Editorial Note

This special issue of College Literature, “The Humanities: Crisis, Defense, and Beyond,” grew out of a colloquium at Amherst College in March 2012, entitled “The Future of the Humanities and the Problem of Instrumental Reason.” We are grateful to the guest editors, Adam Sitze, Austin Sarat, and Boris Wolfson, for initiating the special issue and for all their efforts in bringing it to fruition. We would also like to thank all the contributors for their rigor, diligence, and good humor in developing their work for publication in the journal essay format.