Blow Up the Humanities

Toby Miller

Publication Year: 2012

<DIV><P>A short, sharp, and provocative book, <I>Blow Up the Humanities</I> has esteemed scholar Toby Miller declaring that there are two humanities in the United States. One is the venerable, powerful humanities of private universities; the other is the humanities of state schools, which focus mainly on job prospects. There is a class division between the two—both in terms of faculty research and student background—and it must end.</P><P>Miller critically lays waste to the system. He examines scholarly publishing as well as media and cultural studies to show how to restructure the humanities by studying popular cultural phenomena, like video games. Miller ultimately insists that these two humanities must merge in order to survive and succeed in producing an aware and concerned citizenry.</P></DIV>

Published by: Temple University Press

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Thanks to Jenine Abboushi, Linus Andersson, Helmut Anheier, Paulina Aroch, Claudia Arroyo, Edna Bonacich, Kylie Brass, Stuart Cunningham, Todd Dufresne, Anamaria Tamayo Duque, Marina Fe, Benjamín Mayer Foulkes, John Frow, Néstor García Canclini, Malcolm Gillies, Henry Giroux, David...

Introduction: The Two Humanities

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pp. 1-16

There are two humanities in the United States. One is the humanities of fancy private universities, where the bourgeoisie and its favored subalterns are tutored in finishing school. I am naming this Humanities One, because it is venerable and powerful and tends to determine how the sector is...

1. Blowup Time

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pp. 17-44

This chapter situates the humanities within the history of U.S. universities. That story is characterized by two tendencies: an expansion of governmentality, in the sense of research undertaken for the public weal, teaching that trains the populace in self-regulation, and paymasters and administrators...

2. The Price of Science

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pp. 45-62

This chapter takes the analysis away from grandiose historicization and divination to consider the mundane (and dire) state of humanities publishing. As the public face and record of the sector, books and journals are dominated by Humanities One (literature and history) despite the size of Humanities...

3. Creative Industries—Credible Alternative?

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pp. 63-92

We have seen the difficulties that confront the humanities in both macro and micro ways, from enrollment to philosophy to publication. The inevitable question set by these provocations is what should be done? This chapter examines an innovative answer to the crisis that...

4. A Third Humanities

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pp. 93-116

As we think about the frantic defensive measures adopted by true believers in Humanities One and the earnest co-optive capture offered by converso creationists, two key questions arise: What sense of the public interest should inform the humanities? And what should be their focus? The answers may...

Conclusion

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pp. 117-123

We often think of the U.S. research university as the peak of higher education. And so it is, if one focuses on inventions, prizes, salaries, libraries, citations, endowments, laboratories, and grants. But what about people who are not so much surfing this wave as being dumped by it? The...

References

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pp. 125-154

Index

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pp. 155-160

E-ISBN-13: 9781439909843
Print-ISBN-13: 9781439909836

Page Count: 164
Publication Year: 2012