The Humanities in the Era of Cooperation: Beyond C. P. Snow's “Two Cultures”

Abstract

During the forty years since C. P. Snow decried the existence of “two cultures” and castigated “literary intellectuals” for their lack of concern for humanity as a whole, an intellectual revolution in the humanities, driven in part by the intellectual obliteration of boundaries between disciplines and in part by globalization, has reoriented scholars toward engagement in the world and communication with scientists. A recognition that interdependence makes cooperation essential, whether among scholars or among nations, is bringing about an “era of cooperation” among disciplines and between academic and non-academic institutions.