ISIH2013, 5-7 June 2013, Princeton University

Keynotes: William Clark (UCLA), Anthony Grafton (Princeton) and Howard Hotson (Oxford)

It is an inescapable fact of contemporary life that the idea of a liberal education, an education that aims primarily at the cultivation of the intellect and sensibility rather than at preparation for a particular vocation, is widely under attack all over the world. In country after country, the idea of learning for its own sake is being swept aside, as institutions of higher education are pressured to devote themselves primarily to preparing students for careers in practical areas. The global membership of the International Society for Intellectual History is in a unique position to illuminate these questions from a genuinely historical and cosmopolitan perspective.

This conference has been made possible thanks to the support of the Department of Philosophy, the Department of History, the Humanities Council, the University Center for Human Values, the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, and the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, whose sponsorship we gratefully acknowledge.

Organized by Daniel GarberHoward HotsonDana Jalobeanu, and James A T Lancaster