Scholarly Group Takes Pulse of Humanities in U.S.

The state of the humanities in the United States could become a bit clearer with the introduction of a series of indicators on history, language arts, and foreign-language learning in the nation’s schools and colleges, as well as data on the humanities workforce.

Citing the widespread availability of data on science and engineering education, research, and professions, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences developed the indicators to allow greater analysis of trends, issues, and problems in the disciplines.

“This is the first set of comprehensive statistical information about the state of the humanities in the United States,” said Leslie Berlowitz, the academy’s chief executive officer. She pointed to the “Science and Engineering Indicators” prepared annually by the National Science Foundation since the 1970s as a model for the kind of knowledge base that can be...