Ross Douthat on How to Save the Humanities: Some Immodest Proposals for a Revolt Against Technocracy

Since the Great Recession, there has been an accelerating decline in the study of the humanities at American universities. In an age of technocratic ambition and Silicon Valley dominance, is it possible for a humanistic education to compete with the sciences for students? What can today's humanists learn from past periods of seeming conflict with the scientific spirit, and past recoveries? What should the humanities offer, and to whom?

Ross Douthat, an opinion writer for The New York Times, will speak on "How to Save the Humanities: Some Immodest Proposals for a Revolt Against Technocracy." Read his related article "Oh, the Humanities!" here.

Ross Douthat joined The New York Times as an Op-Ed columnist in April 2009. Previously, he was a senior editor at The Atlantic and a blogger for theatlantic.com. He is the author of Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics (Simon and Schuster, 2012) and Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class (Hyperion, 2005), and the co-author, with Reihan Salam, of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream (Doubleday, 2008). He is the film critic for the National Review. He lives with his wife and daughters in Washington, DC.

Image: Stephen Crowley for The New York Times.

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