In a recent HEPI report, we reported on what’s going on in humanities in the UK today: the world-leading quality of research work; the value of an education that offers skills in the areas that are most sought after and growing in today’s economy; the offer of skills that fit not narrowly to one profession but will enable flexibility in what are these days often long and varied careers; and the intensely impactful nature of recent projects from a range of humanities disciplines. At a time when there is so much focus on STEM subjects in the UK,
it is necessary to ensure we are preserving and encouraging a balanced range of skills for our future workforce. The humanities offer a range of methods that are vital to society’s ability to respond effectively, imaginatively and innovatively to some of the most pressing problems humanity is facing.
However that doesn’t mean humanities disciplines don’t have to change. The landscape for humanities is changing in many ways in order to meet the needs of the modern world. Classics has been reconfiguring to highlight its profound relevance to the contemporary world, and projects such as the far-reaching Language Acts and Worldmaking are confronting head-on the role of language teaching modern Britain. At the same time as these evolutions have been taking place we have seen the growth of Liberal Arts courses in the UK, which bring disciplines together in powerful combined perspectives (something we highlight in our report); and, of course, new twenty-first century disciplines such as the Digital Humanities offer an essential complement to the technical skills of our colleagues in Computer Science.
At a moment when world tech leaders have just called for a pause in the development of AI until we understand better how to frame and harness it for human good, the world is crying out for the expertise of our Digital Humanists. Figuring out not how to code but how to contain code within parameters that are ethical, that recognise the needs of diverse communities, that work against bias and that contribute to human and societal flourishing are surely some of the most urgent and important work universities can undertake.
