For several years, I taught a general education course on the Manhattan Project for students majoring in the arts and humanities who needed a physical science credit as a condition of their graduation requirements. As might be imagined, the challenge in teaching this course was to find a balance between quantitative and qualitative content. A…

The centennial of the First World War has offered instructors across the humanities an exciting opportunity to enhance students' disciplinary expertise while reflecting on the significance of an event that continues to shape the world today. Drawing on established courses on the history and literature of the war, respectively, the authors designed…

In particular, the study of history--its scope, reliance on analytical narrative, and methodology of tracing change and continuity over time--provides for an exchange of meaningful narratives. As historians Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier argue, "All cultures, all peoples, tell stories about themselves, and it is these stories that help…

Moreover, the cross-curricular integrative writing approach implemented by the instructors of these courses (the authors) provided students enrolled in the Colleges of Education and the College of Social Sciences, Arts, & Humanities a unique opportunity to become actively engaged in a multidisciplinary approach to learning. The assignment not…

This article examines a hybrid graduate history course called "Teaching Hidden History." Team-taught in Summer 2015 across two universities, the course fundamentally tasked graduate students in history and history education with creating online learning modules based on the idea that hidden within any artifact is a larger historical…

Teaching for cultural understanding has always posed many challenges regarding exactly what should be taught and how it should be presented. For instance: should students be taught a list of facts about another culture, which may lead to stereotyping? Should there be comparison between one's own and another culture, which may involve dealing with…

"Popular culture" and "culture studies" have become mainstays of the humanities in higher education. Like most other humanities courses, popular culture courses today mainly serve the usual politically correct program of the existing dominant class in the academy. Nevertheless, such courses can also be a powerful tool for instructors who wish to…

General education requirements have long been a component of college and university baccalaureate programs. The courses have traditionally focused on the disciplines in the arts and sciences including mathematics, sciences, humanities, social sciences, and the arts. Family and consumer sciences (FCS) programs also offer courses in areas such as…

"Computing in the Humanities," an undergraduate course for Computer Science Department majors and minors and Web Programming minors at New York University, represents a unique collaboration between the Computer Science Department and the University Archives. The course's final assignment required students to select, digitize, and contextualize…

This article seeks to inspire humanities and social science faculty to explore ways of utilizing existing scholarly online communities to engage students in the process of academic inquiry. The author discusses her own experience using a discipline-specific listserv, shares successful assignments, examples of student postings and a grading rubric.…

Offering lifelong and developmental learning to over 13 million students at nearly 1,200 schools, community colleges in the United States attract a student body with remarkable economic, ethnic, and cultural diversity. They provide students with skills and foundational knowledge upon which successful professional careers and rewarding personal…

The article describes organizing a seminar in the humanities as a "metalogue" where the object of study is both a text and the occasion itself, as well as the conscious analogical relation between the two. Two examples of the seminar as metalogue are offered. (Author/DB)

In April and May 1974, the Center of Continuing Education and Community Service of the University of Hawaii at Hilo sponsored a course for 41 members of the Hui Aloha senior citizens club. Between 39 and 44 students, ranging in age from 60 to 93, participated in an experimental workshop program which involved four 8-hour tours of colleges and…

The article describes a two-year, interdisciplinary humanities core requirement, "Portraits of Human Greatness." Established in 1977-78 at St. Anselm College (New Hampshire), this course requires freshmen and sophomores to study groups or individuals in Western Civilization in a lecture/seminar format with extensive reading and writing…

Describes a seminar course for underprepared college students which focuses on the study of the hero's quest and solves many of the difficulties inherent in the remedial writing course previously taught. Aims to teach critical thinking, close critical reading, and critical and creative writing as necessary for making the journey of inquiry. (PA)