Some think that the humanities have become so disconnected from the real world that they are of small interest to most people. Examples of this might include:
Philosophy: In a whole video course I took some while ago the lecturer’s arcane and jargon-filled discussion contained nothing about ethics or how to live one’s life. In universties what is taught is the history of philosophy at best and the meaning of words at worst. Little is offered about the modern world and its problems. It has become irrelevant.
Economics: Thanks to people like Yanis Varoufakis (Greek Finance Minister) the practice of economics is threatened with healthy change. For the last generation it has been dominated by economic and statistical modeling. Debates have concentrated more on techniques than on real life situations.
Sociology: With some notable exceptions, sociologists have also been seduced by the quantitative modeling game at the expense of a more nuanced study of society. It is also accused of political correctness that prevents discussion of real societal problems.
Music: Music schools have impressed on their pupils the importance of innovation, which has meant the abandonment of beauty and melody in favor of “extended instrumental techniques” and dissonance. This has discouraged audiences and endangered the future of “classical” music. Fortunately, some composers are now returning to more accessible music that pleases the ear.
Art: Probably the most egregious of trends is the emphasis on “concept” art, at the expense of the disciplines of drawing and painting in the fine art tradition. This has brought the art world a degree of derision never before seen. A whole industry now identifies “promising artists” and promotes their work as financial investments that have to be manipulated to keep the rich punters buying. A giant ponzi scheme, but who cares?
Be thankful that the academic community has yet to mess up subjects like History and Politics. The good news is that there are people with common sense out there and the disappointing trends can be reversed.
Philosophy: I completely agree
Economics: sort of agree, though I think there are a lot of good economists still out there, any many of the worst ones are dead. For instance, the rather dreary Chicago School has lost influence. But Thomas Piketty has started an excellent debate on inequality, and I look forward to the fact that he will be enrolling at my university the same time I do.
Sociology: agree, though I don’t know enough to properly comment.
Music: within the realms of ‘proper’ music, absolutely, but true music is your average guy in a garage experimenting on his guitar. Music has always been at its best, a ‘bottom-up’ where the best has come from individual creativity, not some fanciful school.
Art: I think the state of modern art is a travesty. There are too many sanctimonious artists who think they are being ‘countercultural’, when in reality, conservative and traditional art was rather good, modern art isn’t.
Finally, though I agree with pretty much everything you say, I think academia is generally over criticised. I’m tired of American conservatives criticising universities and their intellectuals. Far more truth comes out of academia than out of a church or conservative ‘university’ like Liberty, those are religious indoctrination centres.
You mention Hisotry and Politics, so I may as well comment on those as I’m doing them at university. History is in a very good state generally, but you still get very Orthodox Marxist historians who overplay the significance of the urban proletariat all the time, and refuse to admit that their beliefs need to be altered in light of recent events. Its frustrating, but by no means detrimental. Politics is also in a good state, with conservative fears of political indoctrination and left wing bias being almost completely wrong. Its a shame that politicians largely ignore the political research that universities do, the world would be so much better if they did.