Using the context of Harris, During is trying to communicate that the Humanities, as western civilizations knows and (once) respected, is diminishing into an interdisciplinary melting pot with little funding and much critique. Instead, he is arguing that on a global scale, there are “extra-mural humanities” which take place outside of the hallowed halls of academia, writing:
Outside of the university, what I have elsewhere called “the extra-mural humanities” remain strong even as the humanities within the university suffer. One consequence of this is that the forces producing a meta-humanities within the university are also flattening out differences between the academic and extra-mural humanities. The importance given to “impact” in Britain and Australia is one indication of this; the popularity of the “public humanities” in the United States another.
During, “What Were the Humanities Anyways?”
But during is not saying this is a bad thing. Instead, that it is in fact, the likely salvation of the humanities. As humanities moves into the extramural, it changes, but manages to salvage the vitality of the study. During discusses this sentimentally, here:
There also exists an extramural figurative humanities, by which I mean a domain of styles, objects, designs, and tastes that are shaped by the humanities, carry their imprint, and indirectly express and stimulate their findings.
During, “Losing Faith in the Humanities”
Overall, During is concluding that as the world change, so does the study of the humanities. This is expounded by his articulation the the world of humanities os both converging together and diverging from its traditional format.
