An aerial view of Seligman, Arizona, looking west, dated March 12, 1971. Route 66 bisects the town.
James R. Powell Route 66 Collection/Newberry Library
‘The Mother Road’ is one step closer to becoming a National Historic Trail, which would allocate funds for struggling towns along the original Route 66.
The gooey treat couldn’t have become popularized without the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution, which brought cheap sweets to the masses.
Visual artist Lorna Simpson speaks at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts Medal Gala in May 2018.
Paul Rutherford/Tufts University
Simpson, who has made the black body the focal point of her work, discusses her biggest influences and the challenges of creating in our current cultural and political climate.
In Season 3 of ‘Parts Unknown,’ Anthony Bourdain took viewers to Tanzania.
CNN
When covering Africa, Bourdain rejected the monolithic way media outlets have historically depicted the continent’s diverse cultures and populations.
A recent report from RBC Royal Bank predicts increasing workplace demand for foundational skills such as critical thinking, coordination, social perceptiveness, active listening and complex problem solving. Here graduands attend spring convocation at the University of British Columbia in 2015.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A report from RBC Royal Bank reaffirms what thought leaders keep insisting – there will be more and more demand for a liberal arts education in our increasingly digital world.
Investor Bill Miller’s $75 million gift to the Johns Hopkins philosophy department clashes with conventional wisdom regarding the value studying the humanities today.
A display at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.
David McKelvey via flickr
What does society want and need from the arts and humanities?
Navdeep Bains, Canada’s
innovation, science and economic development minister, takes part in a technology event in Ottawa in May 2017. The Canadian government has started up a $1.26-billion fund to support innovation-related business investments.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
If leaders of educational institutions are concerned about the employability of graduates, they should avoid over-investing in STEM subjects and stop snubbing liberal arts.
If the government expanded the new $73 million Student Work-Integrated Learning program to all students it could help tackle Canada’s most intractable social problems — such as homelessness, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, affordable housing, social cohesion and intercultural understanding.
A new government program will create 10,000 work placements for undergraduates in only business and STEM subjects. Why not fund students to innovate in the social sector too?
African universities need to do much more to prepare graduates for the job market.
Shutterstock
Seth Trudeau, African Leadership University and Keno Omu, African Leadership University
For decades, African universities have placed greater focus on what they teach, rather than how they teach it. But the job market now demands graduates that have been taught to think, not regurgitate
Marble statue of Roman Ceres or Greek Demeter.
The Romans inherited their idea of human nature from the Greeks.
Shutterstock
The Greco-Roman society believed that people weren’t born human, they became human. But how can humanity be defined?That’s what the project of decolonising the humanities could be dedicated to.
Federico Barocci’s 1598 painting ‘Aeneas’ Flight from Troy.‘
Wikimedia Commons
Abram Van Engen, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
Trump’s budget would eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities, breaking a tradition of funding humanities scholarship that goes back to the nation’s founding.
Students march at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University in 2015. They were seeking a legal right to be taught in English rather than Afrikaans.
Mike Hutchings/Reuters
Next year South Africa’s Stellenbosch University will celebrate its centenary. A recent conference to discuss the anniversary has reminded everyone present that knowledge is a fickle mistress.
It is easy to see the benefits from the advances we have made in physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and the life sciences. Without these impressive leaps in understanding, we would not have…
Hungry children stretch out their hands at a Somalian refugee camp in 2011.
Sadik Gulec/Shutterstock
Talking about food is a productive way to understand a complex world. The dinner table is a place where the shame of poverty is most acutely experienced.
Professor Peter Higgs, joint winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Russell Cheyne/Reuters
The unavoidable regime of publication pervades contemporary academic life across the world. While presented as a virtuous thing, it can actually suffocate the academic profession.
What will Trump’s higher ed plan mean for students?
Gage Skidmore
A scientist explains how a liberal arts education made ‘subtle yet significant contributions’ to his understanding of what science is, how it’s done, and how advancements are made.
Executive Director, Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; Honorary Senior Fellow, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne