Saturday, March 19, 2011
HEA Chair on Humanities
I would like to get a copy of HEA chair John Hennessy's actual remarks but people who want to get a sense of how the relationship between academia and government is degenerating rapidly into farce in Ireland should read this report about yesterday's event with Martha Nussbaum.
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I don't "hold my nose" against working with industry: I am simply not that interested. There are no commercial applications of my work that I can think of. And its not the applications that I find interesting. The same is probably true of many researchers in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
It is certainly the case that scientists are better at selling their work as having some earth shattering or "real world" applications. But often it is pretty bogus or certainly tenuous. Ever notice how every finding in astronomy or high energy physics is going to give us clues to the origins of the universe? And every second finding in medicine might lead to a cure for some or other disease? kerching.
Without seeing his comments in detail, it is impossible to judge. I am sure Mr Hennessy is not the complete philistine that the article suggests. After all, you don't get to be chairman of Ericsson (Ireland) without a thorough appreciation of research in the humanities. Rest assured, the HEA is in good hands.
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