— — I am convinced that to be effective, the work of enhancing humanities communication needs to be considered against the backdrop of this moment of enormity for American higher education—one in which there has been a dramatic decline in public trust in the academy, burgeoning skepticism around the value of a college degree, and mental health issues have surpassed financial considerations as the primary reason students are either dropping out of college or not attending in t

Distinguished scholar, writer, and artist, Johanna Drucker recently shared her insights with me on designing effective humanities communication to engage undergraduate and high school students. Our conversation began with Drucker’s thought-provoking articulation of a central challenge facing humanities communicators: “We must shift from speaking about the humanities to enabling students to speak for and through them.” Drucker has seen traditional humcomm methods all too ofte