According to the prevailing narrative, the state of the humanities is dire. State legislators and far-right journalists attack these degrees from ideological angles, while others claim they lack vocational relevance. The numbers don’t lie: Bachelor’s degrees awarded in the humanities declined nearly 16 percent between 2012 and 2020.

Yet, across the country, there are colleges where these departments are experiencing enrollment growth. Statistics around unemployment also show that the dire narrative around employment for these majors is just that, a narrative, as the unemployment rate for humanities majors is similar to other college graduates (around 3 percent). In other words, the humanities may simply have a marketing problem.

Join The Chronicle of Higher Education and its Deputy Managing Editor, Ian Wilhelm, on Wednesday, October 2, at 2 p.m. ET for a virtual forum exploring the actual state of the humanities. Experts will offer tips and advice to help strengthen messaging, modernize course offerings, and revive interest in the humanities.

Registration is required and can be found here.