Discusses the 'back-to-basics' issue, contending that conceptions of educational basics lie within three time frames (ego-time, clock-time, timelessness) and noting that educational decision-makers often defeat their own 'back-to-basics' attempts because they operate almost solely on clock-time due to their specialized training. (SB)

A wide range of instructional methods for teaching haiku poetry is described: readings from a text, lecture on the background and structure of the haiku form, comparisons between modern poetry and haiku, examining contemporary haiku written in English, showing a film, and writing haiku in a workshop setting. (MLW)

Describes an interdisciplinary science and humanities curriculum for sophomores developed by the faculty at Boston University's College of Basic Studies. Three core courses (science, social studies, and humanities) are integrated into a year-long course which is team taught. The format includes both lecture and modular teaching approaches. (DS)

Discusses the steadily declining enrollment in classical languages programs at college level and explores ways of making curricula more viable. Describes alternatives based on the introduction of a single-subject scheme in classical studies and debates the pros and cons of reading the classics in translation. (MES)

A semantic differential instrument was used in an analysis of variance design to evaluate the effects of a one-hour humanities lecture concerning Midwest architectural preservation on a group of undergraduates. The positive evaluation results confirmed similar experiences using this program. (Author/JKS)

Five possible scenarios for the future of graduate programs in the humanities are explored based on the economic realities of increasing costs, declining enrollments, employment trends for faculty, competition for scarce resources, and cooperation among various programs. (JMF)

To say that the statistics on the academic job market for the humanities Ph.D. are disheartening is an understatement. In response to this problem, the University of Michigan has established a graduate career counseling and placement office to assist graduate students in exploring nonteaching alternatives. (Author)

The American Humanities Program grew out of a retired American culture course and was revived as a part of an interdisciplinary, multi-media experience in American culture. Some of the politics of establishing the program are described: funding, teaching teams, and having an interdisciplinary course taught by one person. (Author/MLW)

The development of a new humanities program is described. This includes a freshman seminar as an introduction to humanistic study, the modification of traditional language requirements, and the establishment of a writing and reading lab, an issues and values interdisciplinary seminar, and humanities and intercultural majors. (Author/MLW)

Harvard University's Fellowships in Law and the Humanities program is an example of one effort to enrich legal education with humanistic values. Suggestions as to what is sought and what can be achieved by efforts to humanize legal education are offered, and some of the barriers blocking this goal are discussed. (JMD)

A study of two-year college humanities instructors surveyed demographic data, attitudes and preferences, reference group identification, and measures of job satisfaction and personal functioning. (JG)

The status of the humanities in community colleges was reviewed in a national survey by the Center for the Study of Community Colleges. Recommendations are reported by this ERIC director, based on the assumptions that the humanities must be maintained and that they could be most effectively strengthened through interventions with the faculty…

Debunks notion that someone can teach for nine months and then start learning in a two-week summer institute. Describes a Seattle project that is demolishing teaching/learning barriers by allowing English and history teachers to meet monthly for an entire day to read and discuss literary and historical works and plan an interdisciplinary…

Discusses how library technology initiatives fit into local organizational contexts to meet the needs of users; examines the conditions existing prior to local initiatives and how organizations have responded; and presents organizational models for technology in the humanities. Highlights the electronic text initiative at Pennsylvania State…

Reports the results of a non-randomized study of 45 history Ph.D. students in England and discusses the results in terms of the theory of knowledge structure and the modification of knowledge structure due to information. Topics include information as process; a model of stages of the information process; and grounded theory. (Author/LRW)