"Embrace the Arts": Irish Higher Educational Strategy

Book of Kells, Folio 33r eight-circle cross carpet page - in the public domain

DEFEND the ARTS and HUMANITIES heard, via the email list of the Campaign for the Public University, of the very positive stance towards Arts and Humanities education in the Irish Government’s newly published National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, also known as the Hunt Report. Some excerpts are given below.

However, the Republic of Ireland is not likely to continue to be an "abundant land" for public university education more generally. Sadly, the Hunt Report also recommends the introduction (or increase) of upfront student fees and a reduction in the number of higher education institutions.

National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 - Report of the Strategy Group

[PDF of main report from which the below excerpts have been drawn]

One of the most fundamental questions in planning for the future is: what are the right skills for the graduates of 2015 and of 2030 and what mix of skills should we pursue as learning outcomes of higher education? To address the societal needs over the coming years, increased attention must be paid to core skills such as quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, communication skills, team-working skills and the effective use of information technology. The emphasis has switched from over-specialisation towards deeper and broader disciplinary foundations, with learning objectives that explicitly seek to nurture in students the creativity, enthusiasm and skills required for continual engagement with learning. In this context, the arts, humanities and social sciences have a key role to play. The Innovation Taskforce emphasised the importance of independent thinking and ‘the development of creative, high-skilled graduates as well as lifelong learning, mentoring and continuous professional development’. [p. 35]
[...]
While most discussion of research focuses on the hard sciences, it is the arts, humanities and social sciences that have consistently attracted the largest numbers of students, and these are the domains in which Ireland has made a real global impact.This can be seen in the achievements of Irish people in literature, music, and the arts, and in the extent to which Ireland benefits from its reputation in these areas.There are also very compelling social and economic reasons to develop our capabilities in these areas, including advancement of our understanding of the very rapid changes taking place in the Irish economy and society, better-informed public policy-making, and development of the creative and analytical skills that will be valuable in a global economy that is increasingly dominated by knowledge-based services. [p. 38]
[...]
In the advancement of human knowledge and understanding, Ireland has its own distinctive contribution to make. As an island of scholarship, scientific discovery, creative arts and innovation, Ireland attracts independent thinkers and entrepreneurs from around the globe.The Irish language, culture and the creative arts are primary sources of our distinctiveness and we should deepen our understanding of these and capitalise on their inherent cultural value and on the cultural and literary qualities that make us distinctive and interesting internationally.  [p. 51]
[...]
Embrace the arts, humanities and social sciences as well as science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Research in the arts, humanities and social sciences  (AHSS) addresses areas of fundamental importance to society – areas that impact on enterprise, job creation and  public policy. In the Irish context, these disciplines study values and practices that are central to our national identity, our sense of self, and to how we progress as a society. They are important drivers  of economic and social innovation, promote ways in which the economy is managed and developed, and suggest how  individuals can engage and participate in civil society. Concrete examples of the social and economic impact of research in AHSS include the performing arts,  creative industries, financial services, and  tourism. [p. 67]

'Cut the Shock Doctrine': More from Culture Machine

The online journal Culture Machine continues to debate on the future of higher education in the UK and internationally, and on the position of the arts, humanities and social sciences within the university. Five new contributions have just been added to the Culture Machine InterZone section:

• ‘Cut the Shock Doctrine: Radicalize Common Sense’ by Paul Bowman (Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University)

• ‘Amidst the Culture of Efficiency’ by Sunil Manghani (Critical and Cultural Theory , York St John University)

• ‘On the “Death” of the University’ by Jason Rovito (Communication and Culture, York and Ryerson Universities)

• 'Education, Education, Education' by Ewa Sidorenko (Education, University of Greenwich)

• ‘Diversity and Choice’ by Leon Wainwright (History of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University)

More contributions to follow.

If you still want to join the debate, email your all contribution to Gary Hall at <gary@garyhall.info>, remembering to include your full name and academic affiliation (if any). If, for institutional or other reasons, you would prefer to have your piece published anonymously, we would be happy to accommodate this.

All contributions will be reviewed by the Editorial Board on a rolling basis, with those accepted for publication being made immediately available on the Culture Machine site.

Storm Breaking Upon the University

"The defense of public universities is intricately tied to arguments that can establish the public value of the humanities. We need to get beyond the hand-wringing of those who believe only philistines require the humanities to be justified just as much as the meek reproduction of the government's own vocabularies of impact and value. We can and should remind the world that it is our classes that students want to take. Despite a decade of the rhetorical marginalization of our disciplines in the UK as not relevant there are more studying in the arts, humanities and social sciences (1,073,465 in 2008/9) than in the STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] subjects (829,115) and they are growing at a faster rate (a 28% increase since 2001/2 as opposed to 20% increase for STEM). Indeed, in all likelihood, the arts, humanities and socials sciences are cross-subsidizing the more expensive STEM fields that teach fewer students in more resource heavy infrastructures and laboratories." [Read the rest of James Vernon's essay on 'The End of the Public University in England']

DEFEND the ARTS and HUMANITIES hopes you will read the whole of the article 'The End of the Public University in England', an important opinion piece by James Vernon (Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley) at our sister website Storm Breaking Upon the University.

