We’ve just witnessed the birth of a new advocacy website for the humanities in Canada:

http://www.whydoesitmatter.ca/

This blog emerged out of a  TransCanada Institute Think Tank project on emerging scholars, which ACCUTE  blogged about on April 16th:

http://accute.ca/2013/04/16/the-76/

And it’s hard to imagine a more timely intervention into public discussion over the value of what it is we do in English Studies.

Why Does it Matter? is managed by ACCUTE members Erin Wunker, Bart Vautour, and Smaro Kamboureli, and will feature guest blogs as it proceeds. Erin and Bart write: “The author of each post has chosen how to define the “it” in Why Does It Matter? “It” might be reading. “It” might be the ways institutional memory can be passed on through humanities-specific research. “It” might be feminist scholarship. “It” might be conceptual poetry. Whatever “it” is, each author believes the subject of choice has a vital part to play in the unfinished project that is humanities education. Authors who contribute to this blog all agree that “it” does matter.”

Check out the first blog post by Daniel Coleman on “Why Does Reading Matter?”