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…

A workshop model focuses on using lesser-known resources to document black family history and lineage. Although designed for use in North Carolina, this model can be adapted for use in any state or community. Following an introduction which summarizes the workshop format is an overview which outlines the goals, objectives, and focus of the…

Reviews the development of secondary information services in the arts and humanities, discusses the services currently provided and the usage levels for those services, outlines some of the problems associated with online databases in the humanities, and considers some probable future developments. A 5-item reference list is included. (JL)

Traces the evolution of perspectives on Latin American underdevelopment to reveal the changing realities in Latin America as well as evolving world views. Covering the five centuries since Columbus discovered the West Indies