Analyzes coverage of the "Sokal Affair", in which physicist Alan Sokal submitted a fraudulent article and then criticized the journal for publishing it. Examines the four currents that overdetermined the Sokal Affair: antliberalism, anti-intellectualism, debates among the left about what constitutes a legitimate left, and the…

The ethics of 17 business scenarios were rated by 115 business students and 35 faculty and 44 humanities students and 22 faculty. Humanities faculty displayed the highest social responsibility, but discipline did not play a significant role overall. Both faculty groups generally had higher personal ethics than did students. (SK)

Examines the roles of collaboration in the sciences and humanities by focusing on the complicated relationship between syntax and semantics. Uses scholarship on the social study of science to discuss strategies for collaboration in the humanities. Discusses why those studying language and literature are in a particularly good position to…

Multicultural scholarship was critiqued by proponents at a meeting of the American Studies Association for a "politics of style" substituting for analysis of society; a "particularism" that has divided researchers into separate camps; and a "political correctness" that has avoided self-criticism. One issue raised was that multiculturalism further…

Discusses the public humanities work of Herbert F. Janick, Jr., a professor of history at Western Connecticut State University. Discusses Janick's efforts to raise historical awareness among public audiences. Examines Janick's views on scholarship, public issues, education and teaching. (RW)

Highlights major points concerning the scope and purpose of the humanities from five educational treatises from the Italian Renaissance. Compares them with Allan Bloom's and E. D. Hirsch, Jr.'s, ideas and revisionist approaches to literature studies. Concludes that the right and left perceive the humanities as a means to political power. (DMM)

According to this interview, the humanities are as essential to the educational reform agenda as mathematics and science. The humanities lead us to values, to deep questions about life's meaning and dignity. Our society's diversity, coupled with the national goal to educate everyone to the best of his or her ability, makes general education a…

At a meeting of academic and public humanists, scholars agreed and expressed a need for scholars, the public, and the sponsors of public humanities programs to come together to encourage the humanities in society at large, and to find specific ways to bring humanities to the public's attention. (MSE)

The growth in legitimacy of relativist perspectives in broad areas of scholarship in the social sciences and humanities is discussed in terms of its importance for the study of colleges and universities. Types of irony as conveyors of relativist sensibility are applied to classic sociological concepts significant for higher education. (Author/MLW)

Provides an annotated bibliography of 61 information sources for understanding how scholars in the humanities use electronic texts and computer-based methods of analysis; identifying and locating electronic texts and related resources; and addressing issues involved in the production, distribution, and use of electronic texts. (LRW)

Describes the value of the study of mythology in the humanities, asserting that mythology can help students develop a value system that aids in their ability to cope and relate with other people and can encourage them to explore the diverse interests and experiences of other people. (DMM)

Suggests that instruction and research that combine the humanities and computer science should be conducted by people skilled in both fields. Argues against dividing such work between idea and technical people. Describes a neural network approach to the study of metaphor that reflects the connectionist method. (SG)

Presents cubism as metaphor to think about medical humanities curriculum in medical school curriculum. Uses Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych," and Olsen's "Tell Me a Riddle" to illustrate how literary inquiry might enable medical students and other health care providers to think about…

Approaches to culturally relevant ways of thinking about the diverse elderly population are use of grounded theory, humanities as a source of information about the lives of ethnic minority elderly, and a life-course perspective. (SK)

The third article in a series of excerpts from seminars sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution on knowledge collaboration focuses on the humanities and social sciences. Reasons for the relatively greater frequency of collaborative research in the natural sciences are examined, and examples of collaborative projects in the humanities and social…