Institutions in six continents plan fightback against creeping denigration of the social sciences
Universities in every populated continent have banded together to boost their teaching, research and impact in the face of a belittling of the humanities and social sciences by a sceptical political class.
University of Melbourne historian Kate McGregor, one of the architects of the new Global Humanities Alliance, said it was about “protecting” and gaining recognition for the disciplines.
“When…people making decisions are thinking about the most pressing issues of the time, often it’s not the humanities or social sciences that they think of first,” said Professor McGregor, international associate dean of Melbourne’s Faculty of Arts.
“A lot of people working in our area feel that we need to…raise more public awareness about the contributions that we make, so that we are not overlooked – either by politicians or anyone else in society – in terms of genuinely communicating what we do and how we think through complex problems.”
The founding members are Ashoka University near Delhi, Gadjah Mada University in Java, Mahidol University near Bangkok and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, along with the universities of Manchester, Melbourne, Nairobi and Toronto.
In a letter of intent signed in Manchester on 11 October, the institutions agreed to explore activities such as collaborative research projects, joint supervision, global classrooms, visiting fellowships and exchange programmes for both students and staff.