Lichtgedanken 05

Rubrik 40 What is the use of studying Rousseau nowadays? What do Immanuel Kant or Hegel have to offer? In this era of the ef- ficiency rule, obsession with economic growth and austerity measures, the hu- manities are under scrutiny. The situ- ation in Germany is not entirely diffe- rent from that in the United States. Yet there are clear differences according to Dr Alexander Schmidt, who teaches and researches at the Research Centre »Laboratory of the Enlightenment« at the Institute of History. Schmidt’s work focuses on the history of ideas of the 18th century. In July 2018, Alexander Schmidt re- turned to the University of Chicago, where he hold a summer seminar en- titled »Invisible Bonds: the Enlighten- ment Science of Society from Mande- ville to Hegel« together with historian Professor Paul Cheney. The seminar, which was aimed at faculty teaching in American higher education, was made possible by an extensive competitive grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Choosing the participants was an ex- citing task, says Alexander Schmidt. There were over 40 applications from across the USA and overseas for the 16 scholarship places. »We had to find a working mixture of academic quali- ty, communication skills and a diverse background that reflected the academic reality beyond the private elite institu- tions«, highlights Schmidt. As a US federal agency, the NEH is un- der growing pressure. At the beginning of 2017, the Trump government inten- ded to completely slash the funding for the NEH and the National Endowment for the Arts. »The fate of our application for a grant was suddenly linked with Trump’s prestige project—the funding of the border wall with Mexico.« A growing acceptance problem for humanities in the United States Alexander Schmidt speaks of growing issues of acceptance for the humani- ties in the United States, not least since Trump became president: »There is a popular view, especially amongst con- servative think tanks, that humanities encourage liberal, left-wing opponents and that funding these subjects should be down to philanthropists not the sta- te.« At the same time, the humanities have traditionally played a surprisingly key role in American higher education ac- cording to Schmidt. The Liberal Arts Education is mandatory for all students at many colleges. In other words, anyo- ne who has enrolled to study physics or medicine first has to read texts writ- ten by Homer and Plato. »A general education in the humanities is seen as the foundation to a democratic socie- ty«, says Schmidt. He stresses that it is essential for a functioning democracy that citizens are encouraged to make their own judgements and to engage critically with problems, using their creative skills and capabilities. Alexander Schmidt experienced the exercise of these intellectual capacities developed in American higher educati- on at first hand during the seminar on the Enlightenment political thought in Chicago. Discussions included whether the ideas and ideals of the Enlighten- ment apply to all humans or whether they had been merely developed by and for derived from a handful of »old, white men« and thus do not really ap- ply to people of colour, slaves or homo- sexuals. The seminar was attended by a bro- ad mixture of participants at different stages of their academic careers: there was, for example, a political scientist with Pakistani roots who teaches mi- litary veterans at a community college in Arizona; a Canadian professor from the American University in Cairo; and an Israeli postdoc from New York. The aim of the seminar was not just to analyse the debate about the nature of society as a central hub of Enlighten- ment thought; but also, to inspire the participants in their own teaching and research. Some participants were thril- led to just have access to the Universi- ty’s excellent Regenstein Library. The budgets of higher education managers, who are driven by efficiency, have seen the funding for established subject li- braries be slashed. Who needs printed books when you have the »Kindle«?  Doing humanities in the age of Trump A humanities scholar in the USA: historian Dr Alexander Schmidt (photo) held a summer seminar at the Univer- sity of Chicago in 2018. At first, it hung in the balance. The Jena-based researcher and his Chicago collabora- tor suddenly found themselves competing with Donald Trump’s border wall with Mexico. BY STEPHAN LAUDIEN