ABSTRACT
Diversity underpins pluralism as a discourse; however, its implication in disciplinary formation and function at the site of higher education is confronted with rigid disciplinary boundaries that often underscore singularity, thereby negating conversations on diversity. Today, in our universities, not only the disciplines under the rubric of humanities have come to a dead end and are facing a crisis, but also those under the social sciences. The decline in the humanities in today’s context is disturbing. The defenders of the humanities at the sites of knowledge production and practice such as universities are a minority whose voices have grown feeble over time. The scenario has turned pathetic as the state through its policies and funding consciously gives the impression that only techno-scientific education can redeem all inequities and strengthen the country economically and militarily, thus systematically undermining the humanities education. A tradition in education that has seen through the flourishing of the Renaissance in the West and that also has made productive contributions to the process of colonial and postcolonial modernities in India, today stands orphaned; debates on re-energizing the humanities in a post-human era have resulted in widespread cynicism and negation. The old humanities grew out of our creative engagement with the idea of what made us human having immense possibilities that took note of human will, thoughts and capabilities. This assumption is reflected, for example, in Kant’s ‘The Idea of a University’ with his regulative principles and Newman’s thesis of liberal education that sustained itself for centuries on the ideals of liberal thought. The new humanities following an interrogative mode have expanded the domain of humanities from inter-disciplinary perspective. In a situation of constant challenges what would be of significance is to (re)examine the links between the old and new humanities to keep the energy of humanities alive within the knowledge systems of today. Pedagogy as a stirring force in the context of making education inclusive and productive needs to be rethought in teaching of humanities today. Questions that inveigh these propositions at a basic level are what/how to teach? How to think and articulate? And how to find proper mooring within the humanistic disciplines in the face of post-tradition and post-method scenario where humanities are constantly interrogated by issues of race, gender, caste, religion and so on? In the din, the democratic impulse of humanistic education is somewhere lost. It is in this context, I would like to bring forth the insights of critical humanities into the debate on disciplinary decadence with a perspective on the recovery and reconstruction of humanities education.
