On Thursday, Carnegie Mellon University invited Pitt to have his brain imaged and be examined by Marlene Behrmann, a neuroscientist, professor of psychology and a member of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition within the university's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

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For example, the New College of the Humanities will offer a liberal arts education of the kind which will be familiar to American readers and is so lacking in Europe, where most generally students must pick a topic of study (often vocational) upon their leaving the secondary school system.

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The New College of the Humanities says it will teach "gifted" undergraduates and prepare them for degrees from the University of London.

BBC: Richard Dawkins

But the University and College Union (UCU) said the launch of the new college - and state funding cuts for arts, humanities and social sciences - would result in the subjects becoming the preserve of a "select few".

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Health care, business and the STEM majors (science, technology, engineering and math) are more stable and higher paying for recent college graduates, whereas graduates of the arts, humanities and social sciences face higher unemployment rates and earn lower salaries.

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Mr. Mead is a professor of foreign affairs and humanities at Bard College.

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The college claims to offer a "new model of higher education for the humanities in the UK".

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"The launch of this college highlights the government's failure to protect art and humanities and is further proof that its university funding plans will entrench inequality within higher education, " she said.

BBC: Richard Dawkins

Based in Bloomsbury, central London, the new college says it will offer eight undergraduate courses in the humanities taught by some of the world's most prominent academics.

BBC: Richard Dawkins