In 1969, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences devoted an issue of its journal, Daedalus, to “The Future of the Humanities." In it, leading scholars responded to “an imminent crisis” in which “the future of liberal education was threatened by the dominance of a scientific world-view concerned only with cold facts.” Contributors described relentless public criticism about the perceived impracticality of the liberal arts, and they debated whether to defend or reshape their disciplines. Half a century later—amid spiraling tuition costs, declining state funding, and deepening public distrust—this criticism is no longer external to the academy. It is the organizing principle of an increasingly neoliberal and professionally-oriented university system. Yet the rush toward "practical" training seems only to intensify anxiety about the future of higher education.
Can this future be bright without the perspective and imaginative power of the humanities? While learning from the past, the humanities have always been engaged with the future—sometimes as utopia, sometimes as a specter to be avoided by ethical reason, historical perspective, and critical imagination. As “The Future of the Humanities” suggested, the value of the humanities lies partly in their skepticism that technical knowledge alone can ensure a future of comfort, profit, justice, and freedom. It is no accident that the classic dystopias of Huxley, Orwell, Atwood, and Butler spring from a technocratic disdain for art, literature, and history. They suggest that the fate of the humanities is inseparable from the fate of society. How can we imagine our way out of the crises of our time without the disciplines that study human history and creativity? Perhaps the right question is not, “what is the future of the humanities?,” but rather “how can the humanities help create a better university and a better society?”
The 2024-2025 Altman Program invites the entire Miami University community to explore the humanities futures, past and present. Timed to coincide with Provost Elizabeth Mullenix’s two-year “Humanities Futures Initiative,” the program will bring together faculty, students, distinguished visitors, and the public to consider the future of the liberal arts in modern democratic society and our own university. How has the idea of the humanities evolved from its ancient scholarly roots through Renaissance humanism, the rise of universities, the nationalisms of the twentieth century, the spread of critical theory, and the global turn? What can we learn from Miami’s own history? How should we respond to the pressures of the present? And can we chart a future in which Miami serves as a model for the future of the liberal arts and humanities everywhere?
Call for Faculty Fellows and Scholars
The Humanities Center invites applications from faculty interested in joining a special 2024-25 Altman Fellows Program on Humanities Futures. Four Altman Fellows and up to six Altman Scholars will be appointed. All will receive $2000 in professional expenses. Altman Fellows will also receive a one-course teaching release.
This program differs from prior Altman Programs. Applicants should carefully read this entire document and the program statement before proceeding.
Altman Faculty Fellows play a major role in designing and leading the Altman Program. They are expected to do the following:
- Plan and oversee the Altman Faculty Seminar with Altman faculty members.
- Plan and coordinate the Altman Lecture Series with the Humanities Center director.
- Serve on the Humanities Center Steering Committee during 2024-25.
- Two of four Altman Fellows will be selected to co-teach HUM 490 in Fall 2024.
- Two of four Altman Fellows will supervise the Geoffrion Undergraduate Fellows Program with assistance from graduate fellows and the Associate Director of the Center.
- Complete a project designed to enhance the humanities at Miami. This project may be part of the Provost Mullenix’s “Humanities Futures” initiative or an independent effort. Projects can include development or coordination of new courses, degrees, co-curricular programs; creation of advising or communications materials; outreach or recruiting efforts; career programming; or anything else that might strengthen the humanities at Miami. Selected projects will develop as part of a collaborative process with other ongoing initiatives at Miami. The Humanities Center and Humanities Futures Steering Committees may suggest that projects be combined or modified, and all projects will require input and approval by chairs, deans, and other relevant administrators. The Humanities Center will help with this process.
Altman Faculty Scholars are expected to the do the following:
- Participate in the Altman Faculty Seminar, which meets approximately 5 times per semester Fridays from 12 pm – 2 pm.
- Help host approximately 10 visiting speakers
- Link relevant 2024-25 courses to the public program.
- Attend two planning meetings during spring 2024 and contribute ideas to the program.
- Contribute in some way to the Provost’s “Humanities Futures” initiative over the course of 2024-25. Contributions can include participation in one or more prongs of Provost Mullenix’s “Humanities Futures” initiative, collaboration on one of the Altman Fellow projects, or contribution to a college or departmental effort approved by the relevant administrators.
Application.
Unless they indicate otherwise, all applicants will be considered first for an Altman Fellowship and then for an Altman Scholarship. Applicants desiring only the Altman Scholarship do not need to include a course description and may sketch a more modest project or contribution to the good of the humanities. The program is open to tenure-line and TCPL faculty. Applications should contain:
- Statement of Interest. In a page or less, please indicate your interest and how you might contribute to and benefit from the program. Applicants are encouraged to include program ideas, such as key questions, seminar topics, possible speakers, initiatives, or goals.
- Project Proposal. In a page or less, describe a project to be completed in the program year. The proposal should sketch the need, project goals, details of work to be done, and timeline for implementation. Applicants are welcome to pitch multiple ideas and/or to propose collaborative projects with or without specifying collaborators. The committee will prioritize proposals that describe clear, achievable outcomes of significant need. The committee may later ask participants to modify, combine, or collaborate on initiatives. (Note: applicants only seeking an Altman Scholar role do not need to describe a project and may indicate a more general ambition or desired area of contribution.)
- Course Proposal (Altman Fellow applicants only): In a page or so, describe a possible HUM 490 course topic that in some way speaks to “Humanities Futures”—either in its examination of the humanities or as an exemplar of a new wave of humanities courses at Miami. Proposals should not include a full syllabus—only a description of major questions and topics, possible readings, and possible assignments. A single, team-taught section of HUM 490 will be offered in Fall 2024. It will count toward the normal teaching assignment of the two Altman Fellows selected to teach it. Applicants are welcome to submit collaboratively-designed proposals or to suggest possible forms of collaboration with specified or unspecified collaborators. But such elements are optional; applicants are welcome submit their own, stand-alone course ideas. The Steering Committee will look at all proposals and attempt to identify potential synergies and collaborations. Before final selection, instructors will have an opportunity to consider proposed team-teaching opportunities, offer input, and decide whether or not to accept offers. (Collaborative proposals should be submitted separately by each applicant.)
- Personal Details: a) a one-paragraph biographical statement, including current position and years at Miami; b) list of prior Altman Program participation; c) spring 2024 teaching schedule; d) names of two or more outstanding undergraduate or graduate students who would make good student fellows (you do not need to contact the students in advance).
- Important Terms: In applying, applicants acknowledge that Altman lectures typically occur weekdays at 5 or 7 p.m. and that Faculty Seminars are held Fridays from 12-2 p.m. After selection, program faculty must obtain departmental teaching and service assignments that allow them to participate fully at these times. Faculty who do not adhere to these commitments will forfeit research funding.
Please submit your application in a single PDF document
titled “[insert your last name] 2024-25 Altman Faculty Application.pdf” to
humanitiesgrants@miamioh.edu by Friday, January 26, 2024.
Please direct questions to Tim Melley, Director of the Humanities Center, at
melleytd@miamioh.edu.
