The Development of Federal Assistance to the Humanities

Abstract

The American propensity to respond to challenge as such, especially since technological prowess and dominance have become our postwar way of life, carries inherent danger. The first sponsors of a governmental agency in support of the humanities recognized that humane knowledge is useful knowl edge, more than ever in an era when purpose becomes confused with efficiency and productivity. The Endowment for the Humanities works from such a premise, supporting efforts to generate humanistic knowledge relevant to current concerns and changing values, and to disseminate the fruits of humanis tic study as widely as possible. It has developed programs promoting and assisting curriculum and faculty development, and supporting humanist teachers and researchers at each stage of their careers. Equally important, the Endowment is increas ingly involved in the transmission of humane knowledge and the stimulation of new thinking on the qualities and values needed to deal with inevitable change. And it is seeking to engage the widest possible audience. A mutually reinforcing advance in both the sciences and the humanities is the society's greatest need as well as its greatest challenge.