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Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure and true honor to be here. I
am an admirer of the work of AALE, and count many members of its
board among my friends.
The
work you do in rewarding rigor and depth in the liberal arts through
the accreditation process is vitally necessary and all too rare. We
applaud your commitment to core programs and high standards in
liberal education, particularly when such standards have fallen out
of fashion. Your accreditation is a hallmark of academic integrity
and excellence.
The
guiding principle and primary obligation of the NEH is to serve the
American people. Our work is not the esoteric pursuit of the arcane,
but the discovery and dissemination of knowledge vital to our
citizens and country. A relentless focus on excellence, a
reaffirmation of the necessity of the humanities, and a broader
dissemination of humanistic thinking into non-academic life are, I
believe, not only vital to the life of the humanities, but also
essential to the civic life of our nation. Our founding legislation
declares "democracy demands wisdom." To exist, our country
needs educated and thoughtful citizens who can fully and
intelligently participate in our government of, by, and for the
people. The NEH was established precisely to foster the wisdom and
knowledge essential to our national identity and survival.
Our
task is to preserve and promote the best of traditional scholarship
while incubating significant new approaches and interpretations, and
then to diffuse the best of humanities scholarship, research, and
programs to every segment of American society.
We
believe the American people are served by a relentless focus on
excellence. The NEH must continue to rigorously evaluate all
proposals by the highest standards. I use the word
"standards" deliberately. Strangely enough, there are some
who think quality is contentious. But excellence should never take a
back seat to academic fads.
We
have instituted a renewed focus on the core functions of the
Endowment -- namely, the preservation, cultivation, and
dissemination of the best of Humanities research, scholarship, and
public programs both on a national and state level. These core
functions were the reason that the NEH was created, and the mandate
it is charged with performing. They will be our priority.
Serving
the American People
In
our continuing efforts to strengthen the core programs of the NEH,
we have kept in our minds the broader importance of our work. The
humanities teach us about who we are. They show us where we've been,
where we are, and provide a compass for the future. Knowledge of the
humanities, then, is not mere luxury; it is a matter of necessity.
Indeed,
the state of the humanities has broad implications for the state of
our union. Our nation is under attack. The event of September 11
cannot be explained by realpolitik. We are in a conflict driven by
religion, philosophy, political ideology, and views of history --
all humanities subjects. Our tolerance, our wealth and strength, our
principles, and our liberties have made us targets. To understand
this conflict, and ourselves, we need the humanities.
In
some respects, the values implicit in the study of the humanities
are part of why we were attacked. The free and fearless exchange of
ideas, respect for individual conscience, belief in the power of
education. . . all these things are anathema to our country's
enemies. Understanding and affirming these principles is part of the
battle.
Today,
it is all the more urgent that we study American institutions,
culture, and history. Defending our democracy requires more than
successful military campaigns. It also requires an understanding of
the ideals, ideas and institutions that have shaped our country.
This is not a new concept. America's founders recognized that an
informed and educated citizenry is necessary for the survival of a
participatory democracy. James Madison famously said, "the
diffusion of knowledge is the only true guardian of liberty."
The humanities are, in fact, part of our homeland defense.
Unfortunately,
Americans' knowledge of their history is sketchy to the point of
scandal. One study of students at 55 elite universities found that
over a third were unable to identify the Constitution as
establishing the division of powers in our government, only 29
percent could identify the term "Reconstruction," and 40
percent could not place the Civil War in the correct half-century.
In contrast, 99 percent could identify Beavis and Butthead and 98
percent knew gangsta rap star Snoop Dogg. Such collective amnesia is
dangerous. Citizens kept ignorant of their history are robbed of the
riches of their heritage, and handicapped in their ability to
understand and appreciate other cultures as well. How are we to
defend the idea of America when we don't know what it is?
We
the People
To
help Americans better understand their nation and world, we are
launching a special initiative, "We the People," dedicated
to bolstering the teaching of American history and culture. The
"We the People" initiative will call upon humanities
scholars, teachers, filmmakers, museums, libraries and other
individuals and institutions to develop significant projects to
enhance and expand understanding of the most significant events,
themes, personalities and principles of our nation's history and
culture. We will, of course continue to vigorously solicit proposals
which help us understand the world around us, and how we fit into
it.
This
initiative will complement, rather than compete with, the core
functions of the NEH. We will conduct it through the normal grant
processes of our divisions and offices, and integrate it fully into
the core functions of the Endowment. The peer review process is the
jewel in the agency's crown, and our new initiative will fully
adhere to its rigors.
Dissemination
While
remaining true to our founding ideals, we will explore new means of
promoting and disseminating the humanities.
Digital
technology is a powerful tool, which helps us tot deliver and search
massive amounts of information. It democratizes access to knowledge.
Now, and even more so in the future, it will also help us to
reconceptualize knowledge, to think of it in dynamic new ways. The
NEH must play an active leadership role in promoting this new and
exciting path to the understanding of the humanities.
Encouraging
scholars to address the public, as well as fellow specialists can
also enhance understanding of the humanities. Many of my colleagues
have found their work channeled into narrow subspecialties expressed
in technical, jargon-filled writing. While we welcome and encourage
the fine-grained detail and deep knowledge that comes from highly
specific studies, we must also seek ways to make such scholarly work
understandable to a broader audience.
A
first step is to encourage academics to use simple, clear language.
I am not advocating the "dumbing down" of professional
articles; indeed, it takes far more effort and intelligence to make
complex concepts understandable to the lay reader than it does to
couch them in such esoteric and ambiguous language as to be
understandable only to fellow specialists.
Let
me give you just one example. I received an email a couple of weeks
ago, inviting me to a forum on Neo-Nationalism. The invitation
beckoned me with the following description - and I quote: "This
panel will address this hyphenated formation with attention to the
present and historical (dis)articulations of the nation (as imagined
community) and the state (as administrative apparatus). What are the
conjugations of nation and sate in our own historical moment?. .
." And so it goes. As intriguing as this invitation was, I
confess I did not attend. I still don't know what it was about.
Using
simple, clear language will increase public interest in and
comprehension of the best the humanities has to offer. And by making
academic thought more accessible to the public, the wisdom of the
humanities spreads wider and sinks deeper into the fabric of
American thought. Institutions of higher learning, and their
promotions and tenure committees, should encourage and not punish
those who seek to make the results of their knowledge available to
wider audiences.
We
also want the NEH to support diffusion of the knowledge encapsulate
in the great books, which are usually models of complex thought
expressed in lucid, straightforward writing. There is a long list of
texts, from many cultures and many voices, now recognized as
canonical. These books have the potential to reach minds across
specialties, cultures, and parochial barriers, no matter what their
point of origin may be. A familiarity with these timeless works, old
and modern, not only enhances our understanding, it enriches our
lives.
I
applaud you for your work, your dedication to the humanities, and
look forward to working alongside you to ensure that the best of the
humanities is valued, promoted, protected, and disseminated. |
