PARTISAN REVIEW
505
Steven Marcus's and Richard Poirier's sharp but modulated
papers are intended to open and suggest the directions of the dis–
cussion. But it might also be useful at this moment to specify some
of the major questions which are raised by them and by the critical
state of the humanities.
1. What should be taught and learned in the humanities?
(a) Do we teach values, the subject, how to cope with society,
or something called a general education, the equivalent for mass
education of the old education of a gentleman?
(b) What is a proper curriculum?
2. How can the humanities adapt to the needs and pressures of
mass education?
3. Is modernism dead?
If
so, what has taken its place?
4. Is the avant-garde dead? Do we have a real or pseudo avant-
I
garde today?
5. Is elite or high culture a thing of the past? What is the relation
of mass or popular culture
to
elite or high culture?
6 . How can we assess or describe the present period in the arts?
7. Is there a tradition, a variety of traditions in the arts? How can
they be identified?
8. What is the proper meaning of the idea of relevance? Is there
any sense in Iwhich the humanities can be expected to be relevant to
the contemporary scene?
9. How can we reform the state of teaching and research in the
humanities? Can we encourage and reward an academic elite?
10. What role can foundations play in improving the situation of
the humanities?
