STEM, meet SHAPE: a new coalition for the arts and humanities. From the announcement:

Fortunately, many countries now appear to have passed the peak of their outbreaks. But it will be a long time before we fully grasp the true geopolitical, social and financial impact of the pandemic. In the short term alone, we are facing historic job losses, economic hardship, social dislocation and growing concerns over mental health.

The silver lining, if we can call it that, is that these challenges also present an opportunity to attend to those damaged aspects of society that need work: as we try to recover from this extraordinary crisis, we must be sure to “build back better”….

Rebuilding will require creativity, hard work, and cross-party (not to mention cross-border) collaboration. It will also depend on the expertise and experience of a broad range of graduates – those in the natural sciences, medicine, engineering and maths together with those in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Whether they are dramatists, lawyers, art historians, psychologists or economists, or employed in the financial sector or the creative industries or universities, people trained and working in the arts, humanities and social sciences are essential contributors to the well-being of any healthy, wealthy and thriving nation. And as we seek to build back better, we need them more than ever….

Unlike our colleagues in STEM, we have yet to develop a strong, compelling and memorable narrative about what these subjects are and what they do. That is why, with a range of other organisations, we have begun to think about the notion of SHAPE – Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy – as a shorthand to unite and celebrate these vital subjects.

Symbolically, it allows us to get across that these are subjects that help us make sense of, communicate and transform the human experience. It is through these disciplines that we can understand ourselves and others, help turn innovation into reality and fine tune our essential abilities to inquire, analyse, create and collaborate – skills crucial to success in the twenty first century.

h/t Rob Townsend (@rbthisted)