and the loss in classics and archaeology was worst of all (87 percent). Note
that these are fields with which religious studies has historical and institu-
tional affinities. Similarly, a social science that is close to religious studies,
anthropology, was also precarious. Frank and Gabler (2006: 136) write,
‘Anthropology... remained marginal in the university throughout the twentieth
century’. Its faculty share did double, but the overall absolute numbers are
very small. In addition, less than a third of the universities that Frank and
Gabler (2006) sampled for 1986–1995 taught anthropology. That is worse
than either philosophy, represented in half of the universities sampled, and
even classics and archaeology, represented in slightly more than a third.
Compared with all of these fields, a 1.7 percent faculty share for religion and
theology and representation in 60 percent of the universities sampled looks
rather good.
Despite the poor showing of anthropology, the social sciences were the core
area of the university that grew the most during the twentieth century. From
1965 to 1995, the share of students enrolled in the social sciences doubled310
GREGORY D. ALLESTable 2 Worldwide share of faculty at tertiary institutions (after Frank and Gabler
2006: 68, 133)1915–1935 (%) 1975–1995 (%)
Humanities (basic) 27.4 15.6
Classics and archaeology 4.5 0.6
History 3.5 3.0
Non-Western Languages and Literatures 2.3 2.0
Philosophy 2.8 0.8
RELIGION AND THEOLOGY 4.3 1.7Social Sciences (total) 9.3 30.0
Social Sciences (basic) 3.8 12.4
Social Sciences (applied) 5.5 17.6
Anthropology 0.2 0.4
Economics 1.7 3.8
Geography 0.4 2.9
Political Science 0.8 2.0
Psychology 0.7 0.8
Sociology 0.1 2.2