Leading figures from science and business joined senior humanities academics on Monday 14th February to praise the role of the humanities in our national social, cultural and economic life.

The occasion was the launch of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-commissioned book ‘The Public Value of the Humanities’ edited by Professor Jonathan Bate, University of Warwick.

‘The Public Value of the Humanities’ is a collection of essays including contributions from eminent academics  such as  Mary Beard, Onora O’Neill, Mike Parker Pearson, Christopher Breward and many others. The book argues that the humanities play a vital role in our cultural, social and economic life, and details the contributions made by specific disciplines within the humanities. The essays combine to form a compelling argument that is changing the landscape of learning.

Outlining the Government’s support for the humanities, David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, said; ‘“The humanities are an integral part of a civilised society, and we should value them in their own right. They also bring social and economic benefits through improvements to intellectual capital, community identity, learning and skills. I am delighted that the overall level of funding for science and research programmes has been protected in cash terms, including research on the humanities.”

David Docherty, Chief Executive of the Council for Industry in Higher Education said; ‘In a truly global environment, business needs global graduates... Comparative advantage will flow to those who are able to harness the benefits that the humanities can deliver.’ He continued that the humanities ‘can make a country a joy to live in’, something that also made Britain a good place for business. ‘This book addresses the social and cultural benefits as well as the business and economic benefits,’ he suggested.

Baroness Onora O’Neill, philosopher and cross-bench peer stated that, ‘whole practices and literatures are literally incomprehensible without the humanities.’ We need to understand the cultural objects that lie around us and, for those working in the humanities, the task is, in difficult economic times, to find the best possible justification for the humanities.

In his speech Lord Robert Winston, Professor of Science and Society at Imperial College, said that the separation between the sciences and humanities was a ‘fatal error’. ‘Science is an integral part of our culture. Unless we fully understand what the humanities teach us – our risks, the choices we have to make, our sense of history, especially in a technological world – we risk our humanity. These are collective endeavours and collective responses to our human nature.’

Professor Jonathan Bate, editor of the book told the audience that ‘The humanities are central to our lives, both as individuals and as a country. Paying tribute to the AHRC, the contributors and the publishers Bloomsbury Academic, the book, he suggested, ‘gives a sense of the richness and the collaborative possibilities of the humanities.’

Ends

Notes to the editor

High-res images available on request
1.) Panel shot – (L-R) Sir Alan Wilson, Lord Winston, David Docherty, and David Willets with ‘Public Value of humanities’ book. 
2.) Close up:  David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science,
3.) Close Up:  Professor Jonathan Bate, University of Warwick 

For further information or to request a high-res image of the debate please contact AHRC Press Officer Emi Spinner
Tel:  01793 41 60 20
Email e.spinner@ahrc.ac.uk  

Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £112 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.

The Editor: Jonathan Bate is well known as a biographer, critic, broadcaster and Shakespeare scholar. He is Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at the University of Warwick, a Fellow of the British Academy and a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2011 he will become Provost of Worcester College, Oxford. His books include English Literature: A Very Short Introduction (2010) and Soul of the Age: The Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare (2009), which was runner-up for the 2010 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for the best biography of the year and was dramatized as The Man from Stratford, a one-man play for Simon Callow.

The Contributors: Jonathan Bate, Mary Beard, Iain Borden, Christopher Breward, Ben Cowell, Stephen Daniels, Nicholas Davey, Chris Gosden, Robert Hampson, Deborah Howard, Richard Howells, Matthew H. Johnson, Michael Kelly, Catherine Leyshon, Rónán McDonald, April McMahon, Francis O’Gorman, Katie Overy, Mike Parker Pearson, Mike Press, Simon Szreter, Vanessa Toulmin, Gary Watt, John Wolffe, Jürgen Zimmerer.

The Public Value of the Humanities | 9781849660624 | £20.00 | Paperback
Published by Bloomsbury Academic on 27th January 2011