Scholarly associations

WASHINGTON -- C.P. Snow’s depiction of a “gulf of mutual incomprehension” separating scientists from humanists may date to 1959, but it’s still relevant – and cited -- in discussions of the humanities in 2009. Panelists speaking Monday on “The Public Good: The Humanities in a Civil Society” cited Snow in describing a need to better bridge that gulf -- with the consequences of failing to do so exacting a real and human price, argued Patty Stonesifer, chair of the Board of Regents for the Smithsonian Institution and senior adviser to the trustees of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

With implications for how undergraduates write, and cite, Modern Language Association releases revised handbook for preparing research papers.

Institutions are laying off staff, curbing spending and traveling less. So are the higher education organizations.

Another deadline has passed for filing commentary on the pending settlement between Google and major associations of American authors and publishers over Google Book Search, the controversial project that aims to scan millions of books into a searchable electronic database.

WASHINGTON -- Shakespeare famously affirmed that his words would live “[s]o long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,” but he never promised that they’d keep his acolytes employed. At the Shakespeare Association of America’s 37th Annual Conference last week, attendees related the familiar stories of budget cuts and fruitless job searches that now seem to emanate from every corner of academe (and elsewhere).

Agency calls for a broad rethinking of priorities over the next decade -- both in areas to be studied and major infrastructure projects to support.

NEW ORLEANS -- A researcher doing fieldwork in the southwestern U.S. happened upon something close to the anthropological Holy Grail: a small group of Native Americans who had never been exhaustively studied.

Study of master's degree in the discipline finds that many who never earn Ph.D. find professional fulfillment.

When allegations of research misconduct -- both true and “truthy” -- can spread more quickly than ever, should academe respond slowly and deliberately?

Many American economists have been stung by their failure to anticipate the financial meltdown of 2008, dogged by persistent suggestions of conflicts of interest -- that they were working for financial industries that they said were healthier than turned out to be true. In a notable break from the past, the pre-eminent professional society for the discipline is moving ahead with plans to examine ethical practices in the field.