22 February 2012

Public value of the Humanities to be discussed in Dundee

Esteemed academic Professor Sir Adam Roberts will discuss the worth and future of Humanities subjects when he delivers a lecture on the issue at the University of Dundee next week.

Sir Adam is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and current President of the British Academy. He is one of the UK's foremost experts on international relations, and the author of several books on the subject.

In his role at the British Academy, Sir Adam is responsible for supporting excellence in the Humanities and Social Science in the UK, and championing their role domestically and internationally.

He will discuss 'The Public Value of the Humanties' when he delivers the latest instalment in the Arts & Humanities Research Institute (AHRI) Lecture Series 2011/12 at the D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre on Wednesday, 29th February.

In straitened economic times, University funding is coming under increasing scrutiny. The Humanities are one of the areas where the financing of teaching and research is being most fiercely debated, with strong pressure for disinvestment in favour of so-called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and mathematics) from many quarters.

Sir Adam will defend the role of the Humanities in public life, and make the case for continued support when he visits Dundee.

"I will indicate a view of, or rather against, the 'two cultures' mentality," he said. "I will consider why, in the political realm, there has sometimes been a tendency to denigrate Humanities and Social Science subjects, and why measuring the benefits of Humanities is tricky.

"The pursuit of policy relevance and the hazards therein, is another area to be covered, and I will also outline how Humanities and Social Science have fared in UK debates about the funding of teaching and research before, finally, looking ahead at how the changes in financing higher education may affect Humanities teaching and research."

The AHRI is based within the School of Humanities at Dundee, and serves as a forum for research across the School's principal disciplines of English literature and creative writing, history, philosophy and aesthetics.

The lecture series will showcase the range of groundbreaking humanities research taking place across the country, and see eminent academics from Dundee deliver the lecture programme, alongside colleagues from other UK universities and institutions.

Sir Adam's talk, 'The Public Value of the Humanities', takes place at the D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre at 6pm on Wednesday, 29th February. Entry is free and open to all.

More information is available by visiting www.dundee.ac.uk/humanities/artsandhumanitiesresearchinstitute.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
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