Back in early May, writing about the way humanities are viewed nowadays, here, I mentioned that the National Endowment for the Humanities had started a program called “Enduring
Questions,” offering grants of up to $25,000 (and said I’d return to the subject). Here’s what it aimed to do:
Enduring Questions [is] a new grant program that encourages faculty and undergraduate students to grapple with the most fundamental concerns of the humanities by reading influential thinkers past and present.
The winners — 20 colleges in 15 states for a total of $478,677 — are creating pilot courses and were announced this week.
So what are the “Enduring Questions”? No big surprises. They are indeed the eternal puzzlers. The wording may differ, but basically undergraduate students will have a chance to explore:
-
What is happiness?
- What is justice?
- What is freedom?
- What is human dignity?
- What is evil?
- What is leadership?
- What is the meaning of life?
And:
- Do we need God for the good life?
- How should we view mortality (especially given biomedical advances)?
- What are the dangers of individualism?
- Should art be moral?
All food for thought for the weekend.
The NEH made many grants this week ($21.4 million worth all told) and they are posted here.