June 21, 1999

UC President and faculty to establish humanities commission

By Charles McFadden
UC Office of the President

UC President Richard C. Atkinson has announced his intention to establish a universitywide commission to recommend ways of ensuring the continued vitality of humanities programs at the university.

Membership and specific goals of the University of California Commission on the Humanities will be formulated during the coming months by Aimée Dorr, a UCLA professor and chair of the Academic Council; the university's faculty-based Academic Planning Council; and the Academic Senate, working with UC Provost and Senior Vice President C. Judson King. Commission members, yet to be selected, are scheduled to begin work this fall.

The commission results from a recommendation that emerged earlier this year from the university's Academic Planning Retreat, an annual meeting of UC's Academic Senate leaders, UC campus chancellors, and key university administrators convened by Atkinson and the chair of the UC Academic Council.

"History, literature, languages, and other humanistic disciplines are vital to the broad liberal education we give our students and to the rich contributions UC makes to scholarship and society," Atkinson said. "This is an appropriate time to look at how these absolutely critical fields are faring in today's university," he added. "This commission will give us useful guidance about how to address the challenges facing humanists and the humanities at UC."

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