The Mandel Foundation is giving $22.5 million to Brandeis University to build a center for humanities.
In a statement, Brandeis said the gift would counteract the recent neglect of humanities in the face of focus on more “practical” disciplines, such as health sciences, business and technology.
Funding for humanities “has lagged in the face of skyrocketing college costs, an uncertain economy, job placement concerns and a mushrooming consumerism in today’s culture,” the statement said.
The Mandel Center for the Humanities will stress the cultural and intellectual importance of studying literature, language and philosophy.
Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz called the gift “transformative.”
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