At an overarching level this paper attempts to draw attention to emerging trends in the humanities where alternative ways of doing science reconfigure epistemological traditions and research methodologies, the role of intellectuals and their engagement with current conditions of the world, including ways in which scholars gazes are constituted.…

In this interview Craig Calhoun talks about universities, the Humanities and his own research. Universities reinvent themselves in the face of societal and technological change. In the midst of this change, however, universities are charged with maintaining old ideals, with informing the public and creating opportunities for human development. The…

Heidegger argues that modern technology is quantifiably different from all earlier periods because of a shift in ethos from in situ craftwork to globalised production and storage at the behest of consumerism. He argues that this shift in technology has fundamentally shaped our epistemology, and it is almost impossible to comprehend anything…

In their reply to the author's keystone article (Hansen, 2012), Guterman, Martin, and Kopp (2012) charge that the author's integrative framework was not sufficiently integrative. They also argue that his proposal results in logical contradictions and the mind-body problem. The author responds by noting that his proposal fully integrates the…

Little that occurs in contemporary academic geography will surprise members of the National Association of Scholars, for a large part of the field has joined the other humanities and social sciences in the bawdy saloon of progressive politics, cultural nihilism, and subjective epistemology. That geographers are in there roistering with the…

2001 marked Yale's 300th birthday. It seemed an opportunity for reflection on the evolution of the institution, and particularly on the vicissitudes of the humanities over those three centuries. This article presents essays which represent a selection from the symposium, "Beginning With the Humanities," held at the Whitney Humanities Center on…

This article deals with Bernhard Poerksen's interviews with Humberto R. Maturana and Francisco J. Varela on science and the humanities. In Poerksen's conversation with Maturana, they talk about the: (1) responsibility of the teacher; (2) listening to the listening; (3) perception and illusion; and (4) all human beings are equally intelligent. In…

This paper discusses the current division of knowledge at the college and university level, its historical roots, and the application of Actor Network Theory (ANT) to arrive at an explanation of the permanence of the current division of knowledge as well as what form a new division of knowledge might take. It finds fragmentation and disintegration…

Although several recent articles have addressed postmodernism in ethical terms, it is not difficult to see the perils facing anyone who wants to talk about ethics, since it is hard to justify certain practices over others. An individual cannot appeal to human needs or capacities, since these are said to be variously constructed by various…

Addresses the epistemological questions that undergird curriculum debates in higher education over the value and vitality of a canon, a need for intellectual and cultural homogeneity, and the articulation of norms for scholarly inquiry. Challenges general education to communicate the value-ladenness of allegedly objective curricula, events, and…

The effects of the knowledge revolution on the disciplinary structure of the humanities and social sciences are examined, particularly as they concern pedagogy surrounding the doctoral degree, the highest level of accreditation for university teaching. Potential changes in the doctoral dissertation are discussed in this context. Application of the…

A recommended approach to college teaching and its improvement involves (1) collaboration with a faculty colleague who observes the teaching and (2) finding and using new ways of getting to know the students and how they learn. (MSE)

The disciplinary hierarchy in which natural sciences take funding priority over the humanities, and the sometimes confrontational debate between academic cultures, are examined. It is concluded that no area of knowledge is more "useful" than another, and attempts to understand the universe must be broad, interactive, and cooperative, not…

The evolution and design of an interdisciplinary honors course at the University of Maryland at College Park are described. The course, on knowledge and its human consequences, brings together faculty experts, "teacher-learner" faculty, and first-year honors students to explore different kinds of knowledge and their philosophical,…

The argument of this book is that the modern American university has given up its responsibility to provide a thoughtful, coherent, and well-articulated education to undergraduates. It is asserted that the university should be neither a trade school nor a repository of tradition, but rather an institution with the responsibility for the…