To honor University alumnus Preston Robert Tisch for his support in funding the new Tisch Hall and the humanities as a whole, LSA held a forum yesterday focusing on the future of the humanities.
The symposium was the first event of a three-day celebration for the success of the Campaign for Michigan, which raised $1.3 billion.
"It is a way to have a kind of academic content for a celebration of a fine gift from a University alumnus and a strong supporter of Michigan," said history and anthropology Prof. Tom Trautmann.
Tisch's donation of $6 million breaks the mold of a national trend, in which traditional supporters of the humanities have begun to donate less generously.
"Once again, Michigan is setting the pace," said John D'Arms, president of the American Council of Learned Societies and former Rackham dean, adding that the Tisch donation has served as a catalyst to donors at institutions around the nation, includ
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| KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily Preston Robert Tisch (fourth from left) joins Athletic Director Tom Goss (immediately to his right) and University President Lee Bollinger during the dedication of the Tisch Tennis Center yesterday afternoon. |
"There always should be more funding for the humanities. The humanities are always in need of greater funding," said University President Lee Bollinger.
D'Arms, the symposium's first speaker, said major corporations and private donors have in recent years turned toward performance arts instead of humanities.
"You have registered a great and deserved vote of confidence in the humanities and the future of the humanities," D'Arms.
The building will house the comparative literature program and the history of art print study room, as well as the departments of history, English and classical studies.
Called the cornerstone of the University's humanities disciplines by LSA Dean Edie Goldenberg, Tisch Hall centralizes departments that previously were spread across campus.
"Tisch Hall provides wonderful space for students and faculty to engage in dialogue and collaboration and to develop relationships that can advance important debates about literary study and interpretations of history," Goldenberg said.
Trautman, director of the Institute for the Humanities, discussed the growing bridge between history and the literary arts.
"History is no longer about society. It's about text." Trautmann said. "(There is) a feeling that history is turning alien. It is turning into literature."
Trautmann said the studies of both English and history have come to rely on each other more than ever in this generation.
"The exclusionary boundary of pure literature has been breached," Trautmann said.
Associate English Prof. Linda Gregerson, also a symposium panelist, presented her view on some of the current controversies in literary criticism.
"It was an eloquent poetic understanding of the intellectual current over the past two decades," Bollinger said.
Goldenberg said the event sufficiently honors the humanities and the efforts of the Tisch family.
"Oh, I think that the three participants were just terrific and I think they raised all the right issues about the debate in the humanities and they did it in a charming way," Goldenberg said. "And I have a great appreciation for the Tisch family for what they've done here."
09-26-97
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