Diversifying the Humanities

By Scott Jaschik. Humanities disciplines are seeing growth in the number of degrees awarded to minority students at the undergraduate level, hitting record levels in the largest humanities disciplines, according to an analysis being released today by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
But the analysis -- based on various federal databases -- shows uneven growth. Most of the gains are attributable to Latino students. The one exception to this trend was religion, where black students are making gains.
And at a time when minority students on many campuses are pushing their institutions to hire more minority faculty members, the analysis finds declines -- with the exception of philosophy -- in the number of doctoral degrees in the humanities awarded to minority students. Read more...