Why Did UChicago Destroy the Humanities?
The answer is simple: to spend untold sums on useless buildings by starchitects.
Just for decoration: In UChicago’s Mansueto Library, the bookstacks are all underground and unbrowsable.
In August, the University of Chicago shocked the academic world by announcing that it would be pausing PhD admissions in nearly all of its world-famous humanities programs.
While the ongoing crisis in the humanities—that is, the deliberate marginalization and even elimination of humanities programs by neoliberal administrations in order to reorient schools toward more lucrative business, engineering, and tech programs—is not unique to UChicago, the extent of the damage is especially jarring.
What is distinct about the university is its staggering indebtedness.
Author's summary: UChicago pauses humanities PhD admissions due to financial issues.