructively managing difference. </p>
<p>Here’s what I’ll be teaching this year in general first year Arts courses and upper year communication courses, and I hope there are others like me out there: I will introduce students to imaginative builders like activist <a href="https://www.hullhousemuseum.org/">Jane Addams</a> who sought social and political change through engaging neighbours. We’ll read about writer and entrepreneur <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/can-chloe-valdary-sell-skeptics-dei/617875/">Chloe Valdary’s work on enchantment, anti-racism and equity</a> and communication consultant <a href="https://www.volts.wtf/p/volts-podcast-how-the-left-can-suck#details">Anat Shenker-Osorio’s work galvanizing current progressive movements</a>. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0An8O_x9KmA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Winning Messages: Podcast from Anat Shenker-Osorio.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These figures care most about generating meaningful change, not just through criticism but by embodying, managing and creating new ways of tackling challenges.</p>
<p>I’ll work with students on how to cultivate an imagination for the public good, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/09/the-persuaders-winning-hearts-and-minds-in-divided-age-by-anand-giridharadas-review-why-it-pays-to-talk-in-a-polarised-world">how to co-ordinate action even in the presence of disagreement</a> and how to persuade, or change minds, with respect and care. </p>
<p>Doing this work puts power and privilege at the centre of conversations in order to transform circumstances, not just criticize them.</p>
<h2>Grief and new practices</h2>
<p>Much critical theorizing, in its commitment to <a href="https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/the-highway-of-despair-critical-theory-after-hegel/">emancipation from oppression, has grappled with despair</a>. We ought to be realistic about both the despair and grief people face. </p>
<p>There is grief because of harms to the disenfranchised, the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429446054-7/mourning-trump-america-existential-account-political-grief-sheldon-solomon">collapse of old systems</a> and the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/mourning-trump-and-the-america-we-could-have-been">failures of western societies</a> to imagine and realize alternatives.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/6-ways-to-build-resilience-and-hope-into-young-peoples-learning-about-climate-change-177718">6 ways to build resilience and hope into young people's learning about climate change</a>
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<p>But healing from this grief requires more than critical theory can offer. It requires a way to build new systems, to embody new practices and to foster new forms of co-operation so that we make a better future instead of repeating a grim past. </p>
<h2>Fostering change</h2>
<p>Carrying the burden of fostering change is no small task. At times that burden has fallen disproportionately on those that are most vulnerable to power, but that’s precisely why we need the humanities now more than ever.</p>
<p>Critics, and criticism, are necessary for making the world a better place, but we need people committed to building better democratic societies, not just destroying what isn’t working. This means we need humanities majors who are creators, builders, visionary architects, planners and inventors.</p>
<p>Maybe students would see more value in the humanities if those skills were taught too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190634/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Danisch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To address declining humanities enrolments, these programs should ensure they offer more than critical theory for identifying and analyzing problems.Robert Danisch, Professor, Department of Communication Arts, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1961292023-01-04T13:27:28Z2023-01-04T13:27:28ZWilliam Wordsworth and the Romantics anticipated today’s idea of a nature-positive life<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502403/original/file-20221221-12-9wf35m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C6%2C1491%2C1129&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wiliam Wordsworth lived and wrote in Grasmere, in England's Lake District, from 1799-1808.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Grasmere_from_Stone_Arthur.jpg">Mick Knapton/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Musical performances usually happen in concert halls or clubs, but famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma is exploring a new venue: U.S. national parks. In a project called <a href="https://www.yo-yoma.com/news/yo-yo-ma-at-the-grand-canyon-big-time-and-our-common-nature/">Our Common Nature</a>, Ma is performing in settings such as the Great Smoky Mountains and the Grand Canyon. By making music and bringing people together in scenic places, Ma aims to help humans understand where they fit in the natural world.</p>
<p>“What if there’s a way that we can end up thinking and feeling and knowing that we are coming from nature, that we’re a part of nature, instead of just thinking: What can we use it for?” Ma mused in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/arts/music/yo-yo-ma-our-common-nature.html">recent New York Times article</a>. </p>
<p>There’s a buzzword for this outlook: nature-positive. And it’s cropping up at high-level meetings, including the 2021 <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/50363/g7-2030-nature-compact-pdf-120kb-4-pages-1.pdf">G-7 summit in Cornwall, England</a> and the COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal that adopted an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html">ambitious framework for protecting nature</a> in December 2022.</p>
<p>As a group of environmental leaders <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/what-is-nature-positive-and-why-is-it-the-key-to-our-future/">wrote in 2021</a>: “A nature positive approach enriches biodiversity, stores carbon, purifies water and reduces pandemic risk. In short, a nature positive approach enhances the resilience of our planet and our societies.” </p>
<p>This is a dramatic shift from the mentality that has driven industrialization and global economic growth over the past 250 years. But it’s not new. As a researcher in the humanities and author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Wordsworth-Poet-Changed-World/dp/0300169647">Radical Wordsworth: The Poet Who Changed the World</a>,” I see nature positivity as a welcome revival of an outlook that English poet William Wordsworth and other Romantics proposed in the late 1700s.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Cellist Yo-Yo Ma plays ‘In the Gale,’ an original piece for The Birdsong Project, a collaboration to support bird conservation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The birth of the sublime</h2>
<p>In the preindustrial era, when life was dominated by hard manual labor, wild nature wasn’t viewed as a terribly attractive place. In the 1720s, writer Daniel Defoe, <a href="https://www.globalgreyebooks.com/tour-through-the-whole-island-of-great-britain-ebook.html">touring across the island of Great Britain</a>, denounced the mountains and lakes of northwest England as “the wildest, most barren and frightful of any that I have passed over.” </p>
<p>The mountains were horrible to look at, impossible to pass over and, worst of all, had “no lead mines and veins of rich ore, no Coal Pits,” Defoe wrote. They were “all barren and wild, of no use or advantage either to Man or Beast.” </p>
<p>Attitudes began to change a generation later, with the expansion of a middle class that had the leisure and resources to enjoy a spot of tourism. Early guidebooks gave directions to viewpoints, or “stations,” that opened onto spectacularly beautiful vistas. </p>
<p>Philosophers and poets began to view natural phenomena such as ocean waves, lightning flashes over a mountain or the darkness of old-growth forests with awestruck pleasure rather than fear. They called these sights the “sublime,” a word that we still reach for when contemplating, say, the vastness of the Arctic or the Amazon. As <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/obituaries/barry-lopez-dead.html">Barry Lopez</a>, author of “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/103565/arctic-dreams-by-barry-lopez/">Arctic Dreams</a>,” once wrote, the “sublime encounter” with such places offers us a profound “resonance with a system of unmanaged, nonhuman-centered relationships”.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The aurora borealis, or northern lights, have become a modern tourist draw that attracts people to remote northern locations.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Romanticism emerged as the steam engine and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/spinning-jenny">spinning jenny</a> were driving mass urbanization. As workers flocked from farms to grimy cities in search of manufacturing jobs, a reaction set in: yearning for a return to nature. This became the hallmark of the <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roma/hd_roma.htm">Romantic movement</a> that flourished across Europe through the mid-1800s. </p>
<h2>‘A sort of national property’</h2>
<p>Many writers, thinkers and artists contributed to this outpouring of nature-positivity. Beethoven’s <a href="https://www.npr.org/2006/06/12/5478661/beethovens-symphony-no-6-in-f-major-op-68">Pastoral Symphony</a> and the <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner-558">paintings of J. M. W. Turner</a> are examples. But in the English-speaking world, none were more influential than <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2020/04/radical-lessons-william-wordsworth-250-years-jonathan-bate-biography-review">Wordsworth</a> (1770-1850).</p>
<p>Born and raised in England’s Lake District, Wordsworth felt alienated from fellow students at Cambridge. As an aspiring journalist in London, he was stunned to discover that many people did not know their next door neighbor’s name. Only when Wordsworth returned to nature – first in the English west country and then when he went home to the Lakes – did he become his true self and write his greatest poetry. </p>
<p>In verse and prose, Wordsworth made a series of revolutionary claims. In the preface to his 1800 collection of poems, “<a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lyrical_Ballads_(1800)/Volume_2">Lyrical Ballads</a>,” he argued that men and women who live indigenously within a natural environment are uniquely in tune with “the essential passions of the heart” because their very humanity is “incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature.” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502420/original/file-20221221-12-8i9x3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Portrait of a man with arms folded, standing on a rocky point" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502420/original/file-20221221-12-8i9x3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502420/original/file-20221221-12-8i9x3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502420/original/file-20221221-12-8i9x3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502420/original/file-20221221-12-8i9x3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502420/original/file-20221221-12-8i9x3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502420/original/file-20221221-12-8i9x3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502420/original/file-20221221-12-8i9x3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">‘Wordsworth on Helvellyn,’ a mountain in the Lake District (1842), by Benjamin Robert Haydon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth#/media/File:Wordsworth_on_Helvellyn_by_Benjamin_Robert_Haydon.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>In his “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/guide-to-the-lakes-9780198848097">Guide to the Lakes</a>,” Wordsworth warned against such innovations as planting non-native conifers that spoiled the beauty and eroded the soil of his native region. Instead, he proposed preserving places of outstanding natural beauty like the Lake District as “a sort of national property.” </p>
<p>This idea later would help to <a href="https://exhibits.lib.byu.edu/wordsworth/">inspire the U.S. national park system</a> and England’s <a href="https://www.hdrawnsley.com/index.php/2-uncategorised/111-no-man-is-an-island">National Trust</a>. Today the concepts of <a href="https://theconversation.com/protecting-30-of-earths-surface-for-nature-means-thinking-about-connections-near-and-far-180296">conservation zones and protected areas</a> are central to the goal of a nature-positive world.</p>
<p>Inspired by Wordsworth’s idea that the health of human society depends on a healthy relationship with the environment, the great Victorian social thinker <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/arts-blog/john-ruskin-environmental-campaigner">John Ruskin</a> turned economic theory on its head. In polemical pamphlets and public lectures, Ruskin argued that the basis of what was then known as “political economy” should be not labor and capital, production and consumption, but “<a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/white-thorn-blossom">Pure Air, Water, and Earth</a>.” </p>
<p>Almost exactly 150 years later, on July 28, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3982508?ln=en">resolution</a> recognizing a universal human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CmTUNuTu27X/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Colonial conservation?</h2>
<p>Wordsworth’s influence on the conservation movement wasn’t entirely benign. Late in life, he lamented that his very advocacy of the beauty of the Lake District had brought in a mass tourist industry that had the potential to <a href="https://www.johndobson.info/Tourists/NumberedPages/Page_39.php">destroy the very beauty he sought to preserve</a>. </p>
<p>Furthermore, protecting wild places risks displacing indigenous peoples who have lived in harmony with the land for centuries. Creating conservation zones and protected areas in the rain forests of Central America and the Amazon basin has sometimes <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/12/08/conservation-zones-exclude-indigenous-people-drive-deforestation-report/">shut out local tribes</a>. </p>
<p>Organizations such as the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/sierra-club-apologizes-founder-john-muir-s-racist-views-n1234695">Sierra Club</a> and the <a href="https://theecologist.org/2016/mar/29/century-theft-indians-national-park-service">U.S. National Park Service</a> are now striving to transcend this long history of “<a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/conservation-policy-and-indigenous-peoples">colonial conservation</a>.” The importance of working together with indigenous peoples and learning from their time-honored values and conservation practices received new attention at major conferences on climate change and biodiversity in 2022, although some observers argued that the resulting commitments <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/words-that-didnt-make-the-cut-what-happened-to-indigenous-rights-at-cop27/">fell short</a> of <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/cop15-biodiversity-conference-fails-protect-indigenous-peoples-rights">what was needed</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1605112015835566081"}"></div></p>
<p>In my view, Wordsworth knew that the truly nature-positive are those whose livelihoods and senses of self and community are wholly bound to their native places. As he wrote in “<a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lyrical_Ballads_(1800)/Volume_2/Michael">Michael</a>,” the great pastoral poem at the climax of “Lyrical Ballads”:</p>
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code> And grossly that man errs, who should suppose
That the green valleys, and the streams and rocks,
Were things indifferent to the Shepherd’s thoughts.
... these fields, these hills
Which were his living Being even more
Than his own blood—what could they less? had laid
Strong hold on his affections, were to him
A pleasurable feeling of blind love,
The pleasure which there is in life itself.
</code></pre><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196129/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Bate does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The idea that human activity threatens nature, and that it is important to protect wild places, dates back to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.Jonathan Bate, Foundation Professor of Environmental Humanities, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1906322022-10-06T18:39:50Z2022-10-06T18:39:50ZHow social sciences and humanities programs can prepare students for employment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488542/original/file-20221006-20-24vs4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C359%2C5002%2C3404&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Involving social sector organizations in students' experiential learning allows students to develop important skills, and this can also serve as a community engagement and capacity-building strategy. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Fauxels)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>A <a href="https://socialinnovationforum.humanities.mcmaster.ca/">forum on Skills and Knowledge for Innovation and Societal Impact</a> will be held at McMaster University on Oct. 12-13, organized by The/La Collaborative and the Canadian Science Policy Centre.</em></p>
<p>Future graduates face complex global challenges like climate change, as well as ethical, social and cultural implications of emerging new technologies like artificial intelligence. </p>
<p>The urgency of these challenges — and the complexity of skills and capabilities needed to address them — has <a href="https://www.torontomu.ca/diversity/reports/soft-skills-are-hard-a-review-of-the-literature">prompted a revisiting of</a> the role of social sciences and humanities programs in equipping students for <a href="https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articles/red-wilson-2022">civic engagement</a> and as future leaders. </p>
<p>As a professor of philosophy at McMaster University, I’m also project director for The/La Collaborative, a pan-Canadian research network concerned with <a href="https://yourcollaborative.org/">how social and human research can be used to build skills and capacity for innovation in the social sector</a> and beyond. The social sector includes organizations that operate for the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/13-605-x/2022001/article/00002-eng.htm">public benefit</a>, such as co-operatives, non-profits, registered charities, social enterprises or unincorporated community groups. </p>
<p>My team’s research shows universities should rethink internships and work-integrated learning for social sciences and humanities students in a way that helps community partners build capacity for innovation. Such a strategy would mutually benefit students, universities, organizations and our society as a whole. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two women seen sorting goods on a table smiling towards each other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488109/original/file-20221004-21-mque6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488109/original/file-20221004-21-mque6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488109/original/file-20221004-21-mque6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488109/original/file-20221004-21-mque6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488109/original/file-20221004-21-mque6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488109/original/file-20221004-21-mque6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488109/original/file-20221004-21-mque6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">With good planning, both students in social sciences and humanities programs and organizations can benefit from students’ work placements in the social sector.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Julia M Cameron)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Vocations requiring adaptability</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.torontomu.ca/diversity/reports/soft-skills-are-hard-a-review-of-the-literature/">Evidence shows</a> social sciences and humanities degrees can equip people for vocations that require high levels of adaptability and the capacity for continuous learning. </p>
<p>But how does this resonate with findings by organizations concerned with what employers need? </p>
<p>We examined 43 reports directly relevant to discussions of the future of work from bodies like the Conference Board of Canada, the British Academy of Science, the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, Institute for the Future of University and the World Economic Forum. We sought statements where both private and public stakeholders described the skills they believe employees need.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/humanities-phd-grads-working-in-non-academic-jobs-could-shake-up-university-culture-127298">Humanities PhD grads working in non-academic jobs could shake up university culture</a>
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<p><a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2021/are-the-social-sciences-and-humanities-positioned-to-meet-key-employment-skills/">Our analysis</a> of 166 statements showed when research bodies talk about foundational skills, they tacitly group them together in various ways. </p>
<p>We also noted organizations consistently associate these groups of skills with two crucial outcomes: the capacity for organizations to innovate and the ability to foster work environments that are socially, ethically and emotionally intelligent. In another phase of our research, soon to be published, we also asked social sector agencies about how they see necessary skills for the future of work.</p>
<h2>Rarely mentioned: emotional intelligence</h2>
<p>To identify the capacity of social sciences and humanities to foster skills currently known to be important for the future of work, we skimmed the web pages of all social sciences and humanities departments in every public Canadian university. We examined only BA and/or MA programs to understand how these programs articulate and communicate their capacity to foster different skills. </p>
<p>We learned that most social sciences and humanities programs are eager to promote their ability to foster foundational skills associated with innovation and adaptability, including critical thinking, problem solving, analytical skills and creativity. </p>
<p>However, departments rarely mention <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/misalignment-between-employers-perceived-skills-needs-and-sshs-ability-to-meet-them-provides-opportunity-to-articulate-value-of-ssh/">skills associated with social and emotional intelligence</a>, especially teamwork, integrity and self-management.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-international-students-can-harness-emotional-intelligence-to-deal-with-covid-19-stress-159882">5 ways international students can harness emotional intelligence to deal with COVID-19 stress</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=10628">Social and emotional intelligence ranks highest</a> among the skills cluster that employers see as essential. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students seen around a table against foliage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488111/original/file-20221004-26-oxv57c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C291%2C3600%2C1799&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488111/original/file-20221004-26-oxv57c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488111/original/file-20221004-26-oxv57c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488111/original/file-20221004-26-oxv57c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488111/original/file-20221004-26-oxv57c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488111/original/file-20221004-26-oxv57c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488111/original/file-20221004-26-oxv57c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Social and emotional intelligence ranks highest among the skills cluster that many employers see as essential.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Jopwell)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Role of experiential learning</h2>
<p>An effective way to <a href="https://ppforum.ca/publications/leveraging-the-skills-of-graduates/">bridge the gap</a> between what students learn in classrooms and what they can bring as future employees is experiential learning: internships and work-integrated learning through which students acquire knowledge and skills. </p>
<p>Experiential learning involves learning through practice and reflection over a period of engagement, observation and/or immersion. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beginners-101-how-to-confront-and-overcome-the-discomfort-of-starting-something-new-157110">Beginners 101: How to confront and overcome the discomfort of starting something new</a>
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<p>Some students in the social sciences and humanities access experiential learning opportunities through <a href="https://www.citylabhamilton.com">city labs and</a> <a href="https://citystudiovancouver.com/partners/sfu">city studios</a> — agencies that create partnerships between campuses and local municipal governments. </p>
<p>Such agencies are able to cater specifically to the skills needs of social science and humanities students. </p>
<h2>Interviews with non-profits, students</h2>
<p>But what other opportunities exist to equip social sciences and humanities students for work? And more importantly, why don’t more opportunities exist?</p>
<p>Recently, our team <a href="https://fsc-ccf.ca/research/experiential-learning-in-the-social-sector/">drew on evidence gathered through interviews</a> with managers from non-profits in Hamilton, Ont. and social science and humanities students who had participated in experiential learning with some social sector agencies. We sought to better understand students’ and employers’ motivations, drivers and barriers to experiential learning in the social sector. </p>
<p>The resulting report is intended to guide how universities can design and implement experiential learning programs and initiatives that bring campuses and communities together and create value for both. </p>
<p>We learned reciprocity is crucial to successful experiential learning partnerships in the social sector. We also learned of a main challenge in this: Student placements almost always need to be tailored to each student’s needs, interest and skills. This puts demands on the student and the partner that don’t exist in other fields like engineering or medicine. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People seen facing a wall of computers with two people in discussion smiling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488106/original/file-20221004-22-lteroh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C37%2C3163%2C1999&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488106/original/file-20221004-22-lteroh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488106/original/file-20221004-22-lteroh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488106/original/file-20221004-22-lteroh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488106/original/file-20221004-22-lteroh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488106/original/file-20221004-22-lteroh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488106/original/file-20221004-22-lteroh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Universities have to consider how social sector organizations will benefit from ongoing relationships.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Jopwell)</span></span>
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<h2>Experiential learning as community engagement</h2>
<p>To better support experiential learning for social sciences and humanities students, universities can begin by thinking of experiential learning as continuous with community engagement. Universities should see instructors who offer experiential learning courses as contributing to their <a href="https://community.mcmaster.ca/about/strategic-priorities/pillars-of-community-engagement/">university’s community engagement mandate</a> and support them. </p>
<p>Universities need to ensure institutional support exists for students’ engagement with social sector employers, so that, for instance, connections between an instructor and agency aren’t severed if the instructor changes jobs or when a student’s internship ends. Universities have to consider how social sector organizations will benefit from ongoing relationships and how they can be re-engaged. </p>
<p>More generally, the development of experiential learning initiatives should integrate students’ and social sector concerns about reciprocity. This might require that universities pay more attention to community partners’ capacities to supervise students, and to spend more time equipping students’ with social and emotional skills that can enhance experiential learning. </p>
<h2>Attention to reciprocity</h2>
