I think the perception of there being a deep gulf between science and the humanities is false.

The humanities need to be defended today against the encroachments of physical science as they once needed to be against the encroachment of theology.

A serious problem in America is the gap between academe and the mass media which is our culture. Professors of humanities with all their leftist fantasies have little direct knowledge of American life and no impact whatever on public policy.

What would be the nicest thing I could say about Newt Gingrich? He may be one of the great supporters of the humanities because you have people who don't want to study the social sciences because it's not profitable and now Newt as the highest-paid historian in American history may be an encouragement to people to study history.

At different times I taught humanities social sciences and pre-vocational education.

I was a teacher for a long time. I taught at a community college: voice theory humanities. And nowadays music education is a dying thing. Funding is being cut more and more and more.

I did get a very fine education and not just in science. It took some pressure on the part of my elders to convince me that I really should take an interest in humanities.

In the end the humanities can only be defended by stressing how indispensable they are and this means insisting on their vital role in the whole business of academic learning rather than protesting that like some poor relation they don't cost much to be housed.