UR event to focus on why we need the humanities

The University of Richmond is hosting an upcoming lecture focusing on the importance of the humanities titled, “Generous Thinking: Why We Need the Humanities and How to Save Them.” This event will be held on Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. in Weinstein Hall’s Brown-Alley Room.

Guest speaker Kathleen Fitzpatrick is the associate executive director of the Modern Language Association and also serves as the director of scholarly communication. She will focus on how scholars in the humanities can better communicate and engage with others outside of their fields.

The humanities are the academic disciplines that seek to understand human culture and experience, past and present. Scholars defend the humanities against charges that their study is a luxury in the current economic environment. Yet, arguments on behalf of the humanities have failed to find traction. Fitzpatrick’s visit and talk will give us the opportunity to discuss these important issues with someone who has thought deeply about them.

“It is time for a new approach, both an evaluation of what’s not working in our current approaches to ‘saving’ the humanities and a turn to thinking about ways that we as scholars might tell our own story for an audience that isn’t sure it wants or needs to hear it,” said Fitzpatrick. “This talk is not about the ways that scholars communicate with one another, but about how we communicate with everyone else about our work and about their concerns.” 

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Boatwright Memorial Library.

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