8-31: What were the Humanities, anyway? August Cal's deadliest month. Scott Atlas alarms experts.

The Humanities under threat

✅What Were the Humanities, Anyway?
This dangerous moment demands that we give an elusive concept its history.
—CHE

     Over the last couple of decades, the humanities have often been defended. Too often. Those defenses have been most useful when they have segued into what has also become a thriving field over the same period, a field with much to tell us still: the history of the humanities.

. . .

     To begin with, there is no adequate “idea of the humanities.” There is instead a humanities world: a loosely linked conglomeration of practices, interests, comportments, personae, moods, purposes, and values, and the various settings which these practices, interests, and so on inhabit. This world is both open ended and limited. It is open in that from inside the humanities world one doesn’t see clear boundaries. But it is limited because we, as if intuitively, know that the humanities are distinct from other worlds — from the worlds of science, sport, business, and so on — even if, on reflection, we can see that these worlds and the humanities sometimes overlap. By “world,” I mean, then, that the humanities has a sense of itself as a contained, practical, and historical enterprise.

     But first: Why ask these questions now? There are at least three reasons. A good part of the answer is, of course, that the humanities are currently under financial and ideological pressure. This has had the effect of flattening them, so that the humanities are often no longer regarded as a suite of specialized disciplines but rather as a distinct formation. When politicians, businesspeople, and university administrators worry that the humanities are insufficiently geared toward training students for the workplace, for instance, they usually don’t distinguish among history, philosophy, archaeology, and so on — it is simply the humanities that are in their sights. We might say, therefore, that the humanities are becoming a “meta-discipline.” But a concept of the humanities that transcends or overflows the established disciplines is a beast that has been vaguely denoted rather than concretely apprehended…. [continue]

✅Long-Dormant County Police Watchdog Plans First Set of Probes into OC Agencies in Years
—Voice of OC

     Orange County’s police watchdog agency, which for years remained vacant and steeped in controversy, is currently a one-man shop.
     Yet the new head of the Office of Independent Review (OIR), Sergio Perez, in an Aug. 27 report announced three investigations centered on law enforcement use-of-force policies and practices, evidence-booking issues, and employee hiring and psychological evaluation practices at the Orange County Sheriff’s Dept. and District Attorney’s office.
. . .
     But there are questions as to whether Perez in his role will be truly immune from the influence of the elected officials and agencies he’s reviewing.
. . .
     Over the last several weeks, there have been concerns raised about county Public Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau, who’s supposed to act independently of the county supervisors who hired him, but has approached coronavirus public health measures in a way that’s in step with the rhetoric and pressure of his elected bosses.
. . .
     The upcoming use-of-force policies investigation is a response to local and national movements questioning the role of law enforcement in public safety – and it will be the priority, he said….

✅August was the deadliest month of the pandemic in California

—LA Times

     The state has reported 3,707 deaths connected to COVID-19, an 18% increase over July, a Times analysis found.

✅How the race for a Covid-19 vaccine is getting dirty

—Guardian UK

     …The accumulation of such incidents has left many scientists feeling deeply uneasy…..

     One potential risk with some kinds of vaccine, for example, is that they can cause the recipient to experience a worse bout of the disease if that person becomes infected naturally later on. This phenomenon, known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), has been a problem with experimental vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) – which is caused by a virus related to Sars-CoV-2 – and it will need to be ruled out by rigorous testing of vaccines against Covid-19….

 

✅California corporations would be required to diversify their boards under bill sent to Newsom -- California lawmakers on Sunday sent the governor a bill that would require greater diversity on corporate boards in the state.... Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/31/20

 

✅Some police shootings would be investigated by California AG under bill nearing approval -- ...A bill that would require the state attorney general to investigate any incident in which a law enforcement officer kills an unarmed civilian passed the state Senate on a bipartisan vote of 33-1. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Don Thompson and Adam Beam Associated Press -- 8/31/20

 

✅ New Trump adviser pushes ‘herd immunity’ strategy

—WashPo

     Scott Atlas has expanded his influence inside the White House by advocating policies that appeal to the president’s desire to move past the pandemic and get the economy going, alarming experts inside and outside the government who believe those strategies could lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

 

✅The dangerous overconfidence of Trump supporters

—WashPo

     What will a close contest look like if Trump's supporters refuse to believe he could lose fairly?

 

✅Covid-19 Live Updates: The Midwest Sees a Spike as Cases Decline Elsewhere

—NYT

     Coronavirus cases are flat in 26 states and falling in 15. But infections are still growing in nine states, setting new records in some. Here’s the latest.

 

✅Gag Order or Privacy Concern?

Inside Higher Ed

     …Some faculty members say they have no interest in sharing students’ medical information but believe that they -- and their other students -- have a right to know if someone with whom they’ve shared classroom air is sick. They also say that discussing student health without naming names is covered by academic freedom, since it relates to how well or how poorly campuses are handling outbreaks….

✅COVID-19 Roundup: Colleges Struggle to Control Outbreaks

—Inside Higher Ed

     …Indeed, it's not just parties at Greek houses and gatherings at bars that are fueling concerns. The Los Angeles Times reported that three students at the University of Southern California tested positive after gathering to play Monopoly. Four were infected when they gathered to study….

 

✅New Database Tracks Reversals in Colleges' Fall Reopening Plans

—Inside Higher Ed

     Inside Higher Ed today releases a map and database tracking changes in colleges' plans for reopening this fall. Scores of colleges and universities have in recent weeks reversed plans they announced in the spring or early summer, and this new feature allows readers to see how the changes have unfolded over time and by region, and to search for individual institutions.

✅Today's County Covid Numbers. Very low. 94 new cases, 1 death.