Engaged Humanities : Rethinking Art Culture and Public Life What is the role of the humanities at the start of 21st century In the last few decades the various disciplines of the humanities (history linguistics literary studies art history media studies) have encountered a broad range of challenges related to the future of print culture to shifts in funding strategies and to the changing contours of culture and society. Several publications have addressed these challenges as well as potential responses on a theoretical level. This coedited volume opts for a different strategy and presents accessible case studies that demonstrate what humanities scholars contribute to concrete and pressing social debates about topics including adoption dementia hacking and conservation. These “engaged” forms of humanities research reveal the continued importance of thinking and rethinking the nature of art culture and public life