Universities Release Report Questioning Political Bias in the Humanities

Chancellors at Vanderbilt University and Washington University commissioned the "State of Scholarship" report, which concluded that disciplines in the humanities are flawed by being too politically biased rather than objectively pursuing knowledge. Some conservatives have linked the report's findings to the reason fewer young people are enrolling in college or finding jobs after graduation, but many academics and outlets on the left criticized the report's methodology and conclusions.

Inside the Report: Washington Times (Lean Right bias) wrote that the report "faults contemporary history, philosophy, anthropology, music, sociology and literature studies for prioritizing liberal race and gender identity agendas over the 'disinterested inquiry' that traditionally guides research." One academic told the Washington Times that "in the humanities, it's easier to find a professor committed to overthrowing capitalism than it is to find a professor who is a registered Republican." The report said that "a distinctive form of politicization in which the scholarly enterprise is taken to be subordinate to, or in the service of, political (social or moral) goals beyond the advancement of knowledge and understanding"

Pushback From Academics: Inside Higher Ed (Lean Left) quoted several scholars who questioned the methodology of the report, including five scholars whose work they believed was "misrepresented" in the report. One professor whose work was quoted in the report said, "In the quote from the book that is mentioned in the report, I am not describing my personal views: I am describing postmodernism. It is irresponsible for the report to represent my description of a claim as my endorsement of a claim." Inside Higher Ed also reported that the American Anthropological Association and other humanities organizations "slammed the report for exemplifying the ivory tower and criticized the authors for failing to truly engage with the professors in the fields they target."

Is Objectivity a Myth? An opinion writer for the Vanderbilt Hustler (unrated), the university's student newspaper, argued that the report fundamentally misunderstands the humanities, writing that "the things that make the humanities crucial are inherently subjective matters." The writer also argued that the report's insistence that these disciplines "purge themselves of bias" is "a profoundly subjective argument about what kinds of knowing deserve respect."

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