Humtank is a think tank that highlights the importance to society of the humanities
Adam Hjorthén, Senior Lecturer in North American Studies, is one of two new directors of the think tank Humtank. Photo: Tobias Sterner.
Humtank is now entering its second decade after its establishment in 2014. It was started as a collaboration between the faculties of arts/humanities in Sweden, with the aim of strengthening the role of humanities both within and outside academia. Adam Hjorthén from Uppsala University is one of the new directors of Humtank from 1 January 2025.
At the turn of the year, Adam Hjorthén, Senior Lecturer in North American Studies in the Department of English at Uppsala University, and Kim Silow Kallenberg, Senior Lecturer at Södertörn University, took over the helm as directors of Humtank.
“It feels great to be one of the two directors of Humtank. It’s a dynamic and exciting organisation, and an important platform,” says Adam Hjorthén. “Moving forward we will be building on and finding ways to develop Humtank’s activities.”
Humtank is the brainchild of the arts/humanities faculties at fourteen Swedish higher education institutions, and Uppsala University’s Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Languages, and Faculty of Theology all contribute funding to Humtank. Each higher education institution appoints a representative or member, normally for a three year period, and that person gets 10% of their working hours allocated to work with Humtank. The working hours allocation for the two directors is 25%.
About fostering the humanities
“We work to foster the role and importance of the humanities within and outside academia. Humtank’s motto says it all in a nutshell: Every social issue has a humanities dimension.”
Adam Hjorthén emphasises that the humanities are central to solving and dealing with key societal problems including AI and climate change.
“In all major societal problems today, human relationships are central, and it would be preposterous to think that the humanities – or the social sciences – would not have a key role to play in both understanding and solving these problems. Our role in Humtank is to highlight the importance of the humanities for universities and society.”
Debate, report, blog, discuss
Humtank highlights discussions on research policy, resource allocation, and the conditions for the disciplinary domain within the higher education sector. Beyond the sector, they monitor the role of the humanities in public debate and in knowledge policy in Sweden. Each year, they write a report on a theme. The report is published just in time for Almedalen week, where they host a variety of panel discussions. This year the theme of the report is the humanities in professional qualification study programmes, such as those for medical doctors or police officers.
Humtank also operates the blog Humtankar (thoughts on the humanities) and each autumn awards the Humtank prize to an academic who has contributed important humanities perspectives on social life in a meritorious way. They also write op-eds, hold seminars and participate in discussions with a variety of organisations.
Reasons to walk tall
“The fourteen members from the higher education institutions are the beating heart of Humtank. They are very committed and motivated to contribute. Because we are many and have a wide network, we can be quick off the mark and act quickly when needed, even if ours is not a very big organisation counted in working hours.
“Are the humanities in crisis? It’s a fairly common belief that the humanities have been fighting for their survival in various ways for some time. I don’t think the humanities are in crisis. On the contrary, the humanities in Sweden are doing well, and there are plenty of reasons to walk tall. That’s not to say that we don’t see risks. There is good reason to keep an eye on the trend in research policy.”
Anders Berndt