In 2015, an article in The Guardian highlighted a war being waged against the humanities in the UK, driven by market forces that demand degrees directly linked to job opportunities. According to the article, the market dictates a greater investment in STEM subjects, IT, and environmental studies, which are deemed more valuable for the new world we are entering. This shift requires a de-investment from the humanities. Furthermore, the article reports a stifling decline in student demand for degrees in humanities and social sciences, including literature, history, philosophy, gender studies, and critical theory. This trend is not unique to the UK, as similar challenges to the humanities are ongoing and even more extensive in other regions, such as the USA and Japan.

The inaugural Zoom symposium on Contemporary Issues in Law and Humanities, titled ‘The War on the Humanities and Transnational Solidarities,’ aims to bring together scholars from around the world to examine the global devaluation of the humanities. The symposium will explore its impact on research and teaching and share strategies, projects, and ideas for creative responses. Speakers will be asked to address the following four questions:

How can we form transnational solidarities for the study of law and the humanities?

How does the devaluation of the Humanities manifests itself in the country that you are
working in?

How it affects research in the Humanities/Law and Humanities

What can/is being done to counter this?

Chair: Elena Loizidou (Birkbeck University, School of Law)

Speakers:
Stewart Motha (Birkbeck University, School of Law), Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos
(University of Westminster, Law), Karin Van Marle (University of Western Cape, Research and Innovation), Debaditya Bhattacharya (Jamia Millia Islamia, Department of English), Julia Bell (Birkbeck University, School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication), James Martel (San Franscisco State University, Department of Political Science)