Introduction: How the Liberal Arts Work
By Julia L. Mickenberg
In This Issue
The Conflicted Role of Skills in Liberal Arts Education: The Case of the English Department
By Leonard Cassuto
Leading Generously: The Liberal Arts and Tools for Transformation
By Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Valuing the Liberal Arts: Alumni Lessons
By Julia L. Mickenberg and Ricky Shear
Academic Growth and Professional Development through Undergraduate Humanities Research
By Whitney Arnold, Kelly Kistner, Erin M. Sparck, and Marc Levis-Fitzgerald
The Importance of Disciplinary Dexterity in Humanities Leadership
By Kelly A. Ritter
Fall 2024
How the Liberal Arts Work
Profession: articles, news, and resources for the work you do
In Practice
English PhD Stipends in the United States: Statistical Report
This report presents the results of research into stipends for . . .
The Value of the Public Humanities
Helen Small, Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at . . .
What Does Learning Sound Like?
For the past several years, we’ve been trying to rethink . . .
From Around the Web
Several States Attempt to Work around FAFSA
Some states are experimenting with automatically awarding financial aid, bypassing FAFSA.
National College Completion Rate Increases
This year, six-year college completion rates reached the highest numbers since 2007.
WI Professors Worry that AI Could Replace Them
Wisconsin professors are concerned about the implications of a change in AI policy.
From the Archive
Beyond the Research Institution: Preparing Graduate Students to Teach in Various Contexts
I am suggesting that doctoral programs think more expansively about the concept of composition as a practice in the construction of meaning so that graduate students are prepared to recognize their ability to teach interpretive practices . . .
The Hows and Whys of Public Humanities
If we believe in the value of the humanities and want them to have a future, then more of us need to serve as ambassadors to audiences beyond these degree-attainment cohorts. We need to regularly seek public connections—to find or create them.
Talking out of School: Academic Freedom and Extramural Speech
Now is the time to insist that extramural speech is a vital aspect of academic freedom—precisely because the struggle for academic freedom is the struggle for democracy. . . .
Confessions of a Prize Heifer: From Adjunct to the Tenure Track
If you’re an adjunct and you think you’re not good enough and that somehow not being good enough got you where you are, don’t believe that. . . .
Common Good, Not Common Despair
We thought that institutions would be more likely to pay contingent faculty members a living wage, increase opportunities for advancement, and offer security if their rankings depend on their willingness to do so. . . .
The Sky Is Falling
I want to persuade you, therefore, to abandon any sense of complacency and to believe that we are facing at this moment—right now—a crisis in the humanities. Without action, we humanists, and the graduate and undergraduate students we care about and serve, stand to lose a great deal. . . .