Humanities in the Twenty-First Century: Beyond Utility and Markets

What is the value of the arts and humanities today?

This question points to a long and extensively discussed dilemma. Eleonora Belfiore and Anna Upchurch have compiled a collection of original essays that offer a novel approach to tackling this difficult question.

These contributions offer examples that show that, rather than relying on the narrowly utilitarian notion of 'research impact' that has developed within current educational policies and debates, it may be more appropriate to look at the ways in which arts and humanities research is already engaged in collaborative endeavors, both within academia and beyond, in order to address the big ethical, political, technological and environmental challenges of contemporary life.

The contributors are scholars from diverse backgrounds, cultural and business professionals as well as policymakers from both the UK and the US. The wealth and diversity of perspectives and experiences they bring to the consideration of the place and role of the arts and humanities in contemporary society allows for a refreshed debate that does not rely on simplistic and questionable notions of socio-economic impact as a proxy for value.

Author: Eleonora Belfiore, Anna Upchurch
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: 07/29/2013
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.83lbs
Size: 8.45h x 5.45w x 0.64d
ISBN: 9780230366633

About the Author
Michael Bérubé, Pennsylvania State University, USA Connie Johnston, Massachusetts, USA Howard I. Kushner, USA Leslie S. Leighton, Emory University, USA David Looseley, University of Leeds, UK Rick McGeer, Information Infrastructure Lab of HP Labs in Palo Alto, California, USA Jim McGuigan, Loughborough University, UK and IFK Internationales Forchungszentrum Kulturwissenshaften, Vienna, Austria Jean W. McLaughlin, Penland School of Crafts, USA Mark J.V. Olson, Duke University, USA Mark O'Neill, Glasgow Life, Glasgow, Scotland Jan Parker, Humanities Higher Education Research Group.