What are the humanities, and how should they be cultivated? With respect to this crucial question, opinions differ as to how widely the humanities should be construed and pursued. Initially connoting the study of Greek and Roman classics, the concept now more generally covers arts and letters, history, and philosophy. But does it also include the…

In recent years, sociologists have been focusing a great deal of attention on young people in general and college students in particular. There is a special area of research that has made itself vigorously well known, namely the sociology of youth. This article deals with value orientations of young people in college. In this article, the authors…

Founded in 1991 by Yury N. Afanasyev and financed by a grant from businessman Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the Russian State University for the Humanities has quickly become one of the most prominent institutions of higher learning in Russia. This article discusses alleged governmental pressure against the university, its financial difficulties since…

This seminar discussed the civic preparation that educators themselves need to enable them to better prepare elementary and secondary students to become more effective and responsible citizens. The proceedings began with a paper on "Civil Learning for Teachers: Capstone for Educational Reform," by R. Freeman Butts. Following this, the five general…

The report focuses on the demographic characteristics, employment characteristics, workload, productivity, compensation, and attitudes of full-time instructional faculty teaching humanities at 4-year institutions of higher education in the fall of 1992. Data tables cover the humanities generally and specific program areas of English and…

In "The two cultures and the scientific revolution," C.P. Snow (1959) described the chasm between pure and applied science, on the one hand, and the arts and humanities, on the other. Snow was concerned that the complete lack of understanding between these "two cultures" would hamper the spread of the scientific/industrial…

Managing the pedagogical aspects of the "computational turn" that is occurring within the Humanities in general and the disciplines associated with cognitive science and neuroscience in particular, first implies facing the challenge of introducing students to computation. This paper presents what has proven to be an efficient approach to bringing…

This study, which was sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, was conducted in French-language minority schools in seven Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Using an open-ended interview guide, 47 principals were asked about the…

This short essay along with workshop materials outlines constructive ways for Humanities teachers to stimulate discussions on religion. The activities and procedures are based on the author's own experience and philosophy. Student centered discussions are effective and less risky for engaging in religious issues. Student discussions also are the…

This paper explores the possibility of resource sharing in the East Asian Library at the University of Ohio. The case analysis of vernacular periodicals in humanities consists of quantitative analysis based on interlibrary loan (ILL) transaction records and in-house studies as well as quantitative/qualitative evaluation based on faculty journal…

Because of Florida's rapidly growing ethnic populations, public school teachers of music and other disciplines in the humanities and fine arts in Florida must assess and adjust their curricula to include Latin American and Caribbean music and cultures in their programs. This will give curricular representation to a large percentage of Florida's…

This report results from regional forums across the country to assess the current state of nonprofit arts in the United States. The report describes a cautionary tale about this nation's cultural legacy, the economic and social conditions surrounding the nonprofit arts, compartmentalization of the arts in community life, the place of the arts in…

This paper discusses several of the many books and articles which have appeared during the past decade which chronicle the supposedly precarious state of the humanities in higher education. The paper focuses on the first book, the surprise best seller, "The Closing of the American Mind," written by Allan Bloom in 1987 and especially on a…

Presented by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and focusing on education and the arts, humanities, and sciences, these proceedings present a public discourse about useful knowledge for the 1990s. Ernest L. Boyer discusses the need for students to learn to make connections by putting their learning in historical, social, and ethical perspective.…

This paper recounts the efforts undertaken to encourage greater participation and engagement from students in a college-level humanities class. Three types of activities were utilized: (1) connected to homework and attempted to focus on assigned readings; (2) attempted to get students to foucs on what was happening in the classroom on that…