Postdisciplinary Liaisons: Science Studies and the Humanities

The disciplinary predicament of science studies offers a useful vantage point for reconsidering some of the recent debates on the crisis of the humanities and the university. 1 In these discussions, the decline of the humanities is often connected to the increasing cultural and economic My thanks to Mike Fischer, Cori Hayden, Colin Milburn, Kriss Ravetto, and Randy Starn for their suggestions and criticism.The conversation about the future of the humanities and science studies has evolved significantly since this essay was presented at the "Fate of the Disciplines" conference.The "digital humanities" project has quickly emerged as a strong innovative trend while "innovation studies" may be in the process of reshaping the institutional ecology of science studies.Believing that the arguments I present here have been reinforced rather than challenged by the emergence of the digital humanities and innovation studies, I have chosen not to engage in detail with these new trends in the final revised version of this essay.1.Among the many books on the crisis of the university (and the role of the humanities in the university) Sande Cohen, Academia and the Luster of Capital (Minneapolis, 1993), and Bill Readings, The University in Ruins (Cambridge, Mass., 1996) are particularly incisive.The perceived commercialization of the university is also discussed in David C.