The humanities are crucial to addressing the assault on truth

If we can’t find the narrative forms to make the world real to one another, we risk losing our politics to the fantasists and cynics.

by Lyndsey Stonebridge for Times Higher Education

(Credit: Bryan Regan)

‘This time four years ago, I was interviewing applicants for a joint undergraduate degree in history and literature. This was a job I’d come to treasure over the years; new thinkers are always interesting, and joint honours students often particularly so.

But something was different. The interviews took place about a week after Donald Trump’s presidential election victory and five months since the UK’s vote to leave the European Union. Their tone had changed. When I asked “Why history?”, candidate after candidate replied along similar lines: “I want to know what really happened”; “I want to understand how to get to reliable sources”; “I need to know when I am being lied to”...’

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