<p>It is important to shift universities’ expectations about experiential learning for social sciences and humanities students. Being intentional about increasing social sector partners’ capacities by investing time and resources in understanding their needs would improve community partners’ sense that there was sufficient reciprocity. </p>
<p>New models of experiential learning programs might require new investment or a redistribution of resources from post-secondary institutions or their affiliates. But they would also create new attractive opportunities on both ends.</p>
<p>Internships and work-integrated learning allow students to develop and hone skills that help them transition into employment. But experiential learning can also be a community engagement strategy that increases post-secondary institutions’ capacity to contribute to social innovation.</p>
<p>Universities can be anchors of their communities if their connections to non-profits, charities, social enterprises and other community groups creates value on all sides.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Lapointe receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Future Skills Centre and Mitacs.</span></em></p>Internships and work-integrated learning for social sciences and humanities students can be part of how post-secondary institutions increase their capacities to contribute to social innovation.Sandra Lapointe, Associate Professor of Philosophy, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1896802022-08-31T20:02:34Z2022-08-31T20:02:34ZCreative skills will be crucial to the future of work. They should take centre stage at the jobs summit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481927/original/file-20220830-19222-ws7cxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1917%2C1074&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pixabay </span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of The Conversation’s series looking at Labor’s jobs summit. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/jobssummit2022-125921">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>You’ve heard of the gig economy and the portfolio career. Now quite popular terms, they come from the ways artists work. Think musicians gigging across small bars and large arenas, visual artists with portfolios of work in print, in galleries and online, or actors engaged on a range of short-term projects across a given year.</p>
<p>Once celebrated for flexibility and personal choice, these terms are now synonymous with exploitative, casual and precarious employment, or working conditions lacking entitlements, such as superannuation and sick leave.</p>
<p>But there is much to be learnt from the creative industries when it comes to understanding the future of work.</p>
<p>“Creativity” has been identified by the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-creativity/">World Economic Forum</a>, the <a href="https://blogs.imf.org/2021/01/07/the-jobs-of-tomorrow/">International Monetary Fund</a> and global <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2022/08/22/the-top-10-most-in-demand-skills-for-the-next-10-years/?sh=363f9e5b17be">business analysts</a> as the key to our future economies.</p>
<p>It was the number-one skillset demanded two years in a row by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/business/learning/blog/top-skills-and-courses/the-skills-companies-need-most-in-2020and-how-to-learn-them">the 20 million job ads on LinkedIn</a>, which labelled it “<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/business/learning/blog/top-skills-and-courses/why-creativity-is-the-most-important-skill-in-the-world">the most important skill in the world</a>”. </p>
<p>Creativity is complex. It’s not straightforward to teach and it’s not straightforward to understand. That’s what’s so exciting about it.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-productivity-and-how-well-does-it-measure-what-we-do-189548">What is productivity, and how well does it measure what we do?</a>
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<h2>Learning creativity</h2>
<p>“Innovation”, “disruption” and “agile thinking” are frequently touted as necessary for productivity and economic growth. </p>
<p>Often overlooked by political and business leaders, however, is none of these innovations can be generated without a creative approach.</p>
<p>Developing creative skills requires a sophisticated approach to education and training. You don’t learn critical thinking, ideas generation and problem-solving by rote.</p>
<p>That kind of learning comes from art schools, design studios and humanities degrees. This is education that asks questions, delves deeply and takes time.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481951/original/file-20220831-18-7b8kr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Group on laptops" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481951/original/file-20220831-18-7b8kr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481951/original/file-20220831-18-7b8kr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481951/original/file-20220831-18-7b8kr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481951/original/file-20220831-18-7b8kr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481951/original/file-20220831-18-7b8kr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481951/original/file-20220831-18-7b8kr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481951/original/file-20220831-18-7b8kr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Creative minds are needed in all types of professions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Annie Spratt/Unsplash</span></span>
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<p>Policy priorities across the previous government’s nine-year term, such as excluding universities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/04/australian-universities-angry-at-final-twist-of-the-knife-excluding-them-from-jobkeeper">from pandemic supports</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-08/experts-say-proposed-change-to-arts-degree-costs-short-sighted/12531364">dramatic fee increases</a>, resulted in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/08/art-school-in-australia-amid-the-cuts-and-closures-what-could-the-future-look-like">diminution or closure</a> of art, design and humanities schools all over Australia. </p>
<p>For artists and arts educators, the outcomes have been devastating.</p>
<p>But it’s not just artists who are impacted by a collapse in creative education. In 2020, leading epidemiologist Michael Osterholm told 7:30 that “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/dr-osterholm-predicted-a-pandemic-like-coronavirus/12135006">the capacity to envision</a>” the pandemic’s consequences would be crucial to saving lives.</p>
<p>When asked why the world was so woefully unprepared for COVID-19, Osterholm declared decision-makers “lack creative imagination”.</p>
<p>The ways our imaginations are trained and supported are vital to the skills and jobs of the future – and indeed, to securing that very future itself.</p>
<h2>Working creatively</h2>
<p>While more creative jobs and workplaces might be difficult to envision, the pandemic has already normalised the kinds of flexible working arrangements employers would previously have considered damaging to productivity or impossible to implement. Retaining that flexibility is now seen as <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/newsroom/Employers-embracing-flex">crucial to retaining staff</a>.</p>
<p>Care must be taken, however, to avoid the exploitative consequences of the gig economy and portfolio career. While it might once have been a bastion of freedom for an artist to have a wide-reaching and variable working life, we are now more aware than ever of how the gig economy can be synonymous with <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/federal-government-takes-aim-at-gig-economy-cancer-20220825-p5bcph.html">falling wages</a>.</p>
<p>Questions of where and what hours we work are just the basics of workplace flexibility – and this flexibility shouldn’t be offered at the expense of other entitlements. Workers with multiple jobs generally aren’t entitled to the sick pay and leave provisions as someone working the same hours at just the one job. We need to move beyond those basics.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481950/original/file-20220831-14-ayv5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman plays a guitar" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481950/original/file-20220831-14-ayv5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481950/original/file-20220831-14-ayv5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481950/original/file-20220831-14-ayv5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481950/original/file-20220831-14-ayv5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481950/original/file-20220831-14-ayv5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481950/original/file-20220831-14-ayv5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481950/original/file-20220831-14-ayv5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Gigs can be an important part of artistic freedom – but they can also be exploitative.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anton Mislawsky/Unsplash</span></span>
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<p>We need to start taking more adventurous approaches to understanding what work is, what skills are prized and how those skills are developed.</p>
<p>If we don’t, innovation and productivity will continue to suffer, and the most creative employees will continue to frustrate employers by engaging in classic workplace activism such as the work-to-rule or go-slow protests glamorised today as “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-04/australian-workers-quietly-quitting-jobs-seek-new-careers-tiktok/101292468">quiet quitting</a>”.</p>
<p>Worse, we won’t have any means for unlocking unexpected solutions to the unexpected problems we continue to face.</p>
<p>Ours is an era of compound crises – climate change, fires and floods, housing affordability, cost of living, the rapid spread of disease – and we’re not going to get through these by doing what we’ve always done before.</p>
<p>The best way to secure the jobs and skills of the future is to understand how artists train, and invest in the most creative approaches to education and professional development across our working lifetimes.</p>
<p>This means an approach to education that exercises the hands and the body as well as the mind: making, testing, crafting, performing and experimenting.</p>
<p>Arts education balances theory and practice, invites students to be inventive and rewards risk-taking. It trains an artist’s entire body to think differently and prepare for any scenario. And in doing so, it <a href="https://naae.org.au/evidence-and-research">promotes</a> wellbeing, self-esteem and resilience. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-unions-and-small-business-want-industry-bargaining-from-the-jobs-summit-and-big-business-doesnt-189394">Why unions and small business want industry bargaining from the jobs summit – and big business doesn't</a>
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<h2>A creative future</h2>
<p>Arts Minister Tony Burke – also Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations – held <a href="https://www.arts.gov.au/departmental-news/roundtables-held-strengthen-employment-arts">two industry roundtables</a> on Monday to hear from arts leaders who could not attend the jobs summit. </p>
<p>Now, the summit must consider how creative skills can be taught extensively and affordably in Australia – well beyond art, design and humanities programs. </p>
<p>Employers must be trained to recognise and value creative skills, and understand how best to deploy them. </p>
<p>And we need to ensure the working conditions of the future are fair and supportive for everyone.</p>
<p>Only the most creative approaches will secure that future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189680/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esther Anatolitis heads Test Pattern, an arts and cultural consultancy whose clients have included creative industry and government bodies. The Commonwealth Government is not a current client. Esther is Honorary Associate Professor at RMIT School of Art. Arts and media organisations that she has previously led have received funding from government bodies.</span></em></p>LinkedIn called creativity ‘the most important skill in the world’ – it should be central to Labor’s jobs summit.Esther Anatolitis, Honorary Associate Professor, School of Art, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1861112022-07-14T20:02:14Z2022-07-14T20:02:14ZFriday essay: Simon During on the demoralisation of the humanities, and what can be done about it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474040/original/file-20220714-9184-5t6hcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C5%2C985%2C777&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Librarian - Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1562).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Public domain</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What state are the Australian academic humanities in? Simple. They’re demoralised. How can I tell? The signs are everywhere, but let’s just say that whenever humanities academics get together these days, conversations inevitably turn to a single topic: how bad things are. </p>
<p>In this, the humanities don’t stand alone. Nurses, teachers, truckies, call-centre workers and many others feel harried and oppressed too. We are all working under management regimes – let’s call them neoliberal – that care about things like efficiency, workplace safety, profits, productivity, obeying the regulations, fulfilling the strategic plan. But they don’t care much about us. </p>
<p>This worsening of working conditions across the board affects the humanities in a particular way. For centuries, the humanities were where cultural values and understandings were developed and debated; where history was uncovered; where heritages were preserved and assessed; where abstract thought was allowed to roam free. So neoliberal managerialism, with its loyalty to market forces rather than to values, traditions, ideas and people, damages them especially badly.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/defunding-arts-degrees-is-the-latest-battle-in-a-40-year-culture-war-141689">Defunding arts degrees is the latest battle in a 40-year culture war</a>
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<p>There is a problem here, however. Those who appreciate the significance of the humanities tend to be involved in them to start with. In theory, the humanities matter to the culture as a whole; in practice, they matter mainly to themselves. This circularity limits and further demoralises the humanities. </p>
<p>To try to move past this circularity, it is useful to remember the European humanities’ history. In very general terms, they have passed through three phases since they were established in their modern form about six centuries ago.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474032/original/file-20220714-2730-g5nkri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474032/original/file-20220714-2730-g5nkri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474032/original/file-20220714-2730-g5nkri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474032/original/file-20220714-2730-g5nkri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474032/original/file-20220714-2730-g5nkri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474032/original/file-20220714-2730-g5nkri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474032/original/file-20220714-2730-g5nkri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474032/original/file-20220714-2730-g5nkri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Vatican Apostolic Library, started by Pope Nicholas V in the 1450s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pier Paolo Cito/AP</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>At first, they took over from the Church responsibility for the cultural and spiritual life of independent gentlemen. By 1800, the Germans had come up with a name that stuck for this mode of secular spiritual cultivation: <em>Bildung</em>. </p>
<p>At the same time, humanities disciplines solidified. By the mid-19th century, to be educated in the humanities was simultaneously to be cultivated and to be trained in the procedures and scholarship of a specific discipline.</p>
<p>In their next phase, the humanities were granted responsibility not just for an individual’s cultivation, but for the flourishing of citizenship.</p>
<p>With the rise of political democracy in the late 19th century, the ruling class came to believe that the population needed to be educated in the humanities to exercise their power responsibly. People needed to develop their capacity for critical reflection and analysis, their appreciation of the hallowed cultural heritage, and their civic virtue. That way, so it was thought, democracy, now in the hands of the working class, would not descend into populist chaos.</p>
<p>Across the first two phases of the humanities’ history, academics came to be regarded as independent professionals with the autonomy to shape their own workplace ecology and purposes. They were considered to hold a dignified office whose responsibility was not, in the end, to the university that happened to employ them, but rather to the discipline in which they had been trained over years. </p>
<p>The third phase is now. Education is thought of in economic terms. Its first value is to augment national economic productivity; its second to secure good jobs for graduates. That’s more or less it.</p>
<p>Although the humanities have a larger economic function than they are often given credit for, they remain secondary players in terms of GDP and the job market. That is the main reason why they are sidelined by politicians and business interests concerned almost entirely with economic prosperity.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-governments-funding-changes-are-meddling-with-the-purpose-of-universities-141133">The government's funding changes are meddling with the purpose of universities</a>
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<hr>
<h2>The rise of managerialism</h2>
<p>Thinking about the education system as a tool for economic productivity changed everything. </p>
<p>When I began my academic career in the 1980s, universities were still self-governing institutions mainly run by academics for their students and themselves. Heads of departments (departments existed then), deans, even vice-chancellors were academics. Once they finished their stint in administration (it wasn’t “management” yet), they regularly returned to teaching and research. </p>
<p>In the mid-1990s, that changed. Universities were democratised. The old training colleges were redubbed “universities”; the “binary system” became the “unified national system”. Student participation as a proportion of the total age cohort expanded an amazing fourfold between 1970 and 2000. University building projects billowed, along with marketing budgets.</p>
<p>To pay for it, universities became globalised businesses. Students became paying customers. International students (who tend not to take humanities courses) became the most attractive customers, because they could be charged more. Courses became commodities, increasingly taught not by permanent academics, but by precariously placed teachers on short-term contracts. Administrators became bosses with total control of the institution, whose main interest was turnover and profit (as well as their own salaries, which headed into the stratosphere). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474016/original/file-20220714-17678-h7nie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474016/original/file-20220714-17678-h7nie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474016/original/file-20220714-17678-h7nie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474016/original/file-20220714-17678-h7nie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474016/original/file-20220714-17678-h7nie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474016/original/file-20220714-17678-h7nie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474016/original/file-20220714-17678-h7nie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474016/original/file-20220714-17678-h7nie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Staff and students protesting working conditions at Sydney University in 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Damian Shaw/AAP</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The few people with power in universities rarely engaged meaningfully with those who taught and researched. Today, even lowly academic managers often know little about the people or disciplines they are supposed to manage. </p>
<p>Once education was considered an economic tool, the humanities changed internally as well. They become divided in new ways. Most notably, a post-disciplinary humanities emerged. Traditional disciplines – philosophy, history, English, the classics, art history – are now often regarded by both managers and students not as bodies of practice and scholarship built up over centuries, but as strictures from which to be freed. </p>
<p>New programs, studies and diplomas proliferate. Almost anything can be studied, with no disciplinary training required. Programs like media studies, legal studies, museum studies and international relations are attractive commodities because, supposedly, they produce graduates who are “job-ready”. </p>
<p>Yet because students sign up to them primarily for the certificate, many of these studies don’t transmit practical skills at all. They teach “theory” in a new liberal-democratic mindset – more or less the same theory and mindset across the board. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474034/original/file-20220714-17585-8w2uvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474034/original/file-20220714-17585-8w2uvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474034/original/file-20220714-17585-8w2uvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474034/original/file-20220714-17585-8w2uvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474034/original/file-20220714-17585-8w2uvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474034/original/file-20220714-17585-8w2uvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474034/original/file-20220714-17585-8w2uvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474034/original/file-20220714-17585-8w2uvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Almost anything can be studied, no disciplinary training required.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-telling-students-to-study-stem-instead-of-humanities-for-the-post-coronavirus-world-145813">Stop telling students to study STEM instead of humanities for the post-coronavirus world</a>
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<hr>
<h2>Humanities, old and new</h2>
<p>With the rise of these new programs and fields, the traditional humanities disciplines reactively mutated into the “old humanities” in a way that meant they began to judge and rebuke their successors. </p>
<p>Even people who have no memory of the university’s traditional structures and values (and soon that will include not only all students but all academics too) can sense that the old humanities require protracted training, a slowly acquired understanding of a discipline’s past, a breadth of knowledge and sympathy. The old and new humanities are at odds with one another, because a similar heritage of reflection on method and concepts, a similar archaeology of discovery, doesn’t usually exist in the present-centred new humanities. And because the old humanities, embedded in history, have a less utilitarian ethos than the new post-disciplines.</p>
<p>At the same time, a new economy of prestige has developed. The old humanities still sit at the top of the pile globally. Internationally, the most prestigious universities, even in English-speaking countries, have not fully gone down the post-disciplinary path. Arguably, the post-disciplines dominate the Australian humanities more than anywhere else in the world. But academic prestige remains with Oxbridge and the Ivy League, where the old humanities still reign.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474030/original/file-20220714-24-h4ut8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474030/original/file-20220714-24-h4ut8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474030/original/file-20220714-24-h4ut8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474030/original/file-20220714-24-h4ut8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474030/original/file-20220714-24-h4ut8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474030/original/file-20220714-24-h4ut8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474030/original/file-20220714-24-h4ut8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474030/original/file-20220714-24-h4ut8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Feminist author Gloria Steinem (left) and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during the commencement ceremonies at Harvard University in May. Academic prestige remains with Oxbridge and the Ivy League, where the old humanities still reign.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">C.J. Gunther/EPA</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In Australia, the old humanities are increasingly supported by upper-middle-class students, who can afford the costs of study without worrying too much about debt and immediate job prospects, alongside a few students who love subjects in the old humanities enough to risk sacrificing something for them. And I don’t suppose we should forget the tiny cohort of students who win scholarships to study more traditional topics in the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation or at a few sandstone universities. A certain elitism, historically crucial to the humanities, is intensifying again here.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/arts-education-is-facing-massive-cuts-yet-its-value-is-felt-everywhere-160844">Arts education is facing massive cuts – yet its value is felt everywhere</a>
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<hr>
<h2>Post-1960s and the ‘Left Brahmins’</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473744/original/file-20220713-20-ecd3xg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473744/original/file-20220713-20-ecd3xg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473744/original/file-20220713-20-ecd3xg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473744/original/file-20220713-20-ecd3xg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473744/original/file-20220713-20-ecd3xg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473744/original/file-20220713-20-ecd3xg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473744/original/file-20220713-20-ecd3xg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473744/original/file-20220713-20-ecd3xg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p>It is remarkable that this new turn in the humanities – the turn to managerialism, post-disciplinarity, economism – happened at the same time as the humanities veered further to the left. </p>
<p>Neoliberal managerialism and the new humanities share roots. As many studies have shown (for instance, recently, Gary Gerstle’s <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-neoliberal-order-9780197519646?cc=au&lang=en&">The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order</a>), the cultural revolution of the 1960s, which created a suite of liberation movements – civil rights, feminism, anti-colonialism, LGBT rights – also provided room for the neoliberalism to come. </p>
<p>Both movements – neoliberalism and sixties radicalism – are committed to freedom, as well as to breaking down barriers. Both are secular and culturally egalitarian. Both are intolerant of inherited canons, heritages and hierarchies. </p>
<p>Sixties radicalism was unique in that it did not primarily involve class struggle or economic justice; it was more about lifestyle and recognition of marginalised identities. In 1968, radical students demanded that their education leave the ivory tower and become “relevant” – a relevance neoliberalism has delivered, if on unexpected terms. </p>
<p>So the humanities’ leftward turn has not, of itself, posed a threat to higher education’s market-orientated business model.</p>
<p>But the fact the post-disciplinary humanities and neoliberal managerialism swim in the same historical stream doesn’t mean that if you study, say, legal studies or international relations you will hear much praise of neoliberalism. You won’t. A horror at the devastation that intense market orientation wreaks on long-held values and autonomies seeps into fields that markets help generate.</p>
<p>For all that, when conservative politicians complain that the education system has been taken over by “Marxists”, or (in the United States) by “critical race theory”, they are gesturing to the way in which the educated public sphere has absorbed the humanities’ progressive values. The educated public sphere has so successfully absorbed the ethos of the sixties, which is also that of the academic humanities, that this ethos has come to define a class – the “knowledge class”, which Thomas Piketty has named the “Left Brahmins”. This is the class who, for instance, just helped remove the Liberal-National coalition from power.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-senate-has-voted-to-reject-critical-race-theory-from-the-national-curriculum-what-is-it-and-why-does-it-matter-163102">The Senate has voted to reject critical race theory from the national curriculum. What is it, and why does it matter?</a>
