This paper reports on a pilot interdisciplinary graduate Summer School in Theory and Philosophy for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, which aimed to combine research with graduate teaching and learning. The paper will develop reflections on the ways in which interdisciplinary residential learning spaces can promote successful skills…

This paper records three plenary sessions held at the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) National Education Conference, August 27-29, 1993. The conference built on what was learned in the first year of the project and reported in ACLS Occasional Paper 20. Sessions allowed participants to talk with colleagues who had been project…

Intellectual refinement and spiritual evaluation have been the traditional goals of the humanities and should remain so. If these aims are given up, then the noble endeavors in the humanities such as sustained reflection, intensive research, careful scholarship, inspired teaching, deep learning, and serious discussion will all become discredited…

The Eight Year Study (EYS) and the Humanities Curriculum Project (HCP) are compared and contrasted on the basis of five hypotheses. First, EYS and HCP were similar in confounding conventional notions of success and failure. Second, both were manifestations of progressive education. Third, both arose in climates of unease over perceived breakdowns…

A model for faculty development and curricular change that focuses on the history, culture, and contributions of women in the humanities is the subject of this overview of a National Endowment for the Humanities final report on establishing a women's studies section at Stephens College (Missouri). The report is divided into sections describing…

A discussion is presented on the role of the humanities in society and in the community colleges. First, some reflections on the status of humanities education are provided, including comments on the limitations of federal funding for projects to enhance the quality of the humanities and encourage their growth; and the difficulties facing the…

Academic curricula in the humanities should lead the student to develop "shared values," which include cultivating the intellect, acquiring critical skills, gaining an understanding of humanity, and learning to make reasoned choices. Toward this goal, the curriculum should strive to preserve the independent quest for truth through textual analysis…

One of the major changes in educational practices occurred during the Italian Renaissance, when a system of pre-university education based on a thorough grounding in the Latin, and to a lesser extent, the Greek classics began. This change started in early 15th century northern Italy and lasted until well into the 20th century. Italian school…

Dr. Robert Wolverton, former president of the American Classical League, made some proposals for long-range planning activities in support of classical languages, literatures, and courses in the schools, colleges, and universities. In order to implement these proposals there is need at the school level for a broadening of the appeal of classics as…

The author implies or mentions in general that many factors, such as economic, cultural, psychological and political, all interacting with one another, determine the state of society and more specifically that of our environment. Basically, however, he attempts to identify how engineering and technology fit into the situation. He states, as a…

In 1988, 11 faculty members at Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC), Michigan, taught a customized honors class at KVCC focussing on connections between disciplines. It soon became clear how little faculty members understood and appreciated their colleagues' fields and perspectives. Following the course, faculty participants concluded that…

A National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant funded a study to establish an International Humanities Curriculum that would serve as a model of curricular internationalization upon which interested observers might draw for revision of their own curricula. This curriculum revision project introduced the study of texts, ideas, themes, and…

Designing a women's studies course that would be truly interdisciplinary, and not merely multidisciplinary as most such courses usually are, requires an understanding of the fundamental differences between the aims and outlooks of the humanities and the social sciences. The humanities are more concerned with process than product, with judgment…

Inclusion of the humanities (literature, languages, philosophy, and history) in the educational experiences of gifted students is recommended. The role of the teacher is paramount in developing a humanities curriculum for the gifted. Curriculum choices are often based on identifying an observed talent or interest and offering the student more of…

The author attempts to delineate the three critical parameters which he feels must be considered in examining the role of general education science in an open society--students, instructors, and an holistic curricula. One other element considered to be of particular importance to such a teaching experience was style. The author briefly considers…