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Your review of Helen Small¡¯s The Value of the?Humanities summarises the five main arguments made in support of the discipline (¡°Calm voice lauds humanities¡¯ part in public conversation¡±, News, 26 September). One is that it plays ¡°a gadfly function in democracy¡±. There is also a sixth.

At my small liberal arts university, a presidential search is under way. In its notice to potential candidates, the headhunting firm notes the university¡¯s foundation in the arts and sciences, recognises growing strengths in the ¡°professional disciplines¡± and points out that such disciplines ¡°draw on¡± the arts. Indeed, ¡°the?humanities and social sciences¡­are well integrated and synergistic with professional programs, offering courses in ethical practice, contemporary issues, and geopolitical contexts¡±. More handmaiden than gadfly now, it seems.

John Edwards
Antigonish, Nova Scotia