Investing in the arts and humanities

By Myles Brand, President of Indiana University

In last fall’s State of the University address, I pledged $4 million through the president’s office to make such an investment. That grant, to be allocated over four years, will support research, scholarship and creative work of IU arts and humanities faculty members. Planning for this grant program, to be administered by the Research and the University Graduate School, is moving forward. The deadline for the first round of applications is March 1.

This program should fill a widening gap in funding for this research. The federal government has stepped away from supporting individual artists. The budget for the National Endowments for the Arts (NEA) has diminished by almost half since 1992. The budgets of the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for the 2000 fiscal year totaled a little more than $200 million.

Students also have shifted their attention, both at IU and other arts and sciences institutions, to majors in professional and technology-related fields. I’m proud of what IU has to offer in those areas, but it is still important for us to stress the role that a broad-based knowledge of the arts and humanities plays in making each of us an educated person.

As I said in the State of the University address, it would be a great loss if we become a people who are readily entertained by a rapidly expanding media, who can check stock market prices anytime, anywhere, but who have lost touch with our history, with sophisticated aesthetic pleasures and with the wisdom necessary for moral action. As important as science and technology are, without knowledge of the humanities and the arts, a person’s education is woefully incomplete.

IU has many outstanding scholars in these areas. I was most pleased to hear that one of them, Henry Glassie, College Professor of folklore and acting chair of IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, was recently appointed by President Bill Clinton to the National Council on the Humanities, an advisory group to the NEH. (See page 9)

Many IU faculty members in the arts and humanities can make major contributions in advancing knowledge and creative work in their fields. I look forward to the results of their efforts.

(Editor’s note: Information to IU faculty regarding the president’s Arts and Humanities Initiative proposal procedure appears in today's feature section.)

Note: Television station WTIU in Bloomington aired the season premiere of Pro and Con, a talk show hosted by IU President Myles Brand, on Jan. 11. The topic was “Revitalizing the Arts and Humanities.” Guests were Herman Saatkamp, professor of philosophy and medical humanities and dean of the School of Liberal Arts, IUPUI; Dale McFadden, associate professor of theatre and drama, IUB; Rosemarie McGerr, associate professor of comparative literature, IUB; and Andrea Ciccarelli, associate professor of Italian and chairperson of the Department of French and Italian, IUB. The segment may be accessed on line at this Web address:

http://www.indiana.edu/~radiotv/WTIU/pro&con.html