This is a weekly newsletter. Sign up for a free subscription, and invite a friend to subscribe ([link removed]) . 📬
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
Support for this newsletter is provided by
The Report
A newsletter from The Hechinger Report
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fhechingerreport.org%2Fthe-number-of-college-graduates-in-the-humanities-drops-for-the-eighth-consecutive-year Tweet ([link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fhechingerreport.org%2Fthe-number-of-college-graduates-in-the-humanities-drops-for-the-eighth-consecutive-year)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
Liz Willen Dear Reader,

As a new report details a decline in certain humanities majors ([link removed]) for the eighth consecutive year, I thought about my recent re-reading of The Odyssey ([link removed]) , Homer’s epic poem about one man’s tortured journey back to the island of Ithaca during the Trojan war, and wondered what will become of the few who care deeply about studying such texts. Only 4 percent of college graduates in 2020 majored in English, history, philosophy or foreign languages and literature. Instead, students are increasingly gravitating toward majors with clear job prospects in business, engineering and health-related fields, our columnist Jill Barshay explains.

At The Hechinger Report, we’ve spent years covering trends like this one, largely focusing on the inequality that permeates higher education along with innovations ([link removed]) that are changing it forever. But re-reading The Odyssey and adelightful book ([link removed]) helping to explain it by the classicist Daniel Mendelsohn ([link removed]'s%20a%20reason,basic%20questions%20about%20human%20experience.) , I came upon his words defending study of the classics “for teaching us how to be human beings and citizens” – a critical lesson during this fraught time when the pandemic is forcing all of us to live with loss.

“You can study accounting, it’s authentically practical in one way,” Mendelsohn wrote. ([link removed]'s%20a%20reason,basic%20questions%20about%20human%20experience.) “But when your father dies, your accounting degree is not going to help you at all to process that experience. Homer will help you. The Odyssey will help you. Great literature will help you think about mortality and losing loved ones. That seems very practical to me now.”

Give it some thought and us know what you think; we love to hear from our readers. And for those returning home or traveling elsewhere for Thanksgiving, safe journeys ahead, from all of us at The Hechinger Report.

Liz Willen, Editor

Main Idea


** The number of college graduates in the humanities drops for the eighth consecutive year ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
A puzzling decline of more than 30 percent in English and history majors.
Reading List


** With teacher wellness “hanging by a thread,” one district tries walking and smoothies ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
A New Mexico district is replacing some professional development days with teacher wellness retreats.



** TEACHER VOICE: Why we can’t get ed-tech right without teachers ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Too often, the latest tech and tools aren’t tested when they arrive in our classrooms.



** OPINION: Let’s figure out a new way to talk about early childhood education so we can fix it ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
To win broader support, we need our language to reflect current developmental science.
Was this newsletter forwarded to you?
Click here to subscribe! ([link removed])
👋 Contact Nichole Dobo at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) to give feedback on The Hechinger Report’s newsletters. Did you know we produce newsletters on early childhood ([link removed]) , education research ([link removed]) , the future of learning ([link removed]) and higher education ([link removed]) ? And it helps us if you recommend our newsletters to a friend.
You made it to the bottom of this free newsletter. Will you support our nonprofit newsroom with a gift?
Donate Now ([link removed])
Give today ([link removed]) to make this message go away.
============================================================

** Twitter ([link removed])
** [link removed] ([link removed])
** Our newsletters ([link removed])

Copyright © 2021 The Hechinger Report, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up at our website The Hechinger Report.

Our mailing address is:
The Hechinger Report
525 W 120th Street
Suite 127
New York, NY 10027
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.