The Humanities took centre stage in the House of Lords as Professor Arlene Holmes-Henderson celebrated the launch of three new books exploring the impact and relevance of Classics in the modern world.
Marking the 75th anniversary of A-Level Ancient History, the parliamentary reception brought together more than 100 academics, school teachers, charity representatives, funders, policymakers, MPs and peers.
Here, Professor Holmes-Henderson reflects on why Humanities education matters more than ever in an age of artificial intelligence, rapid technological change and increasing societal division.
At a time when technological change is accelerating, artificial intelligence is reshaping work and public debate is becoming ever more polarised, it is tempting to treat the Humanities as a luxury: valuable, perhaps, but somehow secondary to the “real” business of science, technology, economics and policy.
I believe that is precisely the wrong conclusion.
Today (7 September 2026), at a parliamentary reception in the House of Lords, we are celebrating the launch of three books that, in different but complementary ways, make the case for something I believe passionately: the Humanities are not ornamental. They are essential for human flourishing and productive civic dialogue.
Classics and Public Policy: Perspectives from the United Kingdom challenges the assumption that Humanities scholars sit outside the world of policy.
Classicists, historians, archaeologists and philosophers describe in the book how they use lessons from the past to avoid policy mistakes in future.
The book demonstrates how Classics can engage directly with contemporary policy questions, informing education, migration and climate change policy. The book also collates personal reflections from policy officials (including a former cabinet minister, senior civil servants and representatives from devolved nations) on how their study of Classics at university prepared them for life as a civil servant.
Because good policy requires more than data. It requires interpretation, judgement, historical perspective and an understanding of human behaviour.
The Humanities help us to ask questions that statistics alone cannot answer: Why does this matter? Whose voices are missing? What values are at stake? And what kind of society do we want to create?
These questions also underpin Humanities Forward: Opportunity, Innovation, Policy in the 21st Century, co-edited with Stephan Nitu.
Bringing together 50 scholars and practitioners from across five continents, the volume makes the case for the Humanities as drivers of opportunity, innovation and wellbeing.
Contributors do not shy away from provocation, and perspectives are shared by school teachers, publishers, funders, independent scholars and knowledge exchange practitioners.
We should not have to justify Classics, History, English, Philosophy or Music by demonstrating that they can imitate STEM subjects.
Their distinctive contribution lies elsewhere: in helping us think about meaning, culture, language, values, identity, ethics, power and human experience.
And that is why Reviving Rhetoric Across the Curriculum: A Guide for Teachers and School Leaders, co-authored with Kat Howard, is so important.
Rhetoric is often misunderstood as simply the art of persuasion.
Properly understood, it is an education in how language works: how to construct an argument, listen critically, speak with confidence, evaluate evidence and recognise the ways in which language can inform, manipulate or divide.
In an age of social media, misinformation and generative AI, these are not optional skills. They are vital democratic skills which should, we believe, form an integral part of the school curriculum. Our book offers a practical guide to implementation.
These three books connect scholarship with public policy. Education with citizenship. Language with democracy. The past with the future.
So, as we celebrate these books in Parliament, I encourage colleagues from all disciplinary backgrounds to embrace and uplift the Humanities without apology, and with ambition for the future.
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