The pro-STEM movement 有 gutted high school and college humanities programs — but there's some evidence of a post-pandemic revival afoot.

为什么重要: In academic circles, humanities' decades-long decline is blamed for the proliferation of 谎言 在社交媒体上，粗俗 政治话语, the rise in racism 和 parlous 民主国家 (更不用说我们的 缺乏活力的 词汇表).

推动新闻: When the University of California, Berkeley, 报道 an uptick in humanities majors this academic year, there was elation — and shock — at the prospect of a trend reversal.

• The number of first-year Berkeley students declaring majors in the arts and humanities — which includes 英语, 历史, 语言, philosophy and media studies — was up 121% over last year.
• The number of high schoolers applying to Berkeley with the intention of studying humanities was up 43.2% from five years ago, and up 73% vs. 十年前.

“学生们正在转向 to the arts and humanities as a way to make sense of our current moment,——萨拉·盖耶, dean of Berkeley’s division of arts and humanities and director of the 世界人文报告, told the university's news service.

• The University of Arizona's College of Humanities 有 seen a 33% increase in student majors since 2016.
• A handful of other schools — such as 亚利桑那州立大学 和 华盛顿大学 — have also seen a rise in students declaring humanities majors.

发生了什么: Some professors, colleges and departments have been 尝试 to boost humanities' popularity by touting their real-world utility.

• They're citing salary information that's competitive with STEM fields 和 value of critical-thinking and writing skills.
• And they're making the case that studying 历史 and literature is essential to becoming a well-rounded global citizen — or corporate middle-manager.

他们说的是: "We're seeing enrollment increases where there's actual conscious attention to giving the humanities the resources they need to make a case for their value,——宝拉·克雷布斯, executive director of the Modern Language Association, 告诉Axios.

• "生物学 majors aren't making any more money than we do, 和y're getting all this press like they're some sort of golden tickets."
• The humanities "have always relied on people understanding the intrinsic value of philosophy, 历史, 英语 literature and foreign language study, so we haven't made the case distinctly enough to our students for what it does for them after they graduate,克雷布斯补充道.

是的,但是: That's starting to change at places like South Dakota State University, where a program in 语言 "certifies students in ways that are intelligible to employers,克雷布斯说.

• Similarly, at the University of Arizona, “人文” 是新的吗?, fast-growing department that includes programs in business administration, 时尚的研究, game studies and public health.

审视现实: Experts call Berkeley's experience an outlier — but one that's opening a conversation about the value of a liberal arts degree.

• The American Academy of Arts & Sciences, which runs an ongoing 人文追踪, 有n’t yet picked up on a humanities revival — but it only 有 data through 2018.
• 与此同时, universities are still disinvesting in the arts and humanities and pouring money into vocationally oriented programs that students believe, 正确与否, 会让他们领先.

言外之意: 现在下结论还为时过早 if the students signing up to study humanities will stick with those majors, there 有 been a noteworthy proliferation of professors and public intellectuals whipping up concern about the state of the field.

• 詹姆斯·恩格尔教授, a stalwart of Harvard University's 英语 department, threw down the glove in a Harvard Magazine 文章, in which he wrote: "By minimizing the arts and humanities, higher education exacerbates the problems confronting society."
• "No one can interpret difficult texts, 撰写合理的条约, examine conflicting testimony, or cut a path through the divisive, frequently false claims on social media without language and judgment sharpened by the humanities."

联邦授权: President Biden recently issued an 行政命令 to promote the arts, the humanities, and museum and library services.

• He called them "essential to the well-being, health, vitality and democracy of our nation."

底线是: Schools have been 尝试 to drum up interest in the humanities 多年来 — but this time feels different, with our sensibilities and priorities reshaped by the pandemic, the Capitol insurrection and other paradigm shifts.

Worthy of your time: James Engell's 文章 哈佛杂志