What role do the humanities play in a world challenged by climate change, rising authoritarianism, censorship, racism, wars and collapsed economies?
The humanities and their forms of historical, visual and cultural literacy are critical to understanding and addressing the human experience and the planet’s survival, says Sara Guyer, dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities in UC Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science.
She should know: Guyer is director of the prestigious World Humanities Report, a major international study organized by the Consortium for Humanities Centers and Institutes and commissioned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council of Philosophy and the Human Sciences.
The report is complete today (Monday, Oct. 14) with the publication of her final director’s report.