Humanities

The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe offers researchers insights into how Jacobean plays were received

John Sutherland, Sarah Churchwell and others pick books that capture truths about the sector

Ahead of the Being Human festival, the professor of American literature considers their importance

A new book claims to ‘fill in the 30-year gap in Jesus’ resumé’

Anthony Davis, the sponsor of prizes at Oxford and the University of London, explains why this form of bibliophilia must be encouraged

Symposium hears of efforts to build broad-based humanities study on British soil

Scholarship can be a fearsome activity, as Chris Walsh discovered when he set out to investigate the figure of the coward

With utilitarianism on the rise, we must reaffirm the value of the liberal arts, says Frank Furedi

The academic discipline is invaluable in detecting and debunking myths about the past and future, say Jo Guldi and David Armitage

Alan Ryan on fears that Silicon dreams and start-ups might leave humanities in the dark

Eminent sociologist Ken Plummer captures 50 tales of a groundbreaking department

Memoria di Shakespeare’s new editors backtrack on acceptance of Oxfordian academic’s paper

A historian mulls modern and ancient soldiers’ susceptibility to PTSD

Lack of succession planning is eroding research base, says head of Institute of Modern Languages Research

The economist urges the UK to study a shift to subjects that lead to highly paid jobs

Two leading theologians have criticised the closure of several postgraduate theology and ministry programmes at King’s

Archive of Lake Distrtict dynasty also ‘invaluable’ for scholars studying John Ruskin and Arthur Ransome

Elisabeth Kendall’s work on jihadist poetry led to tribespeople seeking her expertise

Student claims University of the Arts London failed her work because it was not ‘clean, saleable art’

The importance of a durable European study infrastructure is explored in the book Facing the Future

More than 40 academics have been newly elected as fellows of the British Academy

An academic staging an immersive production of Moby-Dick discusses research and art

Lucinda Newns confronts frictions within the discipline and her own unease at a lack of non-white voices

Universities have a crucial role to play in “a national recovery programme” to improve the level of Britain’s linguistic skills.

Is it time to stop picking over the scandals of Paul de Man’s life and focus on his critical work? asks Martin McQuillan

At a British Academy debate, David Sweeney urges the sector to focus on producing graduates who will engage with society

Digital literacy can enhance humanities research as well as the skill set of graduates

A. W. Purdue on the battles among academics over the conflict’s place in history

Sea monsters are inspiring new critical theory and can even be a useful tool in the seminar room, says Roger Luckhurst

Which fairy tale is the greatest of them all? Sally Feldman on enduring themes

Seminar on strategies to tackle parlous state of discipline in UK told to note recent recovery of Classics

Christopher Bigsby on the hardships and high points of life under canvas

Melissa Terras to call for ‘better communication’ of benefits

Ignorance of one’s native English means other languages and cultures are a closed book, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto

A postcolonial scholar began a troubling quest after learning about his father’s role in counterinsurgency in India

The continuing impact of historian Eric Hobsbawm was celebrated at a major conference held this week.

Emma Rees on the self-absorbed musings of Adrian Mole, the much-loved creation of the late Sue Townsend

Nathaniel Adam Tobias Coleman on the subject’s colour line

Despite the snobbery of Oxford, a young literary scholar found the liberty to know and speak his mind

A debate on whether “an arts degree is a waste of time and money” saw the motion decisively defeated.

Philosophers need to follow Socrates’ example and get back among the people, say John Kaag and David O’Hara

A new British Academy booklet aims to show how the social sciences and humanities can help build a society which combines prosperity with wisdom.

Historian Barbara Taylor’s account of the asylum system is woven into a memoir of breakdown and recovery aided by a ‘safe haven’, analysis and friendship

Milton and Alex Mermikides’ AHRC-funded work fuses music, dance and medicine

Food, feminism and assumptions about asylum seekers among areas explored in eight AHRC-backed projects

A former psychiatric nurse who is now a lecturer in creative writing has been awarded the Costa Book of the Year award for his debut novel.

Eminent academics restate worth of ‘knowledge for its own sake’

Frigid weather fails to dampen enthusiasm at the MLA conference, finds Robert Eaglestone

How has 16 years of growth in enrolment affected the fortunes of different disciplines?

The neglected, inaccessible land beside arterial routes is the subject of an exhibition and book

Oxford scholar says discipline can play vital role in meeting biggest challenges

Forcing students to choose sides leaves them, and society, poorer, says Christopher Bigsby

Lack of interdisciplinarity and pared funds a cause of concern for social sciences

A new booklet has been launched on the role of social science in promoting “mental wellbeing”.  

Academics must counter ‘verbicide’, which constrains expression, to foster new ideas and ways of seeing

Robert Colls on why E. P. Thompson’s landmark book belongs on more university reading lists

Symposium considers drawing’s role in refining and communicating knowledge, from geology to surgery to unicorns

Sally Feldman welcomes a modern reimagining of the incomparable Jane

On Halloween, Richard Sugg reveals how early stories of death from paralysing nightmares morphed into tales of vampires

Time is a harsh mistress but there’s much to look forward to, says the doyenne of the Left