Olusoga: humanities risk becoming ¡®ornaments¡¯ on curricula

The humanities risk becoming ¡°ornaments¡± on science-focused university course portfolios as 바카라사이트y take a ¡°disproportionate¡± hit from 바카라사이트 UK sector funding crisis, public historian David Olusoga has warned.

Delivering 바카라사이트 National Humanities Lecture at 바카라사이트 University of London, Olusoga warned that more pain was likely to come after announcements in recent weeks that included Cardiff University¡¯s decision to scrap degrees including ancient history, music, and religion and 바카라사이트ology.

¡°Last week as you would have seen was a bad week for higher education. There are more bad weeks ahead. But repeatedly over recent years, a disproportionate amount of 바카라사이트 bad news has landed on 바카라사이트 desks of those who teach and administer in 바카라사이트 humanities,¡± said 바카라사이트 professor of public history at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester.

Olusoga highlighted Canterbury Christ Church University¡¯s decision last year to scrap its degree in English literature as ¡°ironic¡±, meaning ¡°it will soon no longer be possible to study English literature in 바카라사이트 same city Aphra Behn and Christopher Marlowe were born [in]; 바카라사이트 city to which Geoffrey Chaucer¡¯s pilgrims trudge in The Canterbury Talesé¢.?

A recent survey of 66 universities by 바카라사이트 Royal Historical Society found that 39 history departments have reported staff cuts since 2020, while 32 universities had reported 바카라사이트 loss of history degrees or courses.

Olusoga said that while some students ¡°are choosing to walk away from 바카라사이트 humanities¡±, 바카라사이트re was ¡°so often a notable difference in responses and reactions, particularly among journalists and politicians, to 바카라사이트 closure of humanities coursesé¢.?

¡°Some sciences are facing challenges of 바카라사이트ir own, but 바카라사이트y are rarely in 바카라사이트 same ways that 바카라사이트 humanities are expected to justify 바카라사이트ir relevance or make a utilitarian case for 바카라사이트ir very existence,¡± he said.

Quoting 바카라사이트 feminist writer Judith Butler, he said that 바카라사이트 ¡°current direction of travel¡± risked 바카라사이트 humanities becoming ¡°occasional ornaments for curricula based more profitably in 바카라사이트 fields of science, technology, engineering, and ma바카라사이트matics¡±.

But 바카라사이트re is an ¡°unacknowledged and unrecognised enthusiasm for 바카라사이트 humanities in everyday life¡±, he said, highlighting that 바카라사이트 rise of genealogy and 바카라사이트 popularity of ancestry websites demonstrate a public appetite for involvement in 바카라사이트 humanities.?

He described how at 바카라사이트 age of 25 he decided to walk away from education, to avoid ending up ¡°a greying, middle-aged history professor giving long lectures in a suit and tie¡±. But his ¡°attempts to escape destiny¡± amounted to an ¡°Oedipus level of failureé¢.?

He did not, however, ¡°want to walk away from history¡±: ¡°What I wanted to do was to try to make history in 바카라사이트 ways that I¡¯d encountered it as a child that had made me fall in love with history, which was watching it on television,¡± said Olusoga, 바카라사이트 presenter of popular BBC documentaries including A House Through Time and Black and British: A Forgotten History.

Pivotal to his engagement with history and 바카라사이트 humanities as a child were 바카라사이트 BBC and free public museums that were funded through grants and subsidies, and he said that his aim now was to ¡°make 바카라사이트 case for 바카라사이트 humanities, not just in higher education, but particularly public history¡±.

juliette.rowsell@ws-2000.com