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<p>I think Piketty is right to argue that resentment against the Left Brahmins by those who cannot, or at least have not, joined the educated elite is one of contemporary politics’ strongest drivers, at least in English-speaking countries. It fuels the kind of populism that we have seen Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison exploit, and with it a right-wing politics of spite against the humanities. </p>
<p>Such resentment is understandable. As George Orwell noted decades ago in The Road to Wigan Pier, there is something repugnant about a progressivism embraced by those who have no experience of the struggles and the sheer physical grind of those who don’t hold the right certificates. Or about those who want to decolonise the culture while enjoying all colonialism’s fruits. In the popular view, the humanities academic embodies such gilded radicalism.</p>
<p>Of course, it is not as though all humanities academics have signed up to the whole post-sixties left program. In the old humanities at sandstone universities, courses such as those on Elizabethan drama, the history of medieval Korea, or the grammatical structures of Indo-European languages are still taught. Such courses need not be organised around progressive sensitivities. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, those academics – a small fraction – who wish to push back on, say, denunciations of the white man’s historical role, or who wish to praise the “great books” canon, tend not talk in public or even in the classroom. They are afraid to.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474026/original/file-20220714-2730-fuyyl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474026/original/file-20220714-2730-fuyyl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474026/original/file-20220714-2730-fuyyl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474026/original/file-20220714-2730-fuyyl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474026/original/file-20220714-2730-fuyyl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474026/original/file-20220714-2730-fuyyl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474026/original/file-20220714-2730-fuyyl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474026/original/file-20220714-2730-fuyyl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 2016 protest against federal government plans to increase student fees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Miller/AAP</span></span>
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</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/defunding-arts-degrees-is-the-latest-battle-in-a-40-year-culture-war-141689">Defunding arts degrees is the latest battle in a 40-year culture war</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The effects of digitalisation</h2>
<p>We are in a strange situation then. In the universities, the humanities, especially the old humanities, are demoralised, torn apart by managerialism, and many humanities academics are as precariously employed as anyone else. More precarious, probably, than many of those who despise them. </p>
<p>But they are also on the side of the culture war’s winners. They are the privileged avant-garde of the progressive bourgeoisie who have, I believe, now become ideologically dominant.</p>
<p>This whole structure has been underpinned by something external to it. Or it would be external to it, if it had not by now so thoroughly infused pretty much all activity whatsoever. I am, of course, talking about computing, the internet, and all that comes with them. </p>
<p>Digitalisation emerged roughly simultaneously with university managerialism and neoliberal hegemony. The internet itself is usually considered to have been invented in 1983, five years before Labor’s education minister John Dawkins took the first steps towards the university system’s democratisation and managerialisation in Australia.</p>
<p>The world wide web was introduced to the public in 1993, during the boom in undergraduate enrolments, roughly a decade after the introduction of the first microcomputers. Social media took off somewhat later, in the second half of the first decade of this century.</p>
<p>On one side, digitalisation makes knowledge retrieval easy in ways that professions and institutions cannot control. It creates extended, dynamic, transnational networks, available not just for lies and conspiracy theories, but also for valuable information and insightful debate on just about anything. </p>
<p>In particular, the internet has become where our past is stored. Today, it is our memory palace. So, in effect, the humanities now live on the web as much as in universities.</p>
<p>Digitalisation has also reshaped the daily life, the feel, of working in universities – the humanities, in particular – this time for the worse. This is not the place even to begin to describe the full effects of this reshaping. Let me just list a few of its effects, as they touch on the state of the humanities.</p>
<p><strong>1. Digitalisation has depersonalised teaching.</strong> </p>
<p>Since the advent of COVID, it is now routine for students to have a right to online teaching. There was once a time when small groups of students and teachers met weekly to discuss a particular topic. The intimacy and charisma that used sometimes (only sometimes!) to flow through the transmission of humanities disciplines in tutorial and lecture rooms has been diluted almost to vanishing point. </p>
<p>Further, because computing has allowed big courses to become easier and cheaper to teach and administer than small ones, managers have radically cut course offerings, with the result that course content has become more general and superficial. Likewise, departments have been closed down and merged into large and inchoate schools increasingly administered online from the university centre. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474029/original/file-20220714-24-p3jzgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474029/original/file-20220714-24-p3jzgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474029/original/file-20220714-24-p3jzgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474029/original/file-20220714-24-p3jzgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474029/original/file-20220714-24-p3jzgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474029/original/file-20220714-24-p3jzgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474029/original/file-20220714-24-p3jzgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474029/original/file-20220714-24-p3jzgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Online learning has negatively affected the humanities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Montgomery/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. Computing has changed what academics do.</strong> </p>
<p>Academics now carry out much more mindless work than they once did. They have become their own clerks, secretaries, form fillers, and so on. Teaching and research have been significantly marginalised by overwhelming “busy work”. </p>
<p><strong>3. Computers have enabled managers to take full control.</strong> </p>
<p>The web is a space of surveillance as much of communication and computation. This is as true in universities as anywhere else. Universities have succumbed to what the French economist Cédric Durand has called “techno-feudalism”. There is less and less room for academics to do their own thing out of view of the machine, out of view of the bosses, beyond the reach of the routinised forms they are endlessly required to complete. There is little room to be inventive or kind or, if it comes to that, interestingly eccentric. </p>
<p><strong>4. Digitalisation has helped to turn students away from the old humanities.</strong></p>
<p>For all that the internet is a memory palace and a hive of humanities activity, it has changed students’ objects of attention and their mode of attentiveness. Print technology carried with it the idea that books are important. Books encourage practices and habits of learning and concentration that were once assumed by the humanities, but they are hard to sustain online, not least because of social media’s seductiveness. This transformation alienates students from the old humanities.</p>
<h2>What now?</h2>
<p>I know that what I have been describing won’t be new to those of us in the business. It is what we endlessly talk about, after all. That only intensifies the pressure to take the next step: what to do about it?</p>
<p>No one has a good answer to that. Being open about our demoralisation and the reasons for it in classrooms and in public is a move in the right direction. Critical openness doesn’t amount much practically, however, not least because those who might do something about the situation – senior university management and those who pay them, namely the politicians and students – don’t hear us.</p>
<p>But there may be one crack in the system: those fee-paying students. After all, they are being ripped off. The depersonalised, standardised, repetitive, often superficial classes they are routinely offered are not worth the money paid for them, let alone going into debt. </p>
<p>As it turns out, students have not rebelled against their exploitation for one simple reason. They are paying for a certificate, rather than for the substance of their education.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I think that at least some students might in the future become restive enough to place pressure on the system, if the ideological message conveyed to them in the humanities can be rejigged. As I have been suggesting, the Australian humanities have combined the spirit of post-sixties progressivism with passivity in the face of degradation by managerialism, digitalisation and neoliberalism. This juncture needs to be undone.</p>
<p>What is required, I think, is the forging of different connections. We need to be able more firmly to connect the traditional humanities to post-sixties progressivism’s intellectual, moral and political advances. We need to develop the new progressive worldview, which does not accept the global dominance of a white, European, carbon-emitting, patriarchal oligarchy. At the same time, we must uphold the old disciplines and their protocols and canons, despite their having been mainly established by elite, Eurocentric, white men. </p>
<p>If we could pull this feat off, we might keep alive the old continuities and promises of <em>Bildung</em> and civic virtue, but on new terms. </p>
<p>The nexus I am invoking here might be called a left conservatism. It would be on the radical left socially, while tending conservative culturally. Left conservatism of this kind would not just allow the past, in the form of the old humanities, to judge and rebuke the present; it would allow the future, in the form of progressive social hope, to tribunalise the present too. Our current situation certainly needs all the inspection and imagination it can get.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186111/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon During does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The humanities are labouring under a culture of managerialism – could the answer lie in reconnecting old traditions to post-1960s progressivism?Simon During, Professor of Culture and Communication, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1787602022-03-23T16:25:10Z2022-03-23T16:25:10ZHumanities are essential in understanding the Russian war against Ukraine<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452242/original/file-20220315-21-t5oii7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C8%2C5781%2C3851&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe demonstrate against the war in Ukraine, Monday, March 14, 2022 in Strasbourg, eastern France.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I recently moderated a <a href="https://cenes.ubc.ca/events/event/flash-teach-in-on-ukraine/">virtual event</a> about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hosted by the Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies at the University of British Columbia. The event had experts give brief presentations about the war’s background and the session was attended by almost 1,000 people. </p>
<p>The audience questions touched on subjects like Ukrainian language, culture, history and international law. And in their responses, the experts helped provide background and context for the events unfolding in eastern Europe.</p>
<p>Lately, Google searches like “reason for Russia Ukraine war” and “Why is Russia attacking Ukraine?” have been frequent. Since the middle of February 2022, <a href="https://trends.google.com/trends/explore/TIMESERIES/1646844000?hl=en-US&tz=480&date=today+3-m&q=ukraine&sni=3">Google searches about the invasion increased dramatically</a>, corresponding to a widespread desire to learn about current events (<em>what</em> is happening) and their background (<em>why</em> it is happening). </p>
<p>In the wake of Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine, media organizations sought experts who could comment on the crisis. University and college news offices created lists of faculty with expertise in history, cultural studies, political science and international relations — some part of the humanities. And humanities education, scholars and scholarship are essential in helping us illuminate the causes of the war and what’s currently happening in Eastern Europe.</p>
<p>Institutions are rightly eager to promote their faculty’s expertise, but these requests reveal what many of us know: that a lot of these experts aren’t available because of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/arts-and-humanities-enrolment-on-the-decline-at-western-university-1.6272492">a decline in student enrolment</a> and a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930903349489">shift in specializations</a> that <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/as-students-move-away-from-humanities-programs-universities-adapt">impacts hiring practices</a>. According to Statistics Canada, enrolments <a href="https://doi.org/10.25318/3710001101-eng">in the humanities declined by over 6 per cent between 2015 and 2020</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1497593180648259585"}"></div></p>
<h2>Humanities informing the situation in Ukraine</h2>
<p>The humanities, social sciences and fine arts have long been considered part of a liberal arts education and although the humanities can be difficult to define, one definition says that they “<a href="https://shc.stanford.edu/about-us">investigate[s] ideas and culture</a>.” Example fields from the humanities include philosophy, history, literary studies, languages, classics and many more.</p>
<p>While there is no doubt that the Ukraine crisis benefits from expertise in fields like political science and economics, many journalists and public commentators have been using skills or discussing subjects associated with the humanities. </p>
<p>Articles have even explained why we <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-ukraine-not-the-ukraine-heres-why-178748">should be saying “Ukraine” and not “‘the’ Ukraine.”</a> Others have detailed the current <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-russia-invade-ukraine-178512">war’s history</a>, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/russia-ukraine-nato-europe.html">development of the crisis</a> and Putin’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct1z3f">warped presentation of history</a>. Stories have looked at <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukrainian-and-russian-how-similar-are-the-two-languages-178456">Ukrainian and Russian languages</a>, the relationship between <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2022/03/ukrainian-books-resistance-russia-imperialism/626977/">literature and national culture</a>, interpretations of the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/z-is-the-symbol-of-the-new-russian-politics-of-aggression">symbol “Z”</a> and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/technology/disinformation-russia-ukraine.html">role of disinformation</a>. </p>
<p>Familiarity with historical events, their interpretations, distortions and cultural representations can help everyone become and remain engaged citizens of the world. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1498318319744524292"}"></div></p>
<p>Historians like Heidi Tworek are commenting on the crisis from a humanities perspective, helping people understand and be able to meaningfully engage with this complex situation. Through her work, she has commented on how <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/tworek-history-is-a-good-antidote-to-disinformation-about-ukraine">common phrases used to describe the present moment in Ukraine misjudge history</a>. Arguments like these provide context. Tworek argues that calling Russia’s aggression against Ukraine the first outbreak of similar hostilities in Europe since the Second World War overlooks the genocidal conflict that took place in former <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17632399">Yugoslavia in the 1990s</a>. </p>
<p>The curiosity, empathy and critical thinking that the humanities aim to encourage help us comprehend what is happening in the present and how it relates to what has previously occurred. By recognizing past atrocities and their significance beyond quantifiable data we appreciate how many aspects of human life, like language, nationality and cultural expression, are involved in events that may seem purely political.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of people stand with solemn looks on their faces in a dimly lit church" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452244/original/file-20220315-19-wmhon6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452244/original/file-20220315-19-wmhon6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452244/original/file-20220315-19-wmhon6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452244/original/file-20220315-19-wmhon6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452244/original/file-20220315-19-wmhon6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452244/original/file-20220315-19-wmhon6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452244/original/file-20220315-19-wmhon6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People attend a funeral ceremony for four Ukrainian military servicemen who were killed during an airstrike in a military base in Yarokiv, on March 15, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Value of a humanities-based education</h2>
<p>Despite the applicability of knowledge acquired or developed in humanities, studying <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190401-why-worthless-humanities-degrees-may-set-you-up-for-life">these subjects has grown more controversial</a> — there has long been a fear that the <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo81816415.html">humanities are in a “crisis.”</a></p>
<p>Currently, priority is being placed on education that directly relates to “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930903349489">employability</a>” or income. The province of Alberta recently <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/alberta-moves-to-outcomes-based-approach-to-post-secondary-funding">implemented a system</a> of tying post-secondary education funding to graduates’ income and employment rates while <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/province-priming-post-secondary-education-to-boost-economy">boosting specific fields’ funding</a>.</p>
<p>Identifying outcomes for a degree or program can be useful, but it doesn’t come without problems. Not all lines of knowledge have foreseeable outcomes or objectives that can be immediately linked to a practical purpose. </p>
<p>Moves away from the humanities contradict both <a href="https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators/humanities-american-life-survey-publics-attitudes-and-engagement">public opinion and research data</a> about the fields involved. And higher education is one of the <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/humanities-status-report">first opportunities for students to explore humanities</a>. Experience within the humanities and social sciences helps to <a href="https://www.federationhss.ca/en/programs-policy/advocacy/RoleofHSS">develop abilities that extend beyond what might be required for one’s job</a>, like critical thinking, understanding text and media and “active listening.” </p>
<p>The British Council found in a <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/edupathwaysofleadersreport_final.pdf">2015 study</a> that a majority of professional leaders were graduates of fields in the humanities and social sciences. Expanded cultural knowledge, with <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0245-6">broader exposure to different kinds of knowledge</a>, contributes to a more flexible and diverse society.</p>
<p>As we observe with the war in Ukraine, humanities skills are crucial for understanding 21st-century problems. We need their study to be widely available and supported as we confront complex issues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178760/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyle Frackman receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The funding pays for research expenses and not faculty salary. </span></em></p>As we observe with the war in Ukraine, humanities skills are crucial for understanding 21st-century problems.Kyle Frackman, Associate Professor of German and Nordic Studies, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1768912022-03-07T19:06:45Z2022-03-07T19:06:45ZHow we communicate, what we value – even who we are: 8 surprising things data science has revealed about us over the past decade<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450290/original/file-20220307-84591-em3wfo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=249%2C62%2C6674%2C4556&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Big data analysis has long supported <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432613-200-new-scientist-ranks-the-top-10-discoveries-of-the-decade/">major feats</a> in physics and astronomy. But more recently we’ve seen it underpin breakthroughs in the social sciences and humanities.</p>
<p>Since the landmark paper <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1167742">Computational Social Science</a> was published in 2009, a new generation of data analytics tools has given researchers insight into fundamental questions about how we communicate, who we are and what we value. </p>
<p>For instance, by analysing the relative frequency of certain words in historical texts, researchers can identify important changes in our use of language over time.</p>
<p>In some cases these shifts will be obvious, such as the use of archaic words being replaced by more contemporary words. But in other cases, they may reflect more subtle but widespread social and cultural changes. Below are some of the most influential data-centric discoveries from the past 10 years.</p>
<h2>How we communicate</h2>
<p>Over the past decade, a growing number of global open data sources have helped researchers reveal patterns in what we read, write and pay attention to. Google Books, <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/">Worldcat</a> and <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/">Project Gutenberg</a> are just some examples.</p>
<p>The release of the Google Books <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams">n-gram viewer</a> in the early 2010s was a game changer on this front. Using the entire Google Books database, this tool shows you the relative frequency of a specific term or phrase as it has been used over hundreds of years. <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/google-books-culture/">Researchers</a> have used this data to explore the systematic suppression of the mention of Jewish painters, such as Marc Chagall, in German books during World War II.</p>
<p>Data analysis can also reveal patterns in the expression of human emotions over time. CSIRO’s <a href="http://wefeel.csiro.au/">We Feel</a> tracks emotions in communities around the world. It does this by analysing the language people are using on social media in real time and mapping it out. </p>
<p>The tool can be used to determine the general mood over time (hour by hour, day by day) within particular cities and countries. Patterns in these data can then be explored in association with other information, such as weather, holidays and economic fluctuations. </p>
<p>Some research findings even claim to represent fundamental changes in humans’ social values, community sentiment and how we think (for example, the rise and fall of words associated with rationality such as “method”, “analysis” and “determine”).</p>
<p>Here are some key findings in this space:
</p><ul>
<li> <strong>Cultural turnover is accelerating</strong> <p></p>
<p>A Harvard University-led <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1199644">analysis</a> of more than a century of data from millions of books provides evidence that society’s attention span for historical events is declining, as appetite for new material grows. </p>
<p>In other words, we are forgetting the past faster. You can see this in the graph below, which tracks how often three specific years are mentioned across a vast range of literature through time. As time passes, the “half-life” of each year (the point at which it receives just half the attention it had at its peak) comes quicker.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Counts of mentions of the years 1883, 1910 and 1950 in all books for the past 200 years." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449139/original/file-20220301-15-1kjxrze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449139/original/file-20220301-15-1kjxrze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449139/original/file-20220301-15-1kjxrze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449139/original/file-20220301-15-1kjxrze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449139/original/file-20220301-15-1kjxrze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449139/original/file-20220301-15-1kjxrze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449139/original/file-20220301-15-1kjxrze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our collective attention for historical events has shrunk over the past century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1199644">Michel et al., Science 2010</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p></p></li><li> <strong>Human language diversity and biodiversity are correlated</strong><p></p>
<p>By mapping linguistic diversity and the diversity of animal species, researchers have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76658-2">shown</a> these two worlds are correlated geographically – both increasing with temperature and proximity to the equator. So the closer to the equator you get, the more variation there is in spoken language and the greater the variety of species there is. </p>
<p>The authors propose this is due to heat near the equator producing greater productivity and variety in plant life, which in turn provides more complex and interactive environments for both animals and humans alike – feeding into a cycle whereby “diversity begets more diversity”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449991/original/file-20220304-36214-pyfb2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three figures showing diversity distributions of language and animals and their relation to geography." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449991/original/file-20220304-36214-pyfb2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449991/original/file-20220304-36214-pyfb2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449991/original/file-20220304-36214-pyfb2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449991/original/file-20220304-36214-pyfb2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449991/original/file-20220304-36214-pyfb2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449991/original/file-20220304-36214-pyfb2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449991/original/file-20220304-36214-pyfb2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Researchers have shown both linguistic diversity and species diversity increase exponentially with temperature and proximity to the equator.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-76658-2">Hamilton, Walker & Kempes, Scientific Reports 2020</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p></p></li><li><strong>There have been society-wide shifts in language use over the past century</strong><p></p>
<p>In an article <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2107848118">published</a> in December researchers used machine learning to show long-term, consistent changes in our use of language. Specifically, they reveal an inflection point in the 1980s where there is a shift towards more egocentric, emotional and supposedly less rational language.</p>
<p>The authors suggest (although not <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2121300119">without contest</a>) this could signal the beginning of a “post-truth era”.
</p></li></ul><p></p>
<h2>Who we are</h2>
<p>In the field of psychology, the same data analytics tools have shown that people’s personalities can be measured using the “Big 5” traits, which largely become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2011.11.015">stable in adulthood</a>.</p>
<p>This was possible thanks to extensive data sets such as HILDA in Australia, the German Socio-Economic Panel in Germany and the British Household Panel Survey in the UK. </p>
<p>Robust studies have also demonstrated that personality traits can be reliably and accurately predicted from a variety of data sources including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000362">voice recordings</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1920484117">mobile phone usage patterns</a> and even <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-79310-1">portrait photographs</a>. </p>
<p>In turn, there have been some remarkable associations found at scale between personality and:
</p><ul>
<li> <strong>Elevation</strong><p></p>
<p>A study published in 2020, and based on more than three million people’s data, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-0930-x">shows</a> mountain-dwelling people tend to have different personality traits than those who live at sea level. They are generally more open to new experiences and more emotionally stable.</p>
<p></p></li><li> <strong>Location</strong> <p></p>
<p>Another earlier study shows people who live in the United States can be divided into <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-a0034434.pdf">three clear and measurable clusters</a> of personality types, linked with associated geographic footprints. New Yorkers and Texans (who are in the same cluster) are more likely to be temperamental and uninhibited.</p>
<p></p></li><li> <strong>Occupation</strong><p></p>
<p>In our own research published with colleagues in 2019, we analysed the personality features of people in more than 1,000 different occupations. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1917942116">We found</a> people in the same role share similar traits. Scientists are more open to new ideas yet <a href="https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/scientists-are-curious-and-idealistic-but-not-very-agreeable-compared-to-other-professions">ready to argue</a>, whereas tennis professionals tend to be friendly and outgoing. </p>
<p>The research used machine learning to infer the personality features of more than 100,000 people, based on language used on social media.</p>
<p></p></li></ul> <p></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/robot-career-advisor-ai-may-soon-be-able-to-analyse-your-tweets-to-match-you-to-a-job-128777">Robot career advisor: AI may soon be able to analyse your tweets to match you to a job</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What we value</h2>
<p>In economics, we’re seeing major research frontiers being opened up thanks to data analysis, including in:
</p><ul>
<li> <strong>Network science</strong> <p></p>
<p>When it comes to success, we’ve learnt that performance matters most when it can be measured (like in sport). But in other fields where it can’t be measured easily (like in the art world), networks <a href="https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-020-00227-w">matter</a> <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aau7224">most</a>. </p>
<p></p></li><li> <strong>Behavioural economics</strong> <p></p>
<p>We can now see how we behave as individuals <em>en masse</em>, unveiling valuable clues for effective policy interventions around employment, taxation and education. For instance, one <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0128692">large-scale study</a> revealed those quickest to re-enter the workforce displayed certain key behaviours. These included being an early riser and being geographically mobile (perhaps meaning they’re more willing to travel further, or relocate, for work).
</p></li></ul> <p></p>
<h2>Post-theory science?</h2>
<p>Some have argued data science poses a fundamental challenge to the traditional sciences, with the emergence of “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/09/are-we-witnessing-the-dawn-of-post-theory-science">post-theory science</a>”. This is the concept that machines are better at understanding the relationship between data and reality than the traditional scientific method of <em>hypothesise, predict and test</em>. </p>
<p>However, reports of the <a href="https://www.wired.com/2008/06/pb-theory/">death of theory</a> are perhaps greatly exaggerated. Data are not perfect. And data science based on incomplete or biased data has the potential to miss, or mask, important patterns in human activity. This can only be addressed by critical thinking and theory. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nobel-economics-prize-winners-showed-economists-how-to-turn-the-real-world-into-their-laboratory-169697">Nobel economics prize winners showed economists how to turn the real world into their laboratory</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176891/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Big data analysis has unveiled startling links between seemingly unrelated things, such as how a person’s physical elevation above sea level might influence their personality.Paul X. McCarthy, Adjunct Professor, UNSW SydneyColin Griffith, Strategy & Business Development, Data61, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1671742021-11-18T13:09:20Z2021-11-18T13:09:20ZEntrepreneurship classes aren’t just for business majors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429402/original/file-20211029-13-11o9quz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C11%2C7928%2C5285&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An entrepreneurial mindset can help arts and humanities majors succeed in the gig economy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/afro-female-fine-artists-drawing-in-studio-royalty-free-image/1155361135">Valentin Russanov/E+ Collection via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Colleges are returning to normal operations, and many have begun to offer in-person classes once again. But are they prepared to teach students how to navigate post-pandemic life? Or how to get a job in an economy fundamentally changed by COVID-19?</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tREg5E0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">professors of engineering</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZQM89IIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">entrepreneurship</a>, and authors of a new book <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-79050-9">on teaching entrepreneurial thinking to college students</a>, we have studied how entrepreneurial skills can improve students’ confidence, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication. </p>
<p>Such curriculum is a staple in business schools, especially for students who want to start a company. But it has the potential to benefit all students – including majors in <a href="https://engineeringunleashed.com/">engineering</a>, <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-de-l-entrepreneuriat-2020-4-page-13.htm#:%7E:text=Agricultural%20entrepreneurship%20refers%20to%20farmers,2015%3B%20Condor%2C%202019">agriculture</a> and even the <a href="https://blog.americansforthearts.org/2019/04/09/but-what-does-arts-entrepreneurship-even-mean">arts</a>. </p>
<p>Graduates who develop an entrepreneurial mindset learn to habitually and intuitively recognize new opportunities and create value within an organization. This value could be new product development or related to continuous improvement, like implementing a more ergonomic workspace to combat health and safety issues. These entrepreneurial skills leave graduates better prepared to enter today’s workforce and solve the <a href="https://business.bofa.com/en-us/content/covid19-insights/business-challenges.html">complex challenges</a> raised by the pandemic.</p>
<h2>Think like an entrepreneur</h2>
<p>The entrepreneurial mindset is defined as the inclination to discover, evaluate and exploit opportunities. For example, an employee with an entrepreneurial mindset might recommend ideas to improve a company’s general cost savings, or focus on improvements related to quality, productivity or safety.</p>
<p>Students can use these skills in four key ways: to start a new business, to bring value to their employer, to address <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">major societal challenges</a> and to improve their personal life. Major societal challenges might include ending hunger or reversing climate change, while a personal application of the entrepreneurial mindset could involve making a career change. </p>
<h2>Rise of entrepreneurial education</h2>
<p>Entrepreneurial training has long helped graduates succeed in business and technology. The University of Michigan was one of the first to offer a course in entrepreneurship <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237387">as early as 1927</a>. However, the real growth in entrepreneurial education began in the 1970s, despite being in the <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2018/09/05/5-things-70s-inflation/">midst of an economic downturn</a>.</p>
<p>In 1975, there were only about <a href="https://www.kauffman.org/currents/the-evolution-of-entrepreneurship-on-college-campuses/">100 college majors, minors or certificates</a> in entrepreneurship throughout the United States. Today, more than <a href="https://books.google.al/books?hl=en&lr=&id=CfABAQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR3&dq=Morris,+M.+H.,+Kuratko,+D.+F.,+%26+Cornwall,+J.+R.+(2013).+Entrepreneurship+programs+and+the+modern+university.+Edward+Elgar.&ots=ARO_3A1CbH&sig=SWZj2bdE9OZ-pTJ4jgLVvEsJ8B4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">3,000 colleges and universities</a> throughout the world have courses and programs related to entrepreneurship.</p>
<p>In these courses, students learn how to validate a business model, interview potential customers and pitch an idea to investors and decision-makers. The goal is to learn how to identify the intersection between meeting customer desires and optimizing their own business capabilities.</p>
<p>Such training works. </p>
<p>Research shows that developing behaviors linked with entrepreneurial thinking is valuable, if not vital, for <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1199596">long-term business success</a>. Entrepreneurship training helps students to better communicate, collaborate and solve problems. In short, it allows students to better understand and implement activities that generate value within and across organizations. </p>
<p>And yet, despite these benefits, most universities offer entrepreneurial education simply as an option for students <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-entrepreneurs-major-in-business-11635779974">specifically interested in business</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two male college-age students wear protective goggles, earphones and gloves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432054/original/file-20211115-25-7l1eb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432054/original/file-20211115-25-7l1eb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432054/original/file-20211115-25-7l1eb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432054/original/file-20211115-25-7l1eb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432054/original/file-20211115-25-7l1eb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432054/original/file-20211115-25-7l1eb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432054/original/file-20211115-25-7l1eb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An entrepreneurial mindset can help engineering students stay competitive in a fast-moving field.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/engineering-students-working-on-a-project-at-the-royalty-free-image/1204069363">andresr/E+ Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Entrepreneurship for all majors</h2>
<p>However, an entrepreneurial approach to curriculum could <a href="https://www.marlborough.org/news/%7Eboard/stem/post/why-entrepreneurship-is-so-important-for-students">benefit all courses and university majors</a>. </p>
<p>Take, for example, engineering majors. </p>
<p>Typically, a company’s marketing department will study consumer trends to identify products and needs. The marketing department then <a href="https://manufacturinghappyhour.com/educating-the-engineer-of-the-future-kris-ropella/">expects engineers</a> to obey their orders without questioning the problem at hand. </p>
<p>But entrepreneurially minded engineers could be involved in the process from the beginning. This is what we explored in <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-61412-0">our previous book</a>, which focused on how to integrate engineering and entrepreneurship education. Being able to help identify problems and recognize new opportunities leaves engineers better prepared to identify and solve problems that arise while designing certain products.</p>
<p>Within the liberal arts and humanities, design and media majors can also develop their entrepreneurial mindsets in order to be better prepared for entering the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gig-economy.asp">gig economy</a> as independent contractors.</p>
<p>For example, photographers, book illustrators and graphic designers can be trained not just on how to make great art according to theory and books, but how to <a href="https://artbusinessnews.com/2020/01/be-a-successful-artist-entrepreneur-with-the-right-mindset/">sell great art</a>. </p>
<p>The pandemic highlighted the importance of entrepreneurial training in the health sciences. Nurses and hospital staffs provided design insights and practical feedback to <a href="https://nursing.jnj.com/nursing-news-events/nurses-leading-innovation/meet-10-nurses-pioneering-innovative-covid-19-solutions">increase mask and ventilator production</a>. They then worked to develop efficient COVID-19 testing and vaccination processes. The result? Many lives saved.</p>
<p>We believe it’s time to integrate the entrepreneurial mindset across the university – and truly prepare students to succeed in the post-pandemic world. </p>
<p>[<em>More than 140,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140K">Join the list today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167174/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Bosman receives funding from federal agencies and foundations to research entrepreneurial mindset development. She works for Purdue University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie A. Fernhaber works for Butler University. </span></em></p>Teaching entrepreneurial skills is a staple in business schools. But it can benefit all students – including majors in engineering, agriculture and even the arts.Lisa Bosman, Assistant Professor of Technology Leadership and Innovation, Purdue UniversityStephanie A. Fernhaber, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Butler UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1633662021-07-29T00:47:57Z2021-07-29T00:47:57ZHistory made the world we live in: here’s what you’ll learn if you choose it in years 11 and 12<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413511/original/file-20210728-15-14j0qqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Temple of Edfu temple, Egypt.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/egypt-edfu-temple-aswan-passage-flanked-1286767600">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/senior-subjects-series-107516">series</a> providing school students with evidence-based advice for choosing subjects in their senior years.</em></p>
<p>History is for students curious about the world. It involves discovery, evaluation and imagination. </p>
<p>Around 40% of Australian senior students <a href="https://growingupinaustralia.gov.au/research-findings/annual-statistical-reports-2018/shaping-futures-school-subject-choice-and-enrolment-stem">chose to study</a> year 11 and 12 history in 2016. It was more popular than other humanities subjects such as geography and psychology and more girls chose to enrol (23%) than boys (18%).</p>
<p>Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering taking history in the senior years.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="OAORi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/OAORi/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<h2>What kinds of history subject are there?</h2>
<p>There are a variety of history subjects offered across Australia. For example, Victoria’s history subjects include <a href="https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum/vce/vce-study-designs/australianhistory/Pages/index.aspx">Australian history</a>, <a href="https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum/vce/vce-study-designs/history/Pages/index.aspx">20th century history</a>, <a href="https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum/vce/vce-study-designs/ancienthistory/Pages/index.aspx">ancient history</a> and <a href="https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum/vce/vce-study-designs/revolutions/Pages/index.aspx">revolutions</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Australian history</strong> is only available in Victoria. It investigates Aboriginal history and contact with colonialists, through to Federation and 20th century nation building. But the subject is losing popularity. The number of students who completed Australian history <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/making-it-sexy-teachers-hope-revamp-will-save-vce-australian-history-20210625-p5848d.html">almost halved</a> between 2014 and 2019, from 1,245 in 2014 to just 632 in 2019.</p>
<p>Teachers are aiming to make it more interesting and the structure of Australian <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/making-it-sexy-teachers-hope-revamp-will-save-vce-australian-history-20210625-p5848d.html">history will change next year</a>. Instead of learning the entire span of Australian history chronologically, Victorian students will conduct two semester-length investigations of themes including creating a nation, power and resistance, and war and upheaval.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413507/original/file-20210728-19-170wpyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Old map of Australia with Nouvelle Hollande written across the landmass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413507/original/file-20210728-19-170wpyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413507/original/file-20210728-19-170wpyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413507/original/file-20210728-19-170wpyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413507/original/file-20210728-19-170wpyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413507/original/file-20210728-19-170wpyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413507/original/file-20210728-19-170wpyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413507/original/file-20210728-19-170wpyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian history explores how we got to the present, from Aboriginal history to building the nation of Australia as we know it today. (Map of Australia published in Le Tour du Monde journal, Paris, 1860)</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/australia-old-map-created-by-vuillemin-83042866">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Ancient history and revolutions</strong> explores societies such as Ancient Egypt, classical Rome and Greece with a focus on politics, military and social history. Revolutions includes an in-depth study of French, American and Russian revolutions.</p>
<p>Year 12 student Taylah told us she took ancient history because:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I always had a fascination with the ancient Egyptian civilisation. I was especially interested in how civilisations have or haven’t learned from the past.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Modern history</strong> is available in <a href="https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/stage-6-learning-areas/hsie/modern-history-2017">New South Wales</a> and <a href="https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/senior-subjects/humanities-social-sciences/modern-history">Queensland</a>. This generally focuses on prominent topics and events from the French Revolution to the present. It covers major conflicts such as the world wars, the Cold War, the Vietnam war, international race relations and peace initiatives such as the beginnings of the United Nations.</p>
<p>Modern history was the most popular course in NSW in 2020, with similar numbers of boys and girls choosing it.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="KXvzq" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/KXvzq/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>Uniquely, NSW offers an <a href="https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/stage-6-learning-areas/hsie/history-extension-2017">extension history</a> course, which examines historical theory and the uses of history today. This course features a major research project that places students in the role of a historian, extending learning beyond content to communicate conceptual understandings. </p>
<h2>What will I be learning?</h2>
<p>History is for students interested in understanding the origins of the present and who like to see beyond simple, right-or-wrong answers.</p>
<p>Samantha who is studying teaching at university told us she chose history in years 11 and 12 because:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It always fascinated me how history made the world we live in. I also thought it was interesting how in Australia we are so tied to the Western world, considering geographically we are quite removed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>History isn’t just about learning facts like names and dates. Senior history opens up knowledge to be questioned and explored in depth. For example, students can compare and contrast the revolutions of France and Russia and investigate whether and how the first world war was a precursor to the second.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413504/original/file-20210728-27-8ia7jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Russian men marching in the street with banners." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413504/original/file-20210728-27-8ia7jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413504/original/file-20210728-27-8ia7jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413504/original/file-20210728-27-8ia7jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413504/original/file-20210728-27-8ia7jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413504/original/file-20210728-27-8ia7jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413504/original/file-20210728-27-8ia7jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413504/original/file-20210728-27-8ia7jj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students can compare the Russian the French revolutions. (Funeral of people killed by Czarist police on Feb 26, 1917 St. Petersburg, Russia)</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/russian-revolution-funeral-182-persons-killed-248215225">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jack who has a bachelor in business studies told us he:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>enjoyed the combination of skills involved in studying history: writing, critical analysis and assessment of a range of different sources such as books, film and interviews.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A major skill students learn is historical inquiry. This means finding out about the past by researching information from different perspectives, locations and times. Students synthesise information to form a historical evidence-based argument. </p>
<p>Let’s take <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-dark-emu-debate-limits-representation-of-aboriginal-people-in-australia-163006">competing perspectives</a> on Aboriginal civilisation before the British arrived in Australia. For years, our <a href="https://theconversation.com/secondary-school-textbooks-teach-our-kids-the-myth-that-aboriginal-australians-were-nomadic-hunter-gatherers-133066">history textbooks told us</a> Aboriginal people were hunter gatherers moving from place to place. But more recent evidence claims many Aboriginal people cultivated the land for farming and aquaculture. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/secondary-school-textbooks-teach-our-kids-the-myth-that-aboriginal-australians-were-nomadic-hunter-gatherers-133066">Secondary school textbooks teach our kids the myth that Aboriginal Australians were nomadic hunter-gatherers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/forensic-critique-of-bruce-pascoe-s-dark-emu-presents-a-different-view-20210719-p58ayt.html">still debate</a> about this in the media and in the classroom. Students could research the topic for themselves, read up on the different types of evidence and present their own conclusions.</p>
<p>History is best suited to students who enjoy research as well as reading and writing an argument in response to a question. Students need to be prepared for assigned reading and extended writing tasks.</p>
<h2>Where history takes you after school?</h2>
<p>Many careers are open to those who study history in senior school and later at university. Some careers that come directly from history study include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>historian, genealogist (family history researcher) or archaeologist</p></li>
<li><p>school teacher</p></li>
<li><p>museum guide, curator, or education officer (someone who develops education materials and experiences in museums and other public history sites) </p></li>
<li><p>research officer for a policy institution, a member of parliament or industry think tank</p></li>
<li><p>librarian or archivist (including in conservation and preservation).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Senior curator at a rail museum, Jennifer, told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>History was the only subject I liked. I chose modern and ancient history for senior because I hoped to have a career in history. I loved learning, analysing and evaluating, finding different sources and opinions, and deep discussions in class. Still choosing history today. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But you don’t just have to take history for a career in it. History also helps develop a range of employment-related skills. </p>
<p>Many employers appreciate skills such as being able to write and communicate effectively and persuasively, to think critically, to consider multiple perspectives and to logically consider consequences based on evidence. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-the-government-listened-to-business-leaders-they-would-encourage-humanities-education-not-pull-funds-from-it-141121">If the government listened to business leaders, they would encourage humanities education, not pull funds from it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These skills are vital for careers such as in journalism, law, human resources, policy, diplomacy, and other jobs that require critical thinking and clear communication skills. </p>
<p>Rebecca, who studied modern and ancient history in school in Brisbane and then at university told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Studying social sciences gives a greater understanding and interest of the wider world […] I work in the UK public service now, and history provides you with excellent analytical, investigation and communication skills. Lots of people in my office have history degrees.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413510/original/file-20210728-13-1are2n3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman taking books down from a shelf in the library." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413510/original/file-20210728-13-1are2n3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413510/original/file-20210728-13-1are2n3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413510/original/file-20210728-13-1are2n3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413510/original/file-20210728-13-1are2n3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413510/original/file-20210728-13-1are2n3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413510/original/file-20210728-13-1are2n3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413510/original/file-20210728-13-1are2n3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">You can use the research and analytical skills you learn in history in careers like archiving, being a librarian or a researcher in parliament.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-american-female-librarian-dressed-casual-1096209932">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When selecting subjects for senior school, there is one important consideration that is often overlooked or set aside. The senior years are hectic. Students should choose at least some of their school subjects for themselves, because they like them and they think the subject is valuable for them. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/choosing-your-senior-school-subjects-doesnt-have-to-be-scary-here-are-6-things-to-keep-in-mind-160257">Choosing your senior school subjects doesn't have to be scary. Here are 6 things to keep in mind</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For many students, history is one of these subjects. By investigating the past, students discover insights about humans and the world they have inherited. These can help them find the paths they will take beyond school.</p>
