The value of the humanities (academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture) to society, democracy, identity, happiness and economic worth is being debated in most developed nations, including Aotearoa. New Zealander Helen Small is a Professor of English Literature at Pembroke College, University of Oxford and has written The Value of the Humanities, in which she takes a close look at arguments through the years to defend the humanities, and how valid these arguments remain in the 21st century. Small has been appointed the next Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford University. She takes up the post in October.