The Arts and Humanities: Endangered Species?

The current reforms to education suggest that it is no longer self-evident that universities should be funded on the basis of being significant cultural institutions, existing for the public good. An event sponsored by the Cambridge Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) on Friday, 25 February, seeks to articulate why and how the arts and humanities have been historically understood to matter, and how the symbiotic structure of teaching, research and practice enable universities to have an extraordinary cultural reach.Over the course of one morning, ten eminent speakers from across the Arts and Humanities will each offer a seven-minute perspective on their relationship to the Arts and Humanities, both professionally and personally. The event will be introduced by Professor Michael Kenny, recent Visiting Fellow at CRASSH, whose research – What are Universities for? Interrogating the Assumptions of Current and Future Higher Education Policy in the UK – will inform our debate.

Friday, 25 February 2011
09:30 - 14:00
Location: CRASSH (Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities), 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1RX, UK

For further information, and to register online, go to: http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/1590/

Speakers and respondents include:Peter de Bolla (Professor of English Literature, University of Cambridge)
Georgina Born (Professor of Music and Anthropology, University of Oxford)
Fenella Cannell (Reader in Social Anthropology, London School of Economics)
Stefan Collini (Professor of English Literature and Intellectual History, University of Cambridge)
Martin Crowley (Reader in Modern French Thought and Culture, University of Cambridge)
Richard Drayton (Professor of Imperial History, King?s College London)
Raymond Geuss (Professor of Philosophy, University of Cambridge)
Jen Harvie (Professor of Contemporary Theatre and Performance, Queen Mary University of London)
Alan Hughes (Professor of Enterprise Studies and Director of the Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge)
Mary Jacobus (Professor of English and Director of CRASSH, University of Cambridge)
Michael Kenny (Professor of Politics, University of Sheffield)
Simon Szreter  (Professor of History and Public Policy, University of Cambridge)
Erica Whyman (Artistic Director of Northern Stage, Newcastle)