What's Happened to the Humanities?
The current state of the humanities in American colleges and universities is the topic of this book, which contains 11 scholarly essays originally written for presentation at the National Humanities Center and at Boston University. Each contributor is a recognized humanities scholar, and, though a few of the essays are obscure, most are lucid and well documented. All 11 contributors have two premises in common: that their field of specialization occupies a less important position in academe today than it did midway through the century and that academic authority has eroded in order to give "power to the many." Kernan's clear, persuasive introduction is accompanied by tables and charts that show the declining number of humanities degrees awarded at the baccalaureate and graduate levels in the United States over the past 30 years. For academic libraries.?Joyce W. Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, N.J.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.