<p><em>Read the other articles in our series on choosing senior subjects, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/senior-subjects-series-107516">here</a>.</em></p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1417399025930698752"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163366/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>History isn’t just learning facts. Students learn about the past by researching information and synthesising it to form an evidence-based argument. This skill is useful for a range of careers.Heather Sharp, Associate Professor, History and Curriculum Studies, University of NewcastleDebra Donnelly, Senior Lecturer, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1631272021-07-19T14:59:56Z2021-07-19T14:59:56ZWhy studying arts like acting or dance can better equip business students for the post-COVID world<p>COVID has seen the idea of caring for your employees take on a <a href="https://www.harvardbusiness.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/HBR-Lead-Your-Team-Into-a-Post-Pandemic-World.pdf">whole new meaning</a>. As workplaces reopen and companies deal with the socio-economic fallout of the pandemic, leadership specialists <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/building-workforce-skills-at-scale-to-thrive-during-and-after-the-covid-19-crisis">increasingly stress</a> the importance of maintaining this focus on human needs. </p>
<p>Beyond the immediate imperative to keep employees safe in the midst of the health crisis, business administration specialist <a href="https://www.harvardbusiness.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/HBR-Lead-Your-Team-Into-a-Post-Pandemic-World.pdf">Hubert Joly underlines</a> how managers need to consider the longer term mental health needs as well as sense of purpose and social wellbeing of their workforce. </p>
<p>Historically, the so-called <a href="https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/daphne-koller-soft-skills-overlooked-undervalued/women-in-business/article/1399477">soft</a> or <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/217/right-skills.pdf">people skills</a> required to do this were not the primary focus of a business and management education. Rather, <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/pdf/10.5465/ambpp.1981.4976861">management theory</a> centred around what managers do: planning, organising, coordinating and controlling.</p>
<p>This focus has long had its critics, of course. One answer, which is backed up by <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.984.1012&rep=rep1&type=pdf">years of research</a>, is that when business students engage with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-humanities-degree-will-serve-you-in-a-disruptive-economy-97530">arts and humanities</a> at university level, it can equip them with the additional skills that they need. </p>
<h2>Soft skills</h2>
<p>Returning to the office post-lockdown has put <a href="https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/good-leadership-is-an-act-of-kindness">kindness</a>, <a href="https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/women-leaders-covid-jacinda-ardern.html">compassion</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0081246321992979?casa_token=_o2qLIlmCwcAAAAA:Ff0yQ1BaUwtIABj0FimiH_bCFCK_wOCxSMHKt6Cjd_G1kRN-ZuyQdjtyqwYtdDzeKTA6_GCNgeoQtw">empathy</a> at the top of employee wishlists. Workers now expect their managers to be <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/04/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-manager-today">more supportive</a>. </p>
<p>Although <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42001911.pdf?casa_token=lR7jfZPBGuUAAAAA:Tw5IARzqTo2cnPSOEnLtgGYBVzUrn-j0vii0CW3-SSqzgW1AI0bQXHzqlEsLcU_Kr1Wt_qfqLZMrtlpKLJGNXcTNGqomS55xHk1YUdX9Yvxh7_aybasJ">long recognised</a> as important leadership skills, the pandemic has made these more salient. And with <a href="https://www.cems.org/news-events/news/cultural-intelligence-will-be-vital-post-covid-19">changes to the workplace</a> like remote working and increased use of virtual technology likely to be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/01492063211000435">here to stay</a> to some extent, the greater demand for such skills may be permanent too. </p>
<p>When teams were sent home amid lockdown procedures, our ability to collaborate was also <a href="https://www.gensler.com/gri/us-workplace-survey-2020-summer-fall">dramatically reduced</a>. Collaboration has <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/Economics/deloitte-au-economics-collaborative-economy-google-170614.pdf">long been a focus</a> of workplace culture and managerial methods. <a href="http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/11268/1/JC_Pay_2018.pdf">It is key</a> to quality of work, innovation and employee engagement. </p>
<p>Companies emerging from the pandemic are therefore understandably keen to get their employees working effectively together <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JPCC-06-2020-0033/full/html?skipTracking=true">once again</a>. This also makes <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/14705958211002877?casa_token=s-DP72Uz9C8AAAAA:XLy6gEAGbpcjf27M7CnXkrGbxDV5_qahNBkev6mgr69gbkcFejd_Wq1TUxo39CuhOJq4FdiCFlpgOQ">cultural intelligence</a> - defined as the skill by which you understand other cultures, learning from ongoing interactions and adapting your thinking accordingly - even more <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338476430_The_key_elements_of_cultural_intelligence_as_a_driver_for_digital_leadership_success">important</a> than before. </p>
<h2>How can arts studies help?</h2>
<p>Students themselves are conscious of the importance of human-centric skills, as well as critical thinking and creative problem-solving. A <a href="https://www.oup.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/172194/HE_Employability-Whitepaper_2020_DIGITAL_Singlepages.pdf">survey</a> of 1,000 Australian students in 2020 found that 88% believed soft skills to be necessary for their future career, with 78% agreeing such skills would give them an advantage in an increasingly automated workplace. </p>
<p>These findings are confirmed by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969699721000648?casa_token=T17r3fto5WgAAAAA:NeRosP2GX8VfgXvfenke7mV_92hQXd72EviweCc1UorcrNCJU9PsWUcIBzKsFb0AVmQMV7ht6Bk#!">a 2021 study</a> among undergraduate aviation students in Australia. The respondents thought non-technical skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and emotional intelligence would be highly necessary in the post-pandemic economy.<br>
Human-centric skills are best learned by doing. This kind of experiential approach is something the arts have <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.505.1370&rep=rep1&type=pdf">traditionally offered</a>. Unlike a standard management lecture, where students will sit and listen to lecturers passing on their knowledge, arts majors – student dancers interacting in a dance routine, for example – focus on ideas and expression.</p>
<p>Since the 1980s, management education specialists have noted the impact of including <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1052562907308294?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.2">poetry</a>, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/105256298601000112">music</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/105256298801200308?journalCode=jmec">literature</a> in business courses. In a 2002 study, American management theorist Robert Mockler looked at how drama, too, could <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.984.1012&rep=rep1&type=pdf">be used</a>. He highlighted the leadership lessons to be found in Shakespeare – from Henry V and Coriolanus to King Lear – and the presentation, self-awareness and leadership skills to be gleaned from <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d22b02c2-8b0f-11e2-8fcf-00144feabdc0">taking acting classes</a>.</p>
<p>Business students are more likely to be found in a financial accounting lecture or an organisational change dynamics tutorial than learning about storytelling. Yet storytelling serves as a <a href="https://www.harvardbusiness.org/insight/telling-stories-how-leaders-can-influence-teach-and-inspire/">powerful tool</a> for communication both inside and outside organisations. Narratives enable companies to develop their own personas and for brands to forge <a href="https://medium.com/@marketingmanegoa/the-ultimate-guide-to-business-storytelling-in-2019-40793c9a7836">customer relationships</a>.</p>
<p>Beyond techniques, <a href="https://rhenterprisehub.org/2020/01/15/beyond-the-frame-using-art-to-teach-critical-thinking/">a simple visit</a> to an art museum can readily enhance the critical thinking skills for any student – not just art history majors. The arts engage us, as the audience, mentally, physically, and emotionally. And they prompt us <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190401-why-worthless-humanities-degrees-may-set-you-up-for-life">to understand</a> and improve the world and ourselves. This may be one of their most powerful uses in education. </p>
<p>To this end, prospective students interested in pursuing a business and management degree should be encouraged to immerse themselves in additional arts and humanities courses. Even better, they could seek an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513038/">interdisciplinary degree</a> where arts and humanities are embedded in the curriculum. </p>
<p>US business schools often dabble in the <a href="https://www.topmba.com/mba-programs/how-liberal-arts-are-helping-mbas-expand-their-minds">liberal arts</a>. But in the UK, business students will need to dig a little deeper to find a way to integrate the arts into their studies. There are <a href="https://royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/postgraduate/business-and-management/digital-marketing?gclid=Cj0KCQjw_8mHBhClARIsABfFgphWBk_1QWZ8GQcVgGOecF3Ih6HIX4z2zAZ3KH-wuEEj3oKgdvUhdFYaAhJHEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds">professional development courses</a>, which include acting classes to promote self-awareness and creative writing classes.</p>
<p>Students can also acquire these skills by themselves. In <a href="https://www.danpink.com/books/whole-new-mind/">A Whole New Mind</a> management specialist and author Daniel Pink recommends taking <a href="https://www.danpink.com/2011/02/pencil/">drawing classes</a> and heading to storytelling festivals. It’s about developing the right side of the brain, the side <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/HRMID-10-2013-0079/full/html?casa_token=3MJIq_4NXCIAAAAA:D3spHDSLQCVV1GBJSTzwT3l-pnJCeHcDKOM3hBnlGMazTRQ5NQ6lBTAGRXzz0_DIjEfZnBq1UZyvjM31LIZesZ07seShMg9rynpPLaYtFkeP9iO8JShS">most often associated</a> with soft skills.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163127/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy Gill-Simmen received funding from Academy of Marketing.</span></em></p>Instead of focusing solely on what managers do, management and business education needs to provide students with people skills. Here’s how the arts can help.Lucy Gill-Simmen, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1608442021-05-18T19:05:06Z2021-05-18T19:05:06ZArts education is facing massive cuts – yet its value is felt everywhere<p>When an emergency support package for the arts was launched in the face of COVID-19 last July, UK prime minister Boris Johnson <a href="https://www.pianistmagazine.com/news/government-pledges-1-57-billion-to-protect-uk-arts-sector/">trumpeted their value</a> to industry and the nation at large. “They make our country great,” he said. “They are the linchpin of our world-beating and fast-growing creative industries.”</p>
<p>So the <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/plans-to-cut-higher-education-arts-courses-by-50">government’s recent proposal</a> to cut funding for arts higher education by 50%, covering music, dance, drama and performing arts, art and design, media studies, and archaeology, appears somewhat contradictory. </p>
<p>The immediate damage to the sector from such swingeing cuts in terms of provision and access to arts education – especially for those on lower incomes who rely on public funding – is clear. But education secretary Gavin Williamson’s assertion that arts courses are not among the government’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/12/tragic-misstep-arts-education-cuts-risk-uk-cultural-leadership-government-told">“strategic priorities”</a> belies the value of the arts to the UK, economically and culturally. </p>
<p>This is demonstrated by a range of research, including work I have done on the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10286632.2014.987668">value of live music</a> as part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s <a href="https://ahrc.ukri.org/research/fundedthemesandprogrammes/culturalvalueproject/">Cultural Value Project</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dancers in matching orange tracksuits perform for a music video in a graffiti-covered tunnel in London" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401149/original/file-20210518-15-8g4whl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401149/original/file-20210518-15-8g4whl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401149/original/file-20210518-15-8g4whl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401149/original/file-20210518-15-8g4whl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401149/original/file-20210518-15-8g4whl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401149/original/file-20210518-15-8g4whl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401149/original/file-20210518-15-8g4whl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The UK’s vibrant cultural output is a tool for soft power and an academic asset.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/OM0T7o9pJRg">Siddhant Kumar on Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Britain’s creative industries are a significant economic driver, a source of <a href="https://ahrc.ukri.org/documents/publications/cultural-value-project-final-report/">cultural value</a> and of diplomatic <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-policy-insight/insight-articles/soft-power-creative">soft power</a>. <a href="https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/The_value_of_arts_and_culture_to_people_and_society_an_evidence_review.pdf">They</a> support <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2059204320935709">individual wellbeing</a> and social cohesion, as has been starkly highlighted <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-03-27-covid-19-bears-out-research-music-brings-people-together">during the pandemic</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates-2019-employment/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates-2019-employment">The government’s economic estimates for 2019</a> showed that, before the pandemic, the creative industries employed 2.1 million people. This represents an increase of 34.5% from 2011, more than three times the overall growth rate of employment in the UK overall. In 2018, the sector contributed more than <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-creative-industries-contributes-almost-13-million-to-the-uk-economy-every-hour">£111 billion</a> to the economy.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ukmusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Music-by-Numbers-2020.pdf">The music industry alone</a>, according to trade body UK Music’s figures, contributed £5.8 billion to the economy in 2019, generating £2.8 billion in export revenue and sustaining 197,168 full-time equivalent jobs. </p>
<h2>High value</h2>
<p>Underlying this economic and social value is an extensive pipeline of arts education. The government-commissioned 2019 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-18-review-of-education-and-funding-independent-panel-report">Augar Review</a> of education implied that many arts courses were of low value. But to make such broad generalisations ignores the scale at which arts graduates significantly contribute to the sector and to wider society. </p>
<p>A report on creative-focused universities and colleges showed their graduates add <a href="https://www.guildhe.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Econ-Impact-Executive-Summary-Final.pdf">£8.4 billion</a> in income to the UK’s economy each year. And research from <a href="https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2010/creating-prosperity-the-role-of-higher-education.pdf">Universities UK</a> found that higher education was “the primary producer of the talent and skills that feed the creative industries and an important source of research that informs new ideas, practices and business models”.</p>
<p>These contributions are also entwined with arts practice, education and business at a local level. For example, <a href="http://uklivemusiccensus.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/UK-Live-Music-Census-2017-full-report.pdf">the UK Live Music Census</a> report published in 2018 (which I co-authored) illustrated the extent of the relationships between higher education and the venues and businesses which support both aspiring and established musicians – an important aspect of the <a href="https://www.ukmusic.org/news/securing-our-talent-pipeline/">talent pipeline</a>.</p>
<p>Nearly 60% of the venues that responded to the census noted formal or informal links to educational communities, universities and colleges. Local economies, as well as the national economy as a whole, benefit from these ties. </p>
<p>What’s more, just as disentangling the economic and cultural contribution of the arts education is not straightforward, it is a mistake to ignore the deeper relationships at work in higher education. In terms of both teaching and research, arts and science subjects do not, as the Augar review mistakenly suggested, operate <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jun/11/augar-report-pits-arts-against-sciences-both-lose-out">independently and at the expense of one another</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A wall of framed biological specimens and imagery" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401152/original/file-20210518-17-19ipeqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401152/original/file-20210518-17-19ipeqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401152/original/file-20210518-17-19ipeqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401152/original/file-20210518-17-19ipeqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401152/original/file-20210518-17-19ipeqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401152/original/file-20210518-17-19ipeqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401152/original/file-20210518-17-19ipeqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Collaborating with artists is invaluable in communicating scientific research to broader audiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/XcHH59pSLP0">Mark Hang Fung So on Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the contrary, students and researchers alike benefit from the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23752696.2019.1583072">cross-pollination</a> of ideas and experience. Even beyond cross-subsidy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jun/11/augar-report-pits-arts-against-sciences-both-lose-out">across teaching and research</a>, and across arts and sciences, there’s a degree of mutual benefit. </p>
<p>If the government acknowledges that the arts are beneficial, it should also recognise that hitting arts subjects in HE will degrade that capacity to contribute to the broader economy. As well as being invaluable in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00469-2">communicating findings</a> and facilitating public understanding of scientific research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/interdisciplinary-research-must-sit-at-the-heart-of-universities-31937">interdisciplinary</a> collaborations across humanities and sciences has led to new initiatives in fields as diverse as <a href="https://www.sciculture.ac.uk/project/representing-and-communicating-uncertainty-climate-change-and-risk/">climate change</a> and <a href="https://www.sciculture.ac.uk/project/the-value-of-the-literary-and-historical-study-of-biology-to-biologists/">biology</a>. </p>
<p>The UK’s <a href="https://www.pec.ac.uk/research-reports/the-creative-digital-skills-revolution">research culture</a>, as well as its cultural output, is stronger and better equipped to meet the digital challenges and opportunities of the future as a result.</p>
<p>This strength didn’t arise quickly but was the result of longer-term relationships. It won’t be easy to recover quickly. The arts have already been battered by the pandemic. A supportive environment is needed that looks at their value strategically, holistically and over the long term. The government’s own stated priorities of <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/896799/UK_Research_and_Development_Roadmap.pdf">levelling up</a> across the country – along with <a href="https://ahrc.ukri.org/research/fundedthemesandprogrammes/themes/scienceinculture/">equipping the economy as a whole</a> for a competitive, connected international arena – depend on it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160844/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Behr has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy</span></em></p>Government plans to defund arts higher education are detrimental to both the UK’s economy and its future.Adam Behr, Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1593102021-05-17T12:25:06Z2021-05-17T12:25:06ZHow student-designed video games made me rethink how I teach history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399882/original/file-20210510-19-1pw541d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C1017%2C544&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Ako: A Tale of Loyalty' takes players inside a young samurai's world in 18th-century Japan.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Epoch: History Games Initiative/University of Texas at Austin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine you’re a young samurai in Japan in 1701. You have to make a difficult choice between an impoverished life in exile, or the prospect of almost certain death while trying to avenge the death of your dishonored lord. Which do you choose?</p>
<p>“<a href="https://epochutaustin.itch.io/ako-a-test-of-loyalty">Ako: A Tale of Loyalty</a>,” a video game built in 2020, takes players along a difficult journey through early modern Japan filled with decisions like this one. It’s become an essential component of <a href="https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/history/faculty/ac73447#courses">my classes</a> on Japanese history, but it wasn’t developed by a professional game studio. Instead, it was created by a team of four undergraduate history majors with no specialized training.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399244/original/file-20210506-14-151sndp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Loading screen for black-and-white video game" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399244/original/file-20210506-14-151sndp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399244/original/file-20210506-14-151sndp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399244/original/file-20210506-14-151sndp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399244/original/file-20210506-14-151sndp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399244/original/file-20210506-14-151sndp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399244/original/file-20210506-14-151sndp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399244/original/file-20210506-14-151sndp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Loading screen for the ‘Ako’ visual novel game.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Epoch: History Games Initiative/University of Texas at Austin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Designing a video game may seem like a strange assignment for a humanities classroom, but as a <a href="https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/history/faculty/ac73447">professor who teaches a range of courses in East Asian history</a> I have found that such exercises provide an engaging learning experience for students while also generating new educational content that can be widely shared. </p>
<h2>The gaming revolution</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theesa.com/resource/2020-essential-facts/">Nearly two-thirds</a> of American adults play video games, and that figure rises steadily each year. Fueled by stay-at-home orders and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, global gaming sales rose to nearly <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/videogames-are-a-bigger-industry-than-sports-and-movies-combined-thanks-to-the-pandemic-11608654990">US$180 billion</a> in 2020. </p>
<p>Among university students, video games are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3078424">utterly pervasive</a>. When I ask my classes who consumes video game content, either as a player or via streaming services like <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/">Twitch</a>, it’s rare that a single student’s hand is not raised. </p>
<p>Schools and colleges have rushed to respond to these trends. Programs like <a href="https://gamestarmechanic.com/">Gamestar Mechanic</a> or <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/">Scratch</a> help K-12 students learn basic coding skills, while many universities, including my own, have introduced <a href="https://sites.utexas.edu/gaming/">game design majors</a> to train the next generation of developers. </p>
<p>History professors, however, have been slower to embrace video games as teaching tools. Part of the problem is that the historical content contained within games is often, with some <a href="https://www.kingdomcomerpg.com/">exceptions</a>, repetitive and superficial.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399247/original/file-20210506-17-d5dbfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Artwork from video game" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399247/original/file-20210506-17-d5dbfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399247/original/file-20210506-17-d5dbfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399247/original/file-20210506-17-d5dbfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399247/original/file-20210506-17-d5dbfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399247/original/file-20210506-17-d5dbfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399247/original/file-20210506-17-d5dbfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399247/original/file-20210506-17-d5dbfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Example of a player decision.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Epoch: History Games Initiative/University of Texas at Austin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While there are many games focused on Japanese history, for example, the majority reinforce the same tired image of the heroic warrior bound by the rigid code of “bushidō,” a code that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198706625.001.0001">scholars have shown</a> had very little to do with the daily life or conduct of most samurai.</p>
<h2>Designing humanities games</h2>
<p>In 2020, I asked four undergraduate history majors to design a fully functional video game with a clear educational payoff built around a controversial episode in Japanese history.</p>
<p>I was motivated by two ideas. First, I wanted to move beyond a standard reliance on academic essays. While I still assign essays, many students find them fairly passive exercises which don’t stimulate deep engagement with a topic. </p>
<p>Second, I was convinced that university professors need to get into the business of producing games content. To be clear, we’re not going to design anything even close to what comes out of professional studios. But we can produce compelling games that are ready to be used both in colleges and – equally important – K-12 classrooms, where teachers are always looking for vetted scholarly content. A conventional academic essay is intended for just one person, the professor. But a video game produced by a group of committed undergraduates can be played by thousands of students at different institutions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399883/original/file-20210510-5469-1v0e4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Video game artwork of two Japanese women" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399883/original/file-20210510-5469-1v0e4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399883/original/file-20210510-5469-1v0e4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399883/original/file-20210510-5469-1v0e4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399883/original/file-20210510-5469-1v0e4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399883/original/file-20210510-5469-1v0e4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399883/original/file-20210510-5469-1v0e4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399883/original/file-20210510-5469-1v0e4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The main character’s mother and sister.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Epoch: History Games Initiative/University of Texas at Austin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At first, I worried the task I had set was too big and the technological barriers too high. None of the four team members was enrolled in a video game design program or had specialized training. It quickly became clear that such fears were overblown. </p>
