President Tilghman’s report that “the humanities are alive and well at Princeton” (President’s Page, Nov. 14) is good news indeed for the entire University community. Thanks to the innovative thinking and cross-disciplinary strategy employed by Princeton’s Council of the Humanities, advancement of the humanities has held its own against the national tide of enthusiasm and resources poured into science, technology, engineering, and math programs.
The title of her report, “In the service of the humanities,” applies equally well on the national level, where the National Endowment for the Humanities, under the inspired leadership of former Iowa congressman and Woodrow Wilson School professor Jim Leach ’64, has launched a campaign to restore civility, thoughtfulness, and decency in our discourse in the public square. His message was the urgent need to eliminate the “divisive rhetoric of anger” that is threatening a fundamental necessity of democracy: the constructive exchange of views.
As a board member of the Illinois Humanities Council, I would suggest that more civility in our politics and our daily lives is a goal we all should embrace ... even lawyers. The ability to disagree without being disagreeable is laudable, even vital, to the future of our democracy.