The Entrepreneurial Humanities

With AI, cryptocurrency, and more in the news, it seems that being an entrepreneur means being in IT, but humanities graduates are launching new businesses every day, turning a profit and having social impact. This book explores how a humanities background can enable entrepreneurs to thrive.

Across all levels of education, students are given the message that to change the world - or make money - the arts and humanities are not the subjects to study. At the same time, discussions of innovation and entrepreneurship highlight the importance of essential skills, such as critical thinking, storytelling, cultural awareness, and ethical decision-making. Here’s the disconnect: the subjects that help to develop these vital skills are derided at critical points in any aspiring entrepreneur’s education. This collection of perspectives from entrepreneurs in a range of fields and humanities educators illustrates what individuals, and the wider world, are missing when humanities are overlooked as a source of inspiration and success in business.

Featuring a foreword by Sensemaking author Christian Madsbjerg, this is a thought-provoking guide for aspiring entrepreneurs in all sectors, and for educators, a window on the practical value of the humanities in an ever more mechanized world._

Alain-Philippe Durand is the Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities, Professor of French, and affiliated faculty in Africana Studies, Latin American Studies, LGBT Studies, and Public and Applied Humanities at the University of Arizona. He is the author and editor of five books: Black, Blanc, Beur. Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture in the Francophone World; Un Monde techno. Nouveaux espaces électroniques dans le roman français des années 1980 et 1990; Novels of the Contemporary Extreme (co-edited with Naomi Mandel); Frédéric Beigbeder et ses doubles, and Hip-Hop en français. An Exploration of Hip-Hop Culture in the Francophone World.

Christine Henseler is professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies at Union College, NY. She earned her BSJ in Journalism and BA and MA in Romance Studies from the University of Kansas and her Ph.D. from Cornell University. She co-leads 4Humanities and has published several books, volumes, and articles on the topic of the humanities, interdisciplinary learning, Generation X, and literature and digital media. Her most recent edited volume is titled Extraordinary Partnerships: How the Arts and Humanities are Transforming America (Lever Press).