<p>The team decided to work on a <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/25/17879736/visual-novel-new-games-genre-neo-cab-solace-state-admiralo-island-witches-club-necrobarista">visual novel</a> game, a genre that originated in Japan and can best be described as interactive stories. The design process for such games is facilitated by programs such as <a href="https://www.renpy.org">Ren’Py</a>, which streamline development.</p>
<h2>Learning by design</h2>
<p>The team’s first task was to design a believable central character. Successful games push players to emotionally invest in their characters and the choices they make. In the case of “Ako,” the design team created a young samurai named Kanpei Hashimoto who was grounded in the period but also easy to relate to as a young person struggling to find his way in a complex world. </p>
<p>From there, the team created branching storylines punctuated by clear decisions. In total, “Ako” has five possible outcomes depending on the choices a player makes. Numerous smaller decisions along the way open up additional ways to navigate the game.</p>
<p>The next step was dialogue. A typical academic essay is around 2,500 words, and students often complain about how difficult it is to fill the required pages. In contrast, the “Ako” team wrote over 30,000 words of dialogue. It required extensive research. What would a samurai family have eaten for breakfast? How much did it cost to buy a “kaimyō,” or posthumous Buddhist name, for a deceased parent? How long did it take to make the <a href="https://www.wagasa.com/en/kyowagasa/">oiled paper umbrellas</a>, called “wagasa,” that many poor samurai sold to survive? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399823/original/file-20210510-5525-b0i1vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Video artwork of monk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399823/original/file-20210510-5525-b0i1vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399823/original/file-20210510-5525-b0i1vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399823/original/file-20210510-5525-b0i1vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399823/original/file-20210510-5525-b0i1vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399823/original/file-20210510-5525-b0i1vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399823/original/file-20210510-5525-b0i1vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399823/original/file-20210510-5525-b0i1vy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Engaging with different characters in the game.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Epoch: History Games Initiative/University of Texas at Austin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally, the students developed historically accurate artwork. The game has four chapters with 30 background images and 13 characters. Making sure everything was consistent with this period in Japanese history was a huge undertaking that stretched both me and the students. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the team learned more about samurai life and early modern Japan than any group of students I had worked with across a single semester. They read a dizzying array of books and articles while working and reworking the overall design, dialogue and artwork. And they succeeded in developing a fully functional video game that has already been used in other classrooms across the country. </p>
<p>Most importantly, I believe their experience provides a template for how student-designed video games can transform the humanities classroom. </p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159310/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Clulow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A history professor describes how student-designed video games have transformed his classroom and provided a substitute for academic essays.Adam Clulow, Professor of History, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1556552021-03-10T16:26:04Z2021-03-10T16:26:04ZThe role of South Africa’s social scientists in COVID-19 responses: why it matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387695/original/file-20210304-21-1q6qoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africans wait in a queue for free food. Understanding the social impact has been key to managing the pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Luba Lesolle/Gallo Images via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The effects of COVID-19 have been devastating to economies across the globe. This has been true in South Africa too where the unemployment rate has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-23/south-africa-jobless-rate-rises-to-record-32-5-in-4th-quarter">shot up to almost 33%</a>. The suffering is visible. In every city and town one is struck by the numbers of queues of desperate people seeking help of all kinds.</p>
<p>In this situation, almost no-one takes issue with the statement that science is the kingpin on which recovery will be based. In the immediacy of the moment, it is the time of the virologists, the immunologists, the vaccinologists and public health specialists. To their great credit, they have stepped up to the plate. </p>
<p>Even though biological factors are the immediate cause of our problems, the effects are social. We have ill people, dying people, unemployed people, people unable to get health care. Less visible – but no less debilitating – are social trauma and strains in families and communities. </p>
<p>It’s therefore no surprise that the role of the social sciences, humanities and arts is so critical right now.</p>
<p>There has been public <a href="https://en.unesco.org/covid19/socialhumanresponse">acknowledgement</a> of the contributions of social science and humanities scholars. But concerns have also been raised about whether they have been involved enough.</p>
<p>As someone close to a number of initiatives involving social scientists over the past 12 months, my strong view is that they have been. Social sciences and the humanities have been in the thick of the pandemic from its very beginning. They have provided help, advice, guidance and, as should be expected, critique. </p>
<p>This is how it should be. It is the role of the social sciences and the humanities, on the basis of evidence, to affirm where official policy is in the public interest, but also to point to where it is not. I try, in this article, to show how the social sciences and humanities have responded in South Africa. </p>
<h2>Gathering the evidence</h2>
<p>Days after the announcement of the national lockdown the Human Sciences Research Council, the country’s science council for research on human behaviour and social conditions, initiated two different survey series to establish South Africans’ perceptions of the crisis. </p>
<p>Both sought to establish what South Africans thought of the situation in which they found themselves, their attitudes to the mitigation measures proposed, their trust in government and what people on the ground were doing for themselves. It was necessary to do this to inform government’s responses to the pandemic.</p>
<p>In addition, as the surveys were rolled out, teams of researchers from various universities in the country began working on the effects of the pandemic on employment, household income, child hunger and access to government grants. Their work, the <a href="https://cramsurvey.org/">Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (CRAMS)</a>, consisted of surveying a sample of 10,000 South Africans every month for six months. This kind of work was critical to track shifts and changes in the situation people were facing and how they were dealing with these changes. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-holds-lessons-for-the-future-of-social-protection-155787">COVID-19 holds lessons for the future of social protection</a>
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<p>The results of the surveys – five have been released – have helped inform the national discussion on the pandemic, including the government’s response to the lockdown. </p>
<p>The data have been used to underpin policy briefs telling government and policy makers about what people were feeling, the state of their well-being, their attitudes to vaccines. They have also, importantly, enabled a feedback loop to government on responses to physical distancing measures, corruption, service delivery and access to basic rights. These directly raised the focus in government on the calamitous issue of COVID-19 corruption and, as bad, weaknesses in its service delivery mechanisms and procedures. </p>
<p>This was particularly pertinent for highlighting the dysfunctionality of hospitals and clinics. </p>
<p>Simultaneously, many universities and science councils took the initiative to hold public engagements about the epidemic. These ranged from its impact on education, to the problems in households with gender-based violence, to vaccine distribution. </p>
<p>In addition to these initiatives, many academics joined civil society initiatives to deal with emergencies in stressed communities. And to help overcome the socioeconomic information crisis, scientists have helped generate and disseminate reliable information. </p>
<p>Scientists became more public-facing as, on the strength of their research, they became much more active in public dialogues, radio and television interviews. They provided the public with informed analysis of what were often complex issues.</p>
<p>Researchers stepped up on a number of fronts, initiating new work and providing insights to organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation.</p>
<p>The South African government has gone as far as including social scientists in the ministerial advisory committees for the pandemic and for vaccinations.</p>
<p>It’s true that a great deal remains to be done. Pandemics are complex social phenomena. They raise issues for which questions are not yet formulated. This is where the social sciences and humanities have to unpack problems such as social relations between people, in families, communities and the broader society. </p>
<p>And the question of inequality needs to be looked at a macro-level, and how it insidiously reconfigures relations – be they gender or between different groups in societies. All demand attention. </p>
<h2>The longer term impact</h2>
<p>In my view long-lasting change has already been baked in. For example, government departments such as the Department of Science and Innovation have established initiatives which have social scientists at their core, such as a national data observatory based at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. </p>
<p>This transdisciplinary approach has also led a team of medical scientists and social scientists from various organisations to conduct a COVID-19 antibody sero-prevalence study to ascertain levels of antibodies to the disease in the South African population. </p>
<p>The lead role of public health researchers continues to be important. But there is growing acknowledgement that social scientists have to be present from the very beginning – and should be given leadership responsibility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Crain Soudien receives funding from several organisations. He is affiliated with the Human Sciences Research Council, UCT.
My organisation, the HSRC, receives funding from a parliamentary grant and through contracting processes, bids, tenders, and so on receives funding for research. It also receives funding from large donor organisations, such as the NIHS, CDC, the Gates Foundation, The Master Card Foundation. </span></em></p>The lead role of public health researchers continues to be important. But there is growing acknowledgement that social scientists have to be present from the very beginning.Crain Soudien, Chief Executive Officer of the Human Sciences Research Council, Human Sciences Research CouncilLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1561982021-03-04T19:24:42Z2021-03-04T19:24:42ZHonouring Te Tiriti means ‘getting into the stream together’ — so this vice-chancellor has become a student again<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387411/original/file-20210303-27-111dc6b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C6%2C4289%2C2861&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Massey University Vice-Chancellor Jan Thomas (centre) attends her pōwhiri (welcome) in 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As first-year students flooded onto campuses around the country this week, gripped with uncertainty and curiosity about their new lives, I too returned to university to learn.</p>
<p>For the first time since what feels like forever, but in reality was 1997 when I finished my PhD, I am now a bona fide university student.</p>
<p>It’s confronting to go back as an undergraduate online student (I’m doing a BA, through my own university, Massey University). But at the same time, it’s exciting and new. And for me, with a science background, stepping into the humanities is a whole other world. </p>
<p>The last time I was a student I used the scientific method; I tested, palpated and measured as a veterinary science undergraduate. In the humanities, it feels more fluid, more open to interpretation. As Vice-Chancellor I’ve known this, but to now be in it, well … I’ve surprised myself, because I’ve found I really like it.</p>
<p>I haven’t yet told my mother I’m doing a BA — she’ll find out when she reads this (sorry, Mum). I’ve been nervous about telling her; as a scientist in a family full of humanities graduates, I’ve always been a bit of a black sheep and was enthusiastically critical of my siblings’ choices as a youngster. </p>
<p>But increasingly I began to recognise our different disciplines have different ways of looking at the world, and that’s incredibly valuable for critical and creative thinking.</p>
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<img alt="Massey University Vice-Chancellor Jan Thomas in a graduation procession" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387414/original/file-20210303-19-tdnj3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387414/original/file-20210303-19-tdnj3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387414/original/file-20210303-19-tdnj3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387414/original/file-20210303-19-tdnj3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387414/original/file-20210303-19-tdnj3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387414/original/file-20210303-19-tdnj3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387414/original/file-20210303-19-tdnj3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Back to class: Jan Thomas at last year’s graduation procession in Palmerston North.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>Into the third space</h2>
<p>I’m now stepping into a new space. In the Aboriginal world, in my native Australia, they talk about the “third space” — a place where white people and Indigenous people come together to begin to understand the other’s perspective. </p>
<p>You don’t have to agree to it, but it’s essential to understand it, otherwise you’re constantly in tension. The two separate worlds just keep flowing on in parallel, and nothing ever truly changes.</p>
<p>My first course is <a href="https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/programme-course/course.cfm?course_code=150114">He Tirohanga Taketake: Māori Perspectives</a>, taught by Te Rā Moriarty at <a href="https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/explore/departments/school-maori-knowledge/school-maori-knowledge_home.cfm">Te Putahi-a-Toi</a>. We’re studying perspectives from Māori authors, through Māori teachers, alongside Māori and non-Māori students, gaining a deeper understanding of concepts such as tapu, mana, and whakapapa. </p>
<p>We’re examining social structures within Māoridom, the influence of colonisation, and the Māori world view on things such as the environment, family and personal characteristics such as humility and respect for kaumātua. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-century-that-profoundly-changed-universities-and-their-campuses-151765">A century that profoundly changed universities and their campuses</a>
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<p>I’m asking myself as I go, if I am standing in a Māori person’s shoes, what does the world look like?</p>
<p>Well, it looks pretty different. And that’s why I believe fostering understanding is essential to constructing the way forward together.</p>
<p>Although I managed to pass te reo Māori to level 5 at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa over three years, I feel I’ve still got so far to go. I’m not even dipping a full toe into the water yet — maybe just the toenail.</p>
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<img alt="Whare kai building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387616/original/file-20210303-13-lffyjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387616/original/file-20210303-13-lffyjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387616/original/file-20210303-13-lffyjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387616/original/file-20210303-13-lffyjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387616/original/file-20210303-13-lffyjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387616/original/file-20210303-13-lffyjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387616/original/file-20210303-13-lffyjs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The whare kai, part of Te Putahi-a-Toi, on Massey University’s Manawatū campus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>Strength and direction</h2>
<p>The world has changed dramatically over the past five to ten years, and many businesses and institutions now have strong aspirations to incorporate Te Tiriti o Waitangi into how they operate. Massey is no exception. </p>
<p>But it’s got to be more than just lip service, more than just te reo greetings in corporate emails. If we’re going to get the partnership right (and I recognise there’s a better word than “partnership” — perhaps fusing or blending), the responsibility has to fall on all of us. </p>
<p>Everyone has to work on it. And for me, entering the third space, I’m not trying to “be Māori”, but I know I’ve got to understand Māori perspectives and why others might want certain things. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/guaranteed-maori-representation-in-local-government-is-about-self-determination-and-its-good-for-democracy-154538">Guaranteed Māori representation in local government is about self-determination — and it's good for democracy</a>
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<p>Sure, it might help me avoid giving offence, and that’s essential. But more than that, we might find areas of common interest, things that make meaning for both parts of the partnership. I know if I’m going to lead a university that upholds diversity, equity and excellence in Aotearoa, I need to engage fully.</p>
<p>There are te reo Māori terms for the sides of the stream and the middle of the stream. The sides are “au taha” — the side currents, where the water doesn’t flow swiftly. In the middle, it’s “au kaha”, which has more strength, direction and forward momentum. </p>
<p>Historically, we’ve had Pākehā on one side of the stream and Māori on the other. We’ve got to get into the middle of the stream together, au kaha, and move forward together down the river. </p>
<p>Don’t be satisfied paddling in the easy bits on the side, but find moments to meet in the middle. Get right into the stream, and be brave enough to work in that (sometimes) turbulent place.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156198/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Thomas is the Vice-Chancellor of Massey University, where she is also now studying.</span></em></p>A veterinary scientist by training, Massey University Vice-Chancellor Jan Thomas has turned to the humanities to learn more about Māori. Here she explains why.Jan Thomas, Vice-Chancellor, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1505252021-02-05T13:05:53Z2021-02-05T13:05:53ZGraduate students need a PhD that makes sense for their real lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379769/original/file-20210120-15-16tqhid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3927%2C5890&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Doctoral programs often prepare graduates to become professors, but those jobs are scarce today.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/student-stands-and-reads-a-book-among-the-stacks-in-the-news-photo/586158350?adppopup=true">JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There used to be a time – back in the 1960s – when it made sense for doctoral programs to prepare students to become professors. For that <a href="https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/may-2003/we-historians-the-golden-age-and-beyond">brief postwar moment</a>, there were more jobs for professors than there were doctorate holders to fill them.</p>
<p>But that time is <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c12863/c12863.pdf">long gone</a>. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/bad-job-market-phds/479205/">Professorships are scarce</a> now, and most people with doctorates will end up working <a href="https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/doctoratework/2017/html/sdr2017_dst_12-3.html">outside of academia</a>.</p>
<p>In “<a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/new-phd#:%7E:text=The%20New%20PhD%20is%20a,change%20agents%20throughout%20our%20world">The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education</a>,” former professor and university president Robert Weisbuch and I argue that graduate programs aren’t preparing doctoral students for the jobs they’ll likely have outside college classrooms or laboratories. </p>
<p>We propose a new design for graduate school that points graduates toward fulfilling work both inside and outside the academy. </p>
<h2>Rethinking doctorates</h2>
<p>Instead of seeking work across society, many highly skilled doctorate holders end up teaching a course here and there – for <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/20/new-report-says-many-adjuncts-make-less-3500-course-and-25000-year">low wages</a> – in the vanishing hope of full-time jobs as professors. This <a href="https://www.hepg.org/her-home/issues/harvard-educational-review-volume-89,-issue-4/herbooknote/the-adjunct-underclass">proliferation of adjunct labor</a> devalues the people doing it and the academic workplace together. </p>
<p>We argue that the problem starts with an intense desire to stay in academia no matter what. Professorial jobs are scarcer than ever, but doctoral education <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03191-7">socializes students</a> to want those jobs above all others.</p>
<p>Professors model a rarefied existence without educating students to prepare for the actual alternatives they will face. For example, <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-degree-of-uncommon-success/?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in">scientists are encouraged to narrowly specialize</a> within their subfields, while <a href="https://www.press.umich.edu/8845365/manifesto_for_the_humanities">humanities scholars are given few opportunities to collaborate with others</a> in ways that are common in most workplaces. </p>
<p>In both cases, we believe graduate students would be better served by a curriculum that encourages a wider variety of skills and capacities, including working in project teams and translating their work to nonspecialized audiences. <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/new-phd#:%7E:text=The%20New%20PhD%20is%20a,change%20agents%20throughout%20our%20world">Our research finds</a> that such a program would draw more people of color and more women, and that graduates would be <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/new-phd#:%7E:text=The%20New%20PhD%20is%20a,change%20agents%20throughout%20our%20world">more competitive in today’s job market</a>. </p>
<h2>Why should anyone care?</h2>
<p>What happens to the doctorate holder ripples outward. The doctoral curriculum shapes liberal arts curriculum because doctoral programs train most professors who teach liberal arts subjects. And the way universities design and <a href="https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/LEAP/leap_vision_summary.pdf">teach the liberal arts</a> affects colleges, high schools and every other level of the education pyramid.</p>
<p>We’d like to see an academic experience that remains rich in scholarship but is far less hermetic. In “The New PhD,” we offer real-life examples of programs that offer disciplinary expertise while recognizing the diverse career outcomes that students will face. </p>
<p>A new humanities doctoral program at University of Iowa’s <a href="https://obermann.uiowa.edu/programs/humanities-public-good">Obermann Center</a> and the <a href="https://versatilehumanists.duke.edu/internships/">Versatile Humanists program</a> at Duke University are examples. They place graduate student interns in a variety of workplaces outside the university. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/outcomes-based-graduate-school-the-humanities-edition/">Lehigh University</a> and other schools have used alumni career data to redesign their curriculum and prepare graduates for the jobs they will actually encounter. For example, the department recently added a certificate program in writing instruction. </p>
<p>Programs like Lehigh’s admit smaller student cohorts to advise students individually as they progress. We support this curated approach to doctoral education, and believe a program should admit only as many students as it can advise carefully and attentively. </p>
<h2>Valuing people of color and women</h2>
<p>Doctoral students don’t resemble the demographics of the country at large. Black Americans, Latinos and Native Americans together make up about <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/AGE775219">30% of the U.S. population</a> but only <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/nsf17306/report/who-earns-a-us-doctorate/race-and-ethnicity.cfm#:%7E:text=Participation%20in%20doctoral%20education%20by,of%20Hispanic%20or%20Latino%20doctorate">15% of U.S. doctorates</a>. Women are <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/chem.201600035">greatly underrepresented</a> in graduate STEM programs.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>And once women and people of color get through the door, they often feel a <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/03/study-finds-serious-attrition-issues-black-and-latino-doctoral-students">lack of support</a> from their institutions. A 2014 study found <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/03/study-finds-serious-attrition-issues-black-and-latino-doctoral-students">fewer than half</a> of Black and Latino doctoral students in the behavioral and social sciences earned a doctoral degree within seven years. More than a third left their programs without finishing.</p>
<p>Graduate schools can recruit more diverse students by looking to the undergraduate pipeline and even high schools. Many undergrad programs recruit heavily among students from marginalized groups. But graduate schools compete for a much smaller pool of qualified and interested candidates, and such recruitment can strain departmental budgets.</p>
<p>One way to do this is for graduate faculty to work with teachers at all levels to excite young people about their fields. The City University of New York has done this successfully with its <a href="http://www.diversiphd.com/about">Pipeline Program</a>, which immerses undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups in academic culture. Surveys tell us such social engagement helps <a href="https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.13-02-0021">persuade underrepresented students</a> to pursue graduate study. </p>
<p>At CUNY and elsewhere, on behalf of students from all backgrounds, work is being done to make doctoral education more attentive to the reality that doctorate holders face. Our book describes that work and brings it to light.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150525/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonard Cassuto does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Graduate programs can be rich in scholarship and still prepare students for real-world careers.Leonard Cassuto, Professor of English and American Studies, Fordham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1540402021-01-29T13:27:00Z2021-01-29T13:27:00ZAs scientists turn their attention to COVID-19, other research is not getting done – and that can have lasting consequences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380760/original/file-20210126-21-1t861tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C77%2C5760%2C3750&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A molecular biologist at the University Clinical Research Center in Mali works in a COVID-19 testing lab.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/amadou-kone-a-professor-of-molecular-biology-at-the-news-photo/1230504418?adppopup=true">Photo by Annie Risemberg/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many researchers, the choice to spend decades working in a lab or in the field comes from a desire to help – to expand understanding of how life works or to improve human health. So when COVID-19 emerged, many scientists dropped what they were doing and <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.06.413682v1">switched their focus to SARS-CoV-2</a>, the virus responsible for the pandemic. </p>
