Speaking for the Humanities

On the occasion of the publication of Humanities and Public Life by Fordham University

Press, a panel of scholars discuss how to defend and even talk about the humanities without succumbing to the instrumentalist language of their detractors (measuring outcomes and deliverables) or retreating into the ivory tower by simply asserting that the humanities don't need justification. Panelists:

Judith Butler, Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Visiting Professor of the Humanities, Columbia University William Germano, Dean of the Faculty, Humanities and Social Sciences, The Cooper Union Richard Sennett, Centennial Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics; University Professor of the Humanities, New York University Patricia J. Williams, James L. Dohr Professor of Law, Columbia Law School

Moderator: Peter Brooks, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Scholar, Professor, University Center for Human Values, Department of Comparative Literature, Princeton University