Organised by the SSHRC Working Group on the Future of the Humanities, the Conference was an important step in an ongoing effort to mobilise Canada's humanities and fine arts research communities. Purpose of the Conference was to bring together key people in different sectors and from different parts of the country in order to:

• Identify current challenges and future trends in humanities research;
• Identify priority issues with respect to humanities research and training;
• Explore new initiatives, promising models and good practices;
• Identify and propose strategies and initiatives to the Board of Directors of the SSHRC Council, university administrators and the humanities research community.

The Conference was attended by a large number of SSHRC personnel and Council members, about 150 leading Canadian humanists, graduate student delegates and representatives from other sectors. The Conference was a far-reaching study of the present and foreseeable future of humanities and fine arts research in Canada. During deliberations, major problems and issues were raised and addressed. The conclusions and recommendations of the Conference were specific, innovative, bold, dynamic and optimistic. Together they add up to a challenging plan for action. The SSHRC Working Group on the Humanities intends to use them to formulate a vision statement that will be posted on the web site, , and that will play a central role in setting policy directions. The tenor of the Conference at its conclusion was one of enthusiasm, commitment and conviction that the coming decade is one of great opportunity for humanities and fine arts teaching and research, particularly in their collaborative endeavors.

It is now necessary for scholars, graduate students and academic/research administrators with responsibility for humanities and fine arts research communities to take account of the Conference and to move to implement its recommendations throughout the Canadian post-secondary sector and the communities with which they currently work or could establish collaborative teaching and research relations.

The Conference began with substantive and extensive welcoming remarks on the theme of "Changing Directions in the Humanities" by Patricia Demers, Chair of the SSHRC Working Group on the Future of the Humanities and Vice-President of the SSHRC Council. The following plenary addresses were given (I have copies of these addresses if anyone wishes to consult them):

• "Towards a More 'Liberal' Liberal Education: Restructuring the Curriculum," Constance Rooke, President, University of Winnipeg
• "Education and Technological Revolutions: The Role of the Humanities in the Knowledge Based Economy," Robert Allen, University of British Columbia
• "The Special Role of the Humanities in Interdisciplinary Research and Public Policy Engagement," Harold Coward, University of Victoria
• New Information Technologies: Transmitting Memory in Hypertext Wor(l)ds," Alice van der Klei, Université de Montréal

Conference participants then broke for discussion in the following Concurrent Workshops:

• The Liberal Arts Degree: What Lies Ahead?
• Resuming Our Place in Civil Society: The Public Role of Humanists
• The Landscape of Humanities Scholarship: Emerging Directions and Future Perspectives
• New Information Technologies: Living with a Transforming Partner

Key Questions had been prepared in advance for each of the Concurrent Workshops. Most Workshop participants prepared a 1-2 page statement in response to the Questions prior to the Conference. These statements were distributed to all participants; they served as starting points for the discussion and recommendations. The Key Questions are posted on the SSHRC web site, as are some responses to them from members of the community. I have a complete folder of all statements and some very interesting statistics that I would be delighted to share. Final session of the Conference was a plenary session during which reports and recommendations from the Concurrent Workshops were received; closing remarks were made by Marc Renaud, President, SSHRC, and Patricia Demers. Both conveyed strong enthusiasm in their words.

I was asked to serve as rapporteuse for the Workshop "The Liberal Arts Degree: What Lies Ahead?". This involved listening carefully and taking notes, suggesting possible structures for directions the discussion took, and preparing a report which I gave at the final plenary. This proved to be a particularly challenging task because of the complexity of the topic, involving as it does difficult questions regarding teaching and curriculum matters, enrolment trends, graduate student education, planning for the future in hiring, welcoming diversity in order to better reflect the demographics of Canadian society, innovation in research, new technologies, interface with public policy, tensions between disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, self-examination, as well as relations among humanists, researchers in the creative arts, the sciences, and the broader public.

The Conference affirmed strong commitment to the values of the humanities. There was a shared belief that Canadian society and its economy are as strong as they are precisely because the humanities continue to play a central role in the education of many of its citizens. At the same time, there was recognition of urgent need for change in what we do, how we talk collectively about what we do. There is a particularly urgent need for universities and SSHRC to recognise in their reward systems the non-traditional innovations in curriculum, modes of research and research dissemination that will make the humanities more present in the eyes and interests of Canadians and that are necessary if the humanities are to survive into the 21st century.