<p>Suddenly, the ranks of scientists who had been studying coronaviruses were flooded with newcomers seeking to contribute in some way, many with little prior experience in infectious diseases. Some wanted to join in on the biggest problem facing the world. For others, it was the only way to open labs. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.06.413682">Others saw funding opportunities.</a></p>
<p>We, <a href="https://profiles.utsouthwestern.edu/profile/80210/julie-pfeiffer.html">a virologist</a> and <a href="http://www.mvm.pitt.edu/node/872">virologist-physician</a>, saw this pivot in our own fields. Many of our colleagues began working on SARS-CoV-2. As an editor/adviser at the Journal of Virology and Science, one of us <a href="https://twitter.com/jkpfeiff/status/1344690414654267392?s=20">handled hundreds of papers in 2020, nearly half focused on COVID-19.</a> Curious about the trend and implications, we analyzed published papers about SARS viruses found in PubMed and found the number had increased 20-fold relative to the early 2000s, when the first SARS coronavirus appeared. Our analysis has not yet been published.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.06.413682v1">Another recent analysis,</a> which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that the proportion of biomedical research papers focused on coronaviruses rose from 0.07% to 5.3% from 2019 to 2020. Many of these papers came from fields that hadn’t considered coronaviruses before, such as psychiatry, cardiovascular research and oncology.</p>
<p>When a new virus is ravaging the planet, scientists should help. This is an all-hands-on-deck emergency, and researchers with different backgrounds can bring new perspectives that can lead to major breakthroughs. <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/06/data-show-panic-and-disorganization-dominate-the-study-of-covid-19-drugs/">Yet there is some evidence</a> that as labs have shifted attention to SARS-CoV-2, efforts have been duplicated, and precious time and resources have been used ineffectively. This rapid scientific reorientation has implications far beyond SARS-COV-2 and potentially leaves the world vulnerable to other health crises.</p>
<h2>Wasted time</h2>
<p>Understandably, the rush to enter the field has led to many labs doing the same experiments at the same time. Some level of duplication is essential to ensure that findings are reproducible. But some of this duplication is unnecessary: A search for “SARS-CoV-2” and “ACE2” (the major receptor that SARS viruses use to enter cells) in an online archive of unpublished research yielded <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/search/sars-cov-2%252Band%252Bace2">more than 1,400 papers</a>, and we found evidence of overlap. For example, hundreds of these papers examine <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/search/sars-cov-2%252Band%252Bentry%252Band%252Binhibit%252Band%252Bace2">inhibition of viral entry into cells.</a> </p>
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<p>There is overlap even in unique subniches: Dozens of papers focus on nanobodies, a unique type of antibody often generated using alpacas, and the <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/search/sars-cov-2%252Band%252Bnanobody">titles of many of the papers are very similar</a>.</p>
<p>Fresh perspectives from newcomers don’t always yield breakthroughs. Science and the media have been temporarily <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/01/science-covid-19-manhattan-project/617262/">derailed by problematic research</a> contributed by scientists switching to a new field – such as a paper by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008410117">nonepidemiologists</a> reporting that a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/madhukarpai/2020/04/12/bcg-against-coronavirus-less-hype-and-more-evidence-please/?sh=78cc6c8b6b4f">vaccine against tuberculosis</a> may protect against COVID-19 because countries with high rates of vaccination have lower mortality rates of the virus. Despite extensive media coverage – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008410117">the study</a> was picked up by 90 media outlets – a closer look revealed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2016733117">no evidence the vaccine had any protective effect</a>.</p>
<p>In biomedicine, academic labs study a specific topic and are led by experienced scientists who direct trainees. Over several years of training, a select number of trainees have the desire and gain sufficient expertise to open their own labs and begin mentoring the next generation of scientists in their field. This is how we keep science going. </p>
<p>Normally, trainees work in a lab investigating a particular field of biology or medicine, such as cancer or neurodegeneration. Each trainee studies a single, specific topic and publishes his or her research as scientific papers. The rapid pivot to COVID research means many labs – and trainees – that were once studying other topics are now focused on SARS-CoV-2, which means fewer young scientists are now being trained to tackle other health threats. This loss of knowledge and expertise could leave us less prepared for the next health crisis or outbreak.</p>
<p>At this point, our concerns are theoretical. We can’t say something like this has happened in the past, because nothing like COVID-19 has occurred in the modern research era. When other viruses such as SARS (caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1), Ebola and Zika became news, some scientists switched gears to help, but at nowhere near the scale we see now. </p>
<h2>Time to pivot back?</h2>
<p>Now, one year into the pandemic, many lab teams may want to ask: Can we continue to make an important and distinct contribution to the field? For some – those with a unique angle or the appropriate experience and facilities to handle dangerous pathogens – the answer may be yes. However, for many others, it may be time to pivot back to pre-COVID-19 research topics in which the overall advances will be more significant.</p>
<p>Even within the field of infectious diseases, it doesn’t make sense for the vast majority of virologists to focus on COVID-19. With hundreds of viruses colonizing bats and other animals around the world and the potential for spillover and future pandemics, it is imperative that we study <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-vi-3-100316-100011">many different viruses</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Some researchers need to do “curiosity-based work,” in which we follow investigations with no obvious link to human health. You never know where the path will lead. By studying yellow fever virus, <a href="https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/29292-rockefeller-virologist-charles-m-rice-honored-with-nobel-prize-for-research-that-contributed-to-a-cure-for-hepatitis-c/">Charles Rice</a> laid the groundwork for his research on hepatitis C virus, which was acknowledged with last year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, those who continue to study COVID-19 and other infectious diseases need dedicated, sustained funding, not isolated surges of cash that rely on the expedient wishes of Congress. Extending National Institutes of Health funding periods from five years to seven years would help immensely. <a href="https://www.hhmi.org/news/hhmi-investigator-program-opens-national-competition">The Howard Hughes Medical Institute recently adopted a similar approach.</a> To prepare for the next outbreak, the field needs stable funding to study many different viruses, monitor reservoirs of viruses with pandemic potential and develop new antivirals we can rapidly deploy during the next pandemic. </p>
<p>In the war against the COVID-19 pandemic, facing SARS-CoV-2 will not be the only battle we fight. The attraction of working on the pandemic virus can divert scientists from other pressing health concerns that can be just as deadly.</p>
<p><em>This article was produced in collaboration with <a href="https://knowablemagazine.org/">Knowable Magazine</a>, a digital publication covering science and its emerging frontiers.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154040/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie K. Pfeiffer receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and Burroughs Wellcome Fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terence S. Dermody receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. </span></em></p>Is it time for some scientists to turn back to pre-COVID-19 research?Julie K. Pfeiffer, Professor of Microbiology, UT Southwestern Medical CenterTerence S. Dermody, Professor and Chair of Pediatrics, University of PittsburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1477402020-10-09T03:17:36Z2020-10-09T03:17:36Z3 flaws in Job-Ready Graduates package will add to the turmoil in Australian higher education<p>The Morrison government’s <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/job-ready">Job-ready Graduates</a> legislation has <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6584">passed the Senate</a>. This higher education policy has two major aims:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>to steer enrolments towards courses with good employment prospects</p></li>
<li><p>to ready the higher education system for the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/five-anus-two-unsws-unis-not-ready-for-looming-costello-baby-boom-20200227-p544yq.html">“Costello baby boom” students</a>, the big birth cohort who will reach university age in the mid-2020s. </p></li>
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<p>Unfortunately, achieving these goals is a much less certain outcome of this package than years of disruption for universities and decades of debt for some students. Three design flaws in Job-ready Graduates put it at high risk of not achieving its own objectives.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-can-help-australias-economic-recovery-but-thats-all-at-risk-if-the-job-ready-graduates-bill-passes-146582">Universities can help Australia's economic recovery, but that's all at risk if the 'job-ready graduates' bill passes</a>
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<h2>Students aim to be ‘job-ready’ without fee incentives</h2>
<p>To influence student course choices, Job-ready Graduates radically changes how student contributions are priced. </p>
<p>Current student contributions are roughly based on earnings prospects. Law and medical graduates on average earn high incomes, placing them in the <a href="https://www.studyassist.gov.au/help-loans-commonwealth-supported-places-csps/student-contribution-amounts">highest student contribution band</a>. They pay A$11,115 a year. Arts graduates tend to earn less, putting them in the cheapest band of A$6,684 a year. </p>
<p>Job-ready Graduates discards the link between student contribution and earnings prospects. Instead, its student contributions aim to encourage or discourage enrolments, to improve graduate job prospects or to meet other “national priorities”. </p>
<p>Arts courses are not a government national priority, so the student contribution for arts will more than double to A$14,500 a year. An eccentric exception is made for English and foreign languages, which will have student contributions of A$3,950, despite <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewjnorton/status/1298216511027388416/photo/1">worse employment outcomes</a> than other humanities fields. Law and business courses are not government priorities either and so go up from A$11,115 a year to A$14,500.</p>
<p>Revenue from the extra student contribution for non-priority courses will be spent cutting student charges in other courses. Student contributions for teaching and nursing courses will drop from A$6,684 in 2020 to A$3,950 in 2021. In science, engineering and IT, the amount students pay will be cut from A$9,527 a year to A$7,950.</p>
<p>Yet, despite shuffling billions of dollars in charges between students in the next few years, Job-ready Graduates will probably not significantly alter student course choices. </p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-would-save-1-billion-a-year-with-proposed-university-reforms-but-thats-not-what-its-telling-us-142256">The government would save $1 billion a year with proposed university reforms — but that's not what it's telling us</a>
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<p>The main <a href="https://andrewnorton.net.au/2020/06/21/jobs-interests-and-student-course-choices/">drivers of course choices</a> are student interests and job prospects. Prospective students can have more than one interest, and several courses may match their interests. But few students – less than 5% according to <a href="https://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/1513123/FYE-2014-FULL-report-FINAL-web.pdf">a first-year student survey</a> – enrol in courses without interest in the field being a major factor. Fewer years spent repaying HELP debt cannot compensate for years of boredom in an uninteresting course and career. </p>
<p>Generally, university applications <a href="https://andrewnorton.net.au/2020/06/28/financial-influences-on-job-seeking-university-applicants/">move with labour market trends</a> without any policy intervention from government. Employment and salary prospects after graduation already provide a financial incentive for students to prioritise their interests in a “job-ready” way. </p>
<p>If university applicants are missing opportunities that might suit them, careers advice is a much cheaper way of pointing these out than reducing student contributions. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cheaper-courses-wont-help-graduates-get-jobs-they-need-good-careers-advice-and-links-with-employers-141270">Cheaper courses won't help graduates get jobs – they need good careers advice and links with employers</a>
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<h2>University and student incentives are not aligned</h2>
<p>Job-ready Graduates assumes universities will respond to changed patterns of student demand by providing extra student places. University enrolments typically move in the same direction as student applications. But in key disciplines Job-ready Graduates reduces the financial incentive universities have to meet student demand.</p>
<p>Courses with likely employment growth in coming years, including teaching, nursing, allied health and engineering, will have less total funding per student under Job-ready Graduates than the current system.</p>
<p>The cut in funding for key disciplines derives from a redesign of overall funding rates in line with a consulting firm’s analysis of <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2019-transparency-higher-education-expenditure-publication-0">teaching and scholarship costs by field of education</a>. </p>
<p>Yet universities are more likely to respond to financial incentives than students. Students can defer paying their student contributions through the HELP loan scheme, which reduces their price sensitivity. Universities have to meet all their costs each year. In the midst of <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-universities-could-lose-19-billion-in-the-next-3-years-our-economy-will-suffer-with-them-136251">a financial crisis</a>, universities will examine their revenues and expenditures more closely than ever.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://andrewnorton.net.au/2020/07/12/funding-incentives-for-students-and-universities-in-the-tehan-reforms-some-are-aligned-others-contradict-each-other/">contradiction between student and university incentives</a> is poor policy design.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-universities-face-losing-1-in-10-staff-covid-driven-cuts-create-4-key-risks-147007">As universities face losing 1 in 10 staff, COVID-driven cuts create 4 key risks</a>
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<h2>Student places are more likely to grow in non-priority fields</h2>
<p>The Job-ready Graduates strategy for increasing student places also suffers from mismatches between policy intent and likely outcomes.</p>
<p>Job-ready Graduates cuts the average student subsidy, called a Commonwealth contribution. This means that, on average, universities need to deliver more student places for each A$1 million they receive from the government. </p>
<p>If this cut was consistent across all disciplines it would probably achieve its objective. But the government has increased rather than decreased Commonwealth contributions in several priority fields, to compensate universities for lower student contributions. </p>
<p>As a result, in these priority fields universities need to deliver fewer places per A$1 million in government subsidy. For example, under current Commonwealth contributions universities need to deliver 91 IT places to earn A$1 million. Under Job-ready Graduates, they only need deliver 75 IT places.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="students in computer lab" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362582/original/file-20201009-22-1hn42mh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362582/original/file-20201009-22-1hn42mh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362582/original/file-20201009-22-1hn42mh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362582/original/file-20201009-22-1hn42mh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362582/original/file-20201009-22-1hn42mh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362582/original/file-20201009-22-1hn42mh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362582/original/file-20201009-22-1hn42mh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">If universities need to deliver fewer places in priority fields per A$1 million in government subsidy that’s not a great incentive to increase places.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">goodluz/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>By contrast, arts, law and business courses get lower Commonwealth contributions under Job-ready Graduates than the current system. As a consequence, universities can deliver many more student places per A$1 million in government subsidy. In law and business, student places per A$1 million will grow from 447 to 990.</p>
<p>The policy goal of increasing student places will succeed to the extent that the policy goal of moving enrolments to priority fields fails.</p>
<h2>Collateral damage is near certain</h2>
<p>These three design flaws — changes to student contributions that won’t change student preferences, overall funding rates that weaken university incentives, and Commonwealth contributions that limit enrolment growth in some courses — create serious doubt about whether Job-ready Graduates will achieve its stated goals. We can, however, be near certain of serious collateral damage. </p>
<p>Arts, law and business graduates will leave university with student debts of A$40,000 to A$50,000. Many arts graduates have relatively low incomes and will take decades to repay their HELP loans. </p>
<p>The cuts to overall funding rates will reduce university capacity to combine teaching and research, especially in science and engineering. It will add to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-and-university-reforms-put-at-risk-australias-research-gains-of-the-last-15-years-141452">already significant fall in university research expenditure</a> caused by a decline in international students. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-and-university-reforms-put-at-risk-australias-research-gains-of-the-last-15-years-141452">Coronavirus and university reforms put at risk Australia's research gains of the last 15 years</a>
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<p>A future education minister is going to have to fix these problems. But before that happens, Job-ready Graduates, coming in on top of the international student crisis, guarantees several turbulent years for Australian universities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147740/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Norton works for the Australian National University, which will be affected by the Job-ready Graduates policy. </span></em></p>Three key policy errors in the legislation mean the Morrison government is unlikely to achieve the stated goals of its package.Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1458132020-09-28T20:08:51Z2020-09-28T20:08:51ZStop telling students to study STEM instead of humanities for the post-coronavirus world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358005/original/file-20200914-20-1tk8xvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C24%2C5439%2C2756&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia's move to increase fees for some university humanities courses reflects global trends towards market-friendly education that overlook what's needed for human flourishing. Here, the University of Sydney. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Eriksson Luo/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Finally, someone has figured out how to put an end to students wasting their lives in the quixotic pursuit of knowledge associated with the humanities. </p>
<p>The government of Australia <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-19/university-fees-tertiary-education-overhaul-course-costs/12367742">announced in June a reform package that would lower fees for what are considered “job-relevant” university courses</a> while raising the cost of some humanities courses. Under the proposed changes, “<a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/callous-and-cruel-australian-university-fee-hike-debated-in-parliament">a three-year humanities degree would more than double in cost</a>.” <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-is-making-job-ready-degrees-cheaper-for-students-but-cutting-funding-to-the-same-courses-141280">English and language course fees, however, are among those being lowered</a>.</p>
<p>These reforms are proposed as part of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/26/university-fee-rises-nationals-deal-psychology-social-work">larger changes to post-secondary funding</a> <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-02/australian-universities-hit-by-funding-shortfall-dan-tehan/12617266">as Australian universities</a>, like <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-halted-years-of-research-and-canada-needs-a-strategy-to-fight-back-135805">Canadian and</a> other global universities, find themselves grappling with the seismic impacts of COVID-19. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/defunding-arts-degrees-is-the-latest-battle-in-a-40-year-culture-war-141689">Defunding arts degrees is the latest battle in a 40-year culture war</a>
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<p>They also reflect larger trends towards what’s considered market-friendly learning. Around the world, educational policy-makers <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691173320/not-for-profit">have chipped away for years at the position of the humanities in school curricula</a> at every level to make more room for the so-called STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The humanities is typically considered to include <a href="https://action.nationalhumanitiescenter.org/what-are-humanities/">the arts, history, literature, philosophy and languages</a>.</p>
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<h2>Educational reforms</h2>
<p>The Australian reforms are intended to boost enrolment where the government says more “job-ready graduates” will be needed “<a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/document/job-ready-graduates-package-submission-standing-committee-education-and-employment">in health care, teaching and STEM related fields, including engineering and IT</a>.”</p>
<p>The cost changes apply per course, so that “<a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/document/job-ready-graduates-package-submission-standing-committee-education-and-employment">by choosing electives that respond to employer needs … students can reduce the total cost of their study</a>.” The proposed reforms aim to make it cheaper to undertake post-secondary studies in areas of expected job growth. </p>
<p>Such reform efforts are part of a <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED574655">larger global push</a> aimed at establishing the STEM disciplines as central to public education. </p>
<p>In New Brunswick, this has been illustrated in a <a href="https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JNBS/article/view/26132">series of educational reforms emphasizing the centrality of economic priorities to shaping public education</a>. These reforms promote a focus on literacy (not literature), numeracy and science. For example, the province’s 10-year education plan, published in 2016 speaks of reviewing “… <a href="https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/ed/pdf/K12/EveryoneAtTheirBest.pdf">high school course selections in the arts, trades and technology, with a view to revising, developing and clustering courses to address labour market and industry requirements.…</a>”</p>
<p>The New Brunswick reforms, and many other such efforts, have largely excluded input from teachers, parents, students and local communities. They’ve focused on the standardization of education systems, while ignoring <a href="https://www.tcpress.com/finnish-lessons-2.0-9780807755853">global lessons about how more holistic approaches to education often produce significant system-wide academic success</a>.</p>
<p>The new Australian policy takes a market-oriented approach focused on using financial incentives to encourage certain choices. Australia is definitely ahead of the curve on this one. Or is it?</p>
<h2>Economic goals in public education</h2>
<p>No single organization has had more impact on the global move toward prioritizing economic goals in public education than the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), through its <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/">Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)</a>. </p>
<p>PISA is an international testing program that has traditionally assessed student achievement in reading, mathematics and science in almost 100 countries and regions around the world. The results generate press and shape discussions and decisions about educational policy and practice in important ways. </p>
<p>One group of education scholars writes that “<a href="https://www.brusheducation.ca/catalog/arts-education-social-sciences/books/the-global-education-race">PISA has arguably become the most influential educational assessment today</a>,” and emphasizes that the program was developed to assist the OECD with its economic mandate and that this rationale informed the assessment’s framework and continues to guide its development.</p>
<p>In recent times, growing social and cultural fragmentation have created challenges for the world’s economies and prompted a rethink even in the OECD of the kind of education necessary for a more comprehensive prosperity. In 2018 it moved the PISA program beyond the three traditional subject areas to begin assessing “global competence,” <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-2018-global-competence.htm">which it describes as “a multidimensional capacity</a>.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"962690892002930690"}"></div></p>
<h2>Learning for ‘global competence’</h2>
<p>According to the OECD, “<a href="https://www.oecd.org/education/Global-competency-for-an-inclusive-world.pdf">globally competent individuals can examine local, global and intercultural issues</a>, understand and appreciate different perspectives and world views, interact successfully and respectfully with others, and take responsible action toward sustainability and collective well-being.” </p>
<p>The OECD believes “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1787/b25efab8-en">educating for global competence can boost employability</a>,” and also believes that all subjects can introduce global competence. </p>
<p>It seems to us learning history and other humanities disciplines are effective ways to foster the elements of global competence outlined in their description.</p>
<p>In our recent book, <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783030515126"><em>The Arts and the Teaching of History</em></a>, we make the case that sustained and systematic engagement with the humanities — including, history, literature and visual and commemorative art — is effective in fostering a number of positive humanistic and civic outcomes and competencies. </p>
<p>These include: complex comprehension of history and literature and the nature of truth; nuanced understanding of the relationships between history and collective memory and how those operate in the formation of individual and group identities; and, particularly important in contemporary Australia, Canada and elsewhere, engagement with Indigenous perspectives. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-we-want-brilliant-english-history-or-geography-teachers-why-are-we-making-humanities-courses-so-costly-146319">If we want brilliant English, history or geography teachers, why are we making humanities courses so costly?</a>
