Homework

I thought I would post a couple of texts to get us thinking about the future of the humanities in preparation for our upcoming event.

Here’s a very influential, but in my opinion deeply flawed, position on the humanities’ (lack of) responsibilities with respect to politics and culture from Stanley Fish:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/will-the-humanities-save-us/

A topical, and somewhat hysterical, essay by Louis Menand on graduate education:

http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/11/professionalization-in-academy

And, finally, an excellent piece by our own Visiting Professor John Guillory on the history of general education (pp. 25-50):

http://site.ebrary.com/lib/princeton/docDetail.action?docID=10188520

So take a look if you have a chance, and let me know if there are other texts worth sharing.