More Human

Recent pauses and reductions in Ph.D. admissions at prestigious universities like the University of Chicago reflect broader trends in higher education. Institutions are grappling with financial pressures, changing priorities, and shifting student demand. The move toward smaller or paused cohorts is intended to preserve academic quality and better align graduate training with career realities, especially in the humanities, where job prospects and funding have become increasingly uncertain. This trend mirrors actions taken by other universities and signals a significant reassessment of graduate education models and resources.

This seems to in response to the need to adapt graduate programs to new realities. AI’s growing prominence has accelerated institutional investment in technology-focused fields, shifting resources and curricular priorities away from some traditional areas, such as the humanities.

As someone who has integrated AI into all parts of my job because there is no way around, it makes me sad to see this trend and hope that the peak moment of crisis will give way to more long term thinking about the value of humanities, particularly in today's world. I would argue we need much more not less of it to make it through the generation change we are experiencing.