Studying the Humanities helps our students to become better citizens but the cultural value of the Humanities is regularly challenged and criticised by the media. Between the previous Prime Minister calling for an end to ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees and the conflation of the Humanities with low-earning graduate positions, to alarmingly regular cuts and redundancies across post-92 programmes, to the longer-term impacts of the pandemic, a lift of student caps, and marketisation, the position of the Humanities within UK HE can often feel precarious.
Yet the skills and experiences that a Humanities degree has never been more vital or necessary. The Humanities programmes in new universities are known for offering some of the most innovative, inclusive, energising teaching and learning environments. These are courses and modes of teaching that work especially well for students from widening participatory backgrounds, those in need of local Higher Education provision, and for those who might have previously assumed university was not for them. Our emphasis on intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and responsibilities to our communities, are what makes our disciplines and our survival essential.
The Humanities Now! Network will, therefore, be both a celebration and a call to arms for our disciplines and institutions.
Our inaugural symposium in January 2025 aims to build a network of peer support, pedagogical research, and a bank of teaching and learning expertise across the Humanities. We want to share best practice, acknowledge efforts, and to discuss the specifics of learning and teaching in non-traditional Higher Education environments.
We welcome abstracts for 10-minute papers from all those involved in teaching and learning – academics, librarians, professional services staff, and anyone involved in Humanities learning and teaching in post-92 institutions – for a day of discussion, ideas exploration, and network-building. Topics could include, but are not limited to:
Please include a title with a 200-word abstract and send it to Dr Liz Goodwin e.goodwin@yorksj.ac.uk by 1st November 2024. Registration will open in November.
If there is sufficient interest, we will organise online panels, so please let us know in the email with your abstract.
Travel bursaries will be available for PGRs, ECs, and those on fractional or casual contracts, to enable attendance.
