Law and the Humanities, Sponsored by Critical Theories

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Session Type: Section Pedagogy Programs

Session Capacity: N/A

Location: Hilton New Orleans Riverside

Room: Magazine

Floor: Third Floor

Law has historically drawn ideas, arguments, and modes of reasoning from the humanities and its deep well of perspectives and lived experiences. But today, the humanities are threatened from several quarters. Cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, cancellation of federal humanities grants, the federal posturing of the “1776 Project” to constrict modes of teaching and studying national history under the guise of promoting “patriotic education,” book bans targeting contemporary and canonical authors alike . . . . These and other uses of law and policy to undermine the already-besieged humanities risk in turn the desiccation of legal knowledge, democracy, the rule of law, and the pursuit of justice. Nor are the humanities the only target; the same disdain for free thought has turned to the scientific method, treating science itself as politically motivated and defunding vital research. This panel will address how law has been used in these projects and consider the questions that arise: Why target the humanities? What role do they fulfill in democratic societies? How will the study and practice of law be affected? How can law be used to counteract this trend?