Category: Uncategorized

The long-term value of studying foreign language is demonstrable, according to The Economist. Some languages, however, are more valuable than others. Read the analysis here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/03/language-study *thanks to Daryl Lee for the link.

If we’re talking about the number of people with extensive foreign experience and near-native foreign language ability, the answer is an emphatic “yes.” It was my first big surprise upon arriving in Utah over 20 years ago, and now so observes Nicholas Kristof of the NYT (below). The deeper point not to be missed, however,…

President Obama’s recent crack about the study of art history as ineffective career training was challenged by an art historian, to whom he later apologized. If jokes, however, depend on stereotypes to be funny, they also reinforce them–in this case, that art history, and more broadly, the humanities, are frivolous pursuits with little worth for…

The Cornell Sun reports that students in humanities disciplines at Cornell are increasingly adding “practical” minors to their humanities training. In fact, Pauline Yu, President of the American Council of Learned Societies, cites this as a nationwide trend. Adding a minor is an excellent idea and sounds like a Humanities+ strategy. The difference, however, is…

Management consultant, Robert W. Goldfarb, comments on the kinds of skills liberal arts grads currently need to bridge the gap into the marketplace. The article underscores the value of the liberal arts degree but also the necessity of supplementing it with “hard” skills readily identifiable by the marketplace. What are those skills, according to Goldfarb?…

Bridging Humanities & the World of Work PROVO, Utah (January 30, 2014)–“We are in the middle of a revolution.” That’s what Hans Fenstermacher, CEO of Global and Localization Associations, told a select group of industry, government and academic leaders at a Humanities+ symposium held at Brigham Young University. And for students in the College of…

In a recent New Republic article, John McWhorter tries (but fails) to convince us that learning French is a waste of time. He wrote an almost identical article back in 2010, which I critiqued in the Humanities+ Blog here: http://humanitiesplus.byu.edu/2011/04/which-languages-should-the-liberal-arts-be-about-in-2011.html Business Insider has also chimed in: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-we-still-need-french-2014-2

17% of job openings in the UK go unfilled due to a lack of language skills. read here: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/30/employers-struggle-to-fill-vacancies-languages

“Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum, Mr. Rubenstein, the co-chairman of the private equity firm, said American policy makers and educators have put too much of a focus on the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the expense of the study of literature, philosophy and other areas in the humanities.”…

Students in science and engineering often feel that required courses in the humanities are a waste of time. They would avoid them if they could. Here is a scientist who explains how deep familiarity with the classic texts in the humanities generates and maintains a healthy skepticism that scientists need in order to avoid self-delusion…