A singular person looking over a railing at a large bookshelf filled with books.
A New Era for the Humanities
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Stephanie Kirk, director of the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, is helping humanities Ph.D. students prepare for careers beyond the declining tenure-track market. In response to shifts in academia since 2008, she promotes programs that highlight students’ transferable skills in research, writing, collaboration, and leadership. Supported by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Center offers workshops, community partnerships, and internships with St. Louis organizations. 

The Social Role of the Critic
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In spite of the recent discussion of the topic in the New York Times, I realize there is something antiquarian about my urge to think aloud about the nature of literary criticism. The decline of that role in society probably matters only to a fairly small caste of humanistically inclined readers. The implications of the decline, however, should matter to everyone.
Literary Criticism? Really?
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Since my last post I've been thinking about the validity of the idea and the practice of literary criticism in a culture that often looks elsewhere for interpretation—and even more, that values expression over interpretation.
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