Humanities in Cultural Affairs

Humanities in Cultural Affairs

For all the importance of studies of how engagement in arts and culture serves instrumental ends, they cannot provide a complete understanding of the issues at hand in designing public policy. Missing is an examination of deep insights and assumptions – of the role of the arts and humanities in human understanding, in the value of sharing artistic expression and humanities insight, in bridging multiple cultures, in preserving for future generations the capabilities of a full cultural life.

This series aims to reconnect the humanities with public policy in cultural affairs. An interdisciplinary group of humanities scholars from across Indiana University working alongside faculty at the Center for Cultural Affairs at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs will convene humanities scholars and practitioners in a series of workshops in several different areas relevant to the project. 

Alex Lichtenstein, Professor, History and American Studies; “Bringing Racial and Social Justice to the Public Sphere: A Cultural Program” (Spring 2023)

Russell Scott Valentino, Professor, Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures; “Cultural Affairs in Translation” (Fall 2023)

Jane Goodman, Professor, Anthropology; “Can the Arts Change the World? New Perspectives on the Problems and Possibilities of Cultural Exchange” (Spring 2024)