In a time of disinvestment and other budget pressures, these programs are too often the first to be cut. But they are where students learn to have difficult conversations in an atmosphere of free inquiry and expression. Across the country, arts and humanities programs are being axed in a misguided attempt to balance public university budgets. From New York and North Carolina to North Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin, we are seeing academic departments, degrees and faculty reduced or eliminated. That’s bad for the diversity of ideas that is a prerequisite for an environment of free inquiry on campus, and it’s a blow to the rich intellectual traditions that help us understand how humans relate to each other, tell stories, remember histories and make sense of our lives and our collective futures.