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<p>This is not to argue that the teaching of history, literature or other humanities subjects is without criticism. As they have appeared in school curriculum these subjects have often been overly focused on so-called western civilization. Marie Battiste, Mi’kmaw educator and professor in educational foundations at the University of Saskatchewan, in her book
<em><a href="http://cbup.ca/books/battiste-mikmaw-humanities-indigenizing-academy">Visioning a Mi’kmaw Humanities: Indigenizing the Academy</a></em> explores reframing the humanities to create: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“ … a vision of society and education where knowledge systems and languages are reinforced, not diluted, where they can respectfully gather together without resembling each other, and where peoples can participate in the cultural life of a society, education and their community.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Appreciating different worldviews</h2>
<p>Does anyone really believe that in the midst of vigorous public debates about what it means to build a just society, the world needs more people without the educational background to understand where their societies came from and how they developed? In the age of <a href="https://neaedjustice.org/black-lives-matter-at-school">Black Lives Matter</a>, rising <a href="https://nctr.ca/map.php">Indigenous activism</a> and substantial public engagement we need to educate people to take responsible action toward collective well-being.</p>
<p>Of course, STEM subjects are critical in fostering understanding of issues related to sustainability and collective well-being. They are a necessary, but only a partial, aspect of any child’s education. The humanities play an essential role in aspects of global competence which have not been the focus of the STEM subjects.</p>
<p>If the study of history, society, culture or the arts dies, our societies may learn the hard way that it takes more than narrow job preparation to ensure that our students will flourish as human beings. Such flourishing includes willingness and ability to engage with the challenging and urgent social, cultural, environmental and political issues with which they are confronted in these times.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145813/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Sears receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penney Clark receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada</span></em></p>Today’s urgent inequality and environmental crises mean that more, not fewer, students should be studying history.Alan Sears, Honorary Research Professor, Faculty of Education, University of New BrunswickPenney Clark, Professor, Social Studies Education, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1463192020-09-23T19:59:04Z2020-09-23T19:59:04ZIf we want brilliant English, history or geography teachers, why are we making humanities courses so costly?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358519/original/file-20200917-22-6vpod8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5194%2C3444&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government’s university funding reform package passed the lower house in early September and will pass the Senate if the Coalition succeeds in garnering enough <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/14/university-funding-changes-centre-alliance-signals-it-may-back-coalition-bill">crossbench support</a>.</p>
<p>The plan would see fees for some humanities degrees <a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064">rise by as much as 113%</a>, while fees for courses in fields such as teaching, nursing and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) would drop.</p>
<p>Education Minister Dan Tehan has said the bill aims to create more “job-ready” graduates, including teachers. But undergraduate education only degrees aren’t the only way to create brilliant teachers.</p>
<p>There’s no doubt <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/education/australia-facing-urgent-maths-teacher-shortage-after-30-years-of-inaction-20190508-p51l5l.html">demand is high</a> for teachers with expertise in STEM subjects such as maths. But students also deserve expert English, history, civics or geography teachers too. Perhaps your favourite teacher at school did an arts or humanities degree, especially if they taught in one of those subjects.</p>
<p>An under-discussed aspect of the government’s proposal is it risks pushing many would-be teachers in these fields away from undergraduate humanities training, potentially at the expense of their future students. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-degree-cost-increases-will-hit-women-hardest-141614">Why degree cost increases will hit women hardest</a>
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</p>
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<h2>Producing excellent teachers</h2>
<p>We all know what makes a great teacher — someone who loves what they are teaching (their discipline) and is passionate about engaging students.</p>
<p><a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/what-does-a-great-teacher-look-like">Research</a> from the University of Melbourne suggests there is rich relationship between the teacher as a person and their teaching practice, which includes their subject knowledge. The attributes of effective teachers include personality, cognitive capability, self-efficacy (belief in one’s ability to get the job done), communication style, motivation, cultural competence and self-reflection, the researchers found. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A teacher gestures to the whiteboard in her classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Passion for the subject matter is a crucial element of teaching excellence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>But as anyone who has met a brilliant teacher can tell you, passion for the subject matter is also crucial.</p>
<p>If we want teachers (particularly secondary teachers) to know and love their subject, and we want brilliant English, history or civics teachers, why make it so costly for them to gain deep background knowledge in the disciplines they’re destined to teach?</p>
<h2>What do teachers study at university?</h2>
<p>There are commonly multiple routes into teacher education: one via a dedicated Initial Teacher Education (ITE) degree (typically a Bachelor of Education) and another via a postgraduate ITE degree (typically Masters of Teaching). However, a double degree, one that invites depth in both subject matter and educational expertise, is becoming increasing popular. </p>
<p><a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=tll_misc">Research</a> published in 2011 by the Australian Council of Educational Research said</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Overall about 29% of primary teachers hold a qualification in a field other than Education, as do about 57% of secondary teachers […] The difference between primary and secondary proportions is mainly due to the fact that secondary teachers are more likely to complete a degree in an area like Arts or Science before undertaking a graduate qualification in Education. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, many current teachers have arts degrees and current students are reaping the benefit of this in-depth knowledge.</p>
<p>In the almost 50 countries that contributed data to the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/talis-2018-results-volume-i_1d0bc92a-en">OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey</a> in 2019, discipline knowledge took up the largest amount of initial teacher education, followed by pedagogy and classroom practice. Interestingly, across these OECD countries, teaching was the first-choice career for two out of three teachers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A teacher addresses his high school students." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Many other OECD countries see profound value in ensuring teachers have excellent subject knowledge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>The 2014 <a href="https://www.humanities.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/AAH-Mapping-HASS-2014.pdf">report</a> Mapping the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences in Australia noted there were</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] current debates regarding the importance of school teachers having substantial disciplinary backgrounds in the subject area they are destined to teach, rather than merely training in education […] data implies that there may be as little as 18% of the degree programme available for developing a disciplinary background in a [Field of Education or FOE] other than Education; if that is indeed the case, it would be hard to argue that this enables the acquisition of a substantial disciplinary background in another FoE.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That same report said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In 2011 Education students received 82% of their teaching from the Education FoE, with the largest service teaching component coming from Society and Culture (9%). As noted earlier, this is much lower than one would expect or is desirable if, for instance, prospective high school teachers are expected to have majored in the discipline they wish to go on and teach.</p>
</blockquote>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-is-making-job-ready-degrees-cheaper-for-students-but-cutting-funding-to-the-same-courses-141280">The government is making ‘job-ready’ degrees cheaper for students – but cutting funding to the same courses</a>
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<h2>Inspiring teachers</h2>
<p>Did you have an English teacher who studied literature, and imparted their love of it to you? Or a history teacher who brought stories from the past to life, because they’d studied them in depth as a history major? Perhaps you remember a geography teacher who instilled in you deep curiosity about culture and geopolitics, because they majored in this field at uni.</p>
<p>Doesn’t the next generation of school students deserve the same?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146319/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn Cox is the immediate past President of the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia (PETAA) and retains the Director role of the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Alliance of Associations in Education (AAAE). Both of these are Not for Profit Associations with a broad remit to support teachers’ professional learning and to advocate for the teaching profession. She has previously held executive positions with United Kingdom Literacy Association.</span></em></p>Demand is high for teachers with expertise in STEM subjects like maths. But students also deserve expert English, history, civics or geography teachers. Maybe your favourite teacher did an arts degree.Robyn Cox, Associate Professor of Literacy Education, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1438662020-08-09T08:14:51Z2020-08-09T08:14:51ZResponses to COVID-19 require inputs from every angle of people’s lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351078/original/file-20200804-16-1uxe088.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A parishioner records an online mass from an empty church in Mabopane, South Africa, during the COVID-19 lockdown.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic is complicated. It is not merely a biomedical problem to be dealt with through medicine and public health. It also has major social implications. </p>
<p>How should a country like South Africa – one of the world’s most <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/745633/summary">unequal</a> societies – react? </p>
<p>The country did well at first. Government response was based on the advice of a wide range of scientific input. At that point South Africans <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-world-leaders-face-mega-covid-19-crises-how-ramaphosa-is-stacking-up-134682">trusted</a> President Cyril Ramaphosa, and almost everybody co-operated with the lockdown. </p>
<p>Trust then significantly <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-lockdown-a-great-start-but-then-a-misreading-of-how-society-works-139789">eroded</a>: the regulations did not make common sense. It soon became clear that medical advice alone was not enough in the face of unprecedented social <a href="https://theconversation.com/pandemic-underscores-gross-inequalities-in-south-africa-and-the-need-to-fix-them-135070">disruption</a> associated with hunger, uncertainty, anger and economic collapse – all most adversely affecting the already very vulnerable. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-needs-to-end-the-lockdown-heres-a-blueprint-for-its-replacement-136080">Advice</a> and assistance from experts in the social sciences and humanities should have been – and now we argue must be – included.</p>
<p>A recently released <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/">special edition</a> of the South African Journal of Science asked experts in the humanities and social sciences to weigh in. The collection of articles is not comprehensive, but it adds nuance to the national debate. It points policy makers towards areas of consideration that are critical if citizens are to follow instructions and guidelines about managing the Coronavirus pandemic and its consequences. </p>
<p>The articles point to the need for transparency, accountability and the recognition of the population’s basic common sense. Nobody wants their loved ones to die, but behaviour change requires buy-in that is currently lacking.</p>
<h2>Varied considerations</h2>
<p><strong>History:</strong> The collection begins with <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8495">history</a>. Howard Phillips looks at how history offers guidance to the future, with the possibility that lessons learned should not be repeated. Such lessons make people care about medical research, and hasten changes already in motion. </p>
<p><strong>Economic consequences:</strong> Tanja Ajam provides a reminder of the need for <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8490">economic reflection</a>. The way people view and balance the costs of pandemics is critical. Charting a way forward will require imaginative new partnerships between public, private and civil society sectors, and new ways of thinking. This is a challenge far too great for any person, group or institution to solve alone: it requires systems thinking.</p>
<p><strong>Philosophical:</strong> Major social changes have practical and <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8494">philosophical</a> implications, Thaddeus Metz points out. Questions arise about who should live, who should die, the justifications for these decisions and who makes them. Philosophy asks people to weigh up their answers to questions like these: How should we fairly allocate scarce resources? Must we obey the government? Who should we believe? It is not just people’s own lives that are affected by their responses to these questions, but the lives of others. </p>
<p><strong>Social implications:</strong> Solomon Benatar argues that the <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8492">social implications</a> of these choices should be explored through ethical arguments, among other angles. The tension between individual rights and the social good has shaped South Africa’s vastly unequal health systems and the overall health of our society. Moving from competition to cooperation and balancing rights and responsibilities are critically important challenges.</p>
<p><strong>Unequal systems:</strong> Communities and families across South Africa are shaped by deep divides. How does the state respond when the pandemic follows the pathways of entrenched <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8499">unequal systems</a>? For political scientists the pandemic poses fundamental questions about political management. Whose interests count? What compromises can and must be made? How will these compromises affect the way that power in the country emerges, and is divided? Here, Adam Habib weighs in as a scholar. </p>
<p><strong>Beliefs:</strong> If people are to cooperate, their beliefs must be taken seriously, writes Jess Auerbach from an <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8491">anthropologist’s perspective</a>. <em>What</em> people believe matters much less in practice than <em>that</em> they believe it. Our understanding of value needs to be expanded beyond the financial towards the human and the social. </p>
<p><strong>Language.</strong> Attention must be paid to how South Africans are speaking about new experiences and new realities, especially when that speech is now mediated through masks and screens. If people listen to <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8497">language</a> in all of the country’s official tongues, they will learn a great deal about people’s relationship with COVID-19, suggests Rajend Mesthrie.</p>
<p><strong>Religion:</strong> <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8498">Religion Studies</a> provides one entry point for making sense of uncertainty and that which cannot be known. Barney Pityana reminds us that “human living is never an act in futility but rather one infused with purpose”. COVID-19 is not only an individual experience, it is about community and family as well. Responses to the pandemic need to see people in context, with who, what, and how they love as well.</p>
<p><strong>The law:</strong> Thuli Madonsela, Social Justice chair at Stellenbosch University and former Public Protector, minces no words when thinking through the personal consequences of the pandemic as a <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8527">legal</a> practitioner. What is justice? Who suffers? How does this suffering stand when measured against the country’s constitution? Is it acceptable that a child goes hungry or that a man cannot bury his father due to models of kinship that have been laid down by the state? She calls for the urgent establishment of a multidisciplinary COVID-19 advisory forum to offer support where medicine has thus far failed. </p>
<p><strong>Sociology:</strong> The social aspect of the virus “implies a form of self-imposed exile”, writes Vasu Reddy. <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8496">Sociology</a> reminds us all that social worlds depend on “relationships with individuals, and within groups”. The pandemic is “known” differently depending on geography, race, class, disability, gender, age and the framings and metaphors that people use. How can we account for these differences in preparing for future pandemics and challenges? </p>
<p><strong>Schools:</strong> Finally, Jonathan Jansen, who conceived the collection of articles and shepherded it into being, considers the <a href="https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/8502">school</a>. He argues that schools, as organisations, are far more complex than just places of teaching. They are social worlds, established in community, that involve many people beyond their pupils. Opening them, or not, should be as much about teachers, janitors and secretaries as it is about children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143866/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Experts in the humanities and social sciences add nuance to the debate about how to respond to COVID-19.Jess Auerbach Jahajeeah, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, North-West UniversityJonathan Jansen, Distinguished Professor, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1416142020-08-06T19:59:59Z2020-08-06T19:59:59ZWhy degree cost increases will hit women hardest<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349303/original/file-20200724-29-14m5dr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/graduated-students-graduation-hats-gowns-outdoors-311391842">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government’s proposed increase in the cost of <a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064">studying humanities and communications</a> degrees at Australian universities has stirred much debate. One aspect that should not be overlooked is that these changes will disproportionately affect women.</p>
<p>Under the proposed changes, student contributions for social science, communications and humanities (not including English and psychology) will increase by A$7,696 per year. That’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-20/study-arts-and-humanities-government-fees-tertiary-education/12374124">double their current cost</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-the-government-listened-to-business-leaders-they-would-encourage-humanities-education-not-pull-funds-from-it-141121">If the government listened to business leaders, they would encourage humanities education, not pull funds from it</a>
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<h2>Pushing women into STEM?</h2>
<p>The government’s proposal has already been described as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-22/university-fee-changes-dan-tehan-capitalist-economics-analysis/12377498">social engineering</a>, given the government’s declared aim is to boost numbers of graduates in areas of expected employment growth, including teaching, nursing, agriculture, STEM and IT. The intention of lowering fees in these areas appears to be to attract more students to study these disciplines in preference to humanities. </p>
<p>If the idea is to encourage students to leave the humanities and study science instead, it’s a flawed approach. It would take a lot more than simply changing the cost of study to attract women to the field. </p>
<p>Women remain underrepresented at only <a href="http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/professional-women/wp-content/uploads/sites/48/2018/08/2018-Women-in-STEM-Survey-Report_web.pdf">27% of the STEM workforce</a> across all sectors, despite a range of initiatives designed to improve the balance. </p>
<p>For women, the real deterrent to studying STEM-related disciplines is related to <a href="http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/professional-women/wp-content/uploads/sites/48/2018/08/2018-Women-in-STEM-Survey-Report_web.pdf">employment outcomes and conditions</a>, and challenges in even <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/advancing-women-in-stem-strategy/snapshot-of-disparity-in-stem">entering a STEM-based workforce</a>. STEM women are likely to earn <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-04/advancing-women-in-stem.pdf">less than their male counterparts</a> and also face <a href="https://theconversation.com/humanities-graduates-earn-more-than-those-who-study-science-and-maths-141112">poorer pay prospects than those who study humanities</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps more importantly, women in STEM have few examples of <a href="https://theconversation.com/women-in-stem-need-your-support-and-australia-needs-women-in-stem-113054">role models who clearly own the STEM space</a> – reinforcing a notion that STEM-based work is male-dominated.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-in-stem-need-your-support-and-australia-needs-women-in-stem-113054">Women in STEM need your support – and Australia needs women in STEM</a>
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<h2>Pushing women away from humanities?</h2>
<p>Increasing the costs of the humanities, then, <a href="https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/education/university-tuition-hikes-won-t-change-behaviour-simon-marginson-20200705-p5593n">might not push people into STEM</a> or into areas such as nursing or education. But it might push them away from studying the humanities, and away from the vital work they do in a range of industries.</p>
<p>According to the federal government’s 2019 <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/qilt-surveys/graduate-employment">Graduate Outcomes Survey</a>, 64.2% of humanities graduates were in a full-time position six months out from graduation. Many were employed in positions in public administration, education, <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-the-government-listened-to-business-leaders-they-would-encourage-humanities-education-not-pull-funds-from-it-141121">business</a>, <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6807125/how-the-humanities-inform-the-sciences/">health</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/07/29/liberal-arts-degree-tech/#1c5028c8745d">science and technology</a> – the very industries the proposed changes target. In these roles, they draw on skill sets acquired in their humanities degrees; skills that are remarkably similar to those <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-humanities-can-equip-students-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-103925">Industry 4.0 capabilities</a> employers are crying out for.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-humanities-can-equip-students-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-103925">How the humanities can equip students for the fourth industrial revolution</a>
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<h2>Women earn less, and will pay more</h2>
<p>Raising costs of studies in the humanities means these disciplines will shore up an <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/an-education-inuniversity-funding-reform/news-story/7680d20e07389476dc37c17f32271fcb">effective reduction in government funding</a>. In the longer term, women will bear the costs of this “saving”. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-would-save-1-billion-a-year-with-proposed-university-reforms-but-thats-not-what-its-telling-us-142256">The government would save $1 billion a year with proposed university reforms — but that's not what it's telling us</a>
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<p>The reality is that humanities and social science disciplines attract more students than any other subject areas – the majority of whom are women. Women have consistently represented the bulk of enrolments in humanities and social science disciplines over the past ten years. In 2018, they accounted for <a href="http://highereducationstatistics.education.gov.au/">two-thirds of enrolled students</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing numbers of men and women enrolled in humanities degree courses from 2010 to 2018" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Consequently, under the government’s proposal, many women will pay more for their tuition and yet they are <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/mapping-australian-higher-education-2018/">likely to earn less</a> than men. </p>
<p>Gender roles continue to have an impact on the career trajectories and earning potential of women in Australia. Even though this gender pay gap is narrowing, primary child-caring <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4125.0%7ESep%202018%7EMain%20Features%7EEconomic%20Security%7E4">roles and responsibilities</a> — including taking time away from work, working part-time or leaving the workforce completely — are mainly assumed by, and expected of, women. </p>
<p>As a result, female university graduates earn, on average, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/mapping-australian-higher-education-2018/">27% less</a> than men over their careers. This means <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/809-doubtful-debt1.pdf">women take longer</a> to pay off their student debt.</p>
<p>The Australian university debt scheme is often praised because <a href="https://theconversation.com/full-response-from-spokesperson-for-the-department-of-education-and-training-52764">it doesn’t incur interest rates</a> or have a timeline for repayment. However, the tangible effects of a larger debt mean women humanities graduates will be in debt for longer. They will have less disposable income for longer. And they will have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/life/paying-back-your-help-hecs-student-debt-explainer/10982072">limited capacity to invest money, and so expand income</a>, for longer.</p>
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<p>The argument that programs that traditionally attract more women – such as nursing and education – will be made cheaper, and therefore more accessible, doesn’t stack up either. Because there are more women in humanities-based degrees than other programs, the proposed changes still mean women will bear the brunt of these increases. Or be forced out of higher education if their calling isn’t teaching or nursing. </p>
<p>Making higher education unaffordable for women just adds to a raft of conditions that already ensure inequalities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-open-letter-to-australias-education-minister-dan-tehan-signed-by-73-senior-professors-142989">An open letter to Australia's Education Minister Dan Tehan — signed by 73 senior professors</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141614/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deanne Gannaway has received funding from the organisation previously known as the Office for Teaching and Learning. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grace Dunn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Doubling the cost of degrees in the humanities and social sciences has a disproportionate impact on women because they account for two-thirds of the students.Deanne Gannaway, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, The University of QueenslandGrace Dunn, Research Assistant in the Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.