'The Death of the University, English Style' by Nick Couldry and Angela McRobbie

The Death of the University, English Style

Nick Couldry and Angela McRobbie

Something important died on 12 October 2010 [date of publication of The Browne Report]: the idea of the university in England.

Perhaps 'received its death warrant' would be more accurate than 'died'. For there are still some weeks left in which to challenge the fate that the Browne Report proposed for our university system. But that requires looking closely at the mechanisms Browne proposes.

The Browne Report says it's about funding 'a sustainable funding solution for the future' of higher education. It calls for more investment and offers a new mechanism for generating investment, by putting 'choice . . . in the hands of the students'.

Who could object to more, and better, choice for students? We certainly don't. That is why it is important to understand that the new funding mechanism Browne proposes is only very partially about choice.

Thus begins a short article by Couldry and McRobbie at the Culture Machine website. You read the rest of it here. It is the first in a proposed series on this topic to which anyone can contribute, as follows:

Culture Machine invites its readers to join in the debate called for by Couldry and McRobbie in 'The Death of the University, English Style'. We are seeking contributions in the form of short think pieces or micro-essays of 500-1000 words on any aspect of:


- the future of higher education in England and the UK;
- the position of the arts, humanities and social sciences within the university;
- the role and nature of the university in a democratic society.


Please email all contributions to Gary Hall at gary@garyhall.info, remembering to include your full name and academic affiliation (if any). (If, for institutional or other reasons, you would prefer to have your piece published anonymously, we would be happy to accommodate this.)


All contributions will be reviewed by the Editorial Board on a rolling basis, with those accepted for publication being made immediately available on the Culture Machine site.

Nick Couldry is Professor of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London, His latest book is Why Voice Matters: Culture and Politics After Neoliberalism  (Sage, 2010).

Angela McRobbie is Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her latest book is The Aftermath of Feminism (Sage, 2009).

A Faustian bargain by Gregory A Petsko

Faust, etching by Rembrandt (Een geleerde in zijn werkkamer Dry-point, etching, and engraving. 208 × 160 mm. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam ca. 1652 (1650-1652)

The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (LLC) at the University at Albany, State University of New York, used to be able to say that it offered 10 languages with graduate degrees in French and Spanish, undergraduate degrees and minors in French, Italian, Russian and Spanish, and a minor in Portuguese. Additional languages available for study included Arabic, Dutch, classical Greek, German and Latin. But recently announced budget cuts mean saying goodbye to French, Italian, Russian, and classics, as well as theater.

In a statement on these cuts, the university's president, George M. Philip, indicated that the five departments will be phased out in the next two years due to more than $32 million in cuts from state funding the school has faced in the past three years (along with another $12 million decline anticipated this year). Students who are currently majoring in these areas will be permitted to complete their degrees. The move has caused dismay among faculty and students, who are continuing to campaign against the move.

On October 31, Gregory A. Petsko, of Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, Brandeis University, published an open letter to George M Philip, President of the State University of New York At Albany. A short extract from the article in the journal Genome Biology is given below, but, like Stefan Collini's remarkable essay in the London Review of Books on the UK Browne Report, Petsko voices important arguments about why Arts and Humanities subjects ought to be defended, even, indeed especially, in these times of financial austerity:

As for the argument that the humanities don't pay their own way, well, I guess that's true, but it seems to me that there's a fallacy in assuming that a university should be run like a business. I'm not saying it shouldn't be managed prudently, but the notion that every part of it needs to be self-supporting is simply at variance with what a university is all about. You seem to value entrepreneurial programs and practical subjects that might generate intellectual property more than you do 'old-fashioned' courses of study. But universities aren't just about discovering and capitalizing on new knowledge; they are also about preserving knowledge from being lost over time, and that requires a financial investment. There is good reason for it: what seems to be archaic today can become vital in the future. I'll give you two examples of that. The first is the science of virology, which in the 1970s was dying out because people felt that infectious diseases were no longer a serious health problem in the developed world and other subjects, such as molecular biology, were much sexier. Then, in the early 1990s, a little problem called AIDS became the world's number 1 health concern. The virus that causes AIDS was first isolated and characterized at the National Institutes of Health in the USA and the Institute Pasteur in France, because these were among the few institutions that still had thriving virology programs. My second example you will probably be more familiar with. Middle Eastern Studies, including the study of foreign languages such as Arabic and Persian, was hardly a hot subject on most campuses in the 1990s. Then came September 11, 2001. Suddenly we realized that we needed a lot more people who understood something about that part of the world, especially its Muslim culture. Those universities that had preserved their Middle Eastern Studies departments, even in the face of declining enrollment, suddenly became very important places. Those that hadn't - well, I'm sure you get the picture.

Gregory A. Petsko, 'A Faustian bargain: An open letter to George M Philip, President of the State University of New York At Albany', Genome Biology 2010, 11:138 

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://genomebiology.com/2010/11/10/138

© 2010 BioMed Central Ltd

[Thanks to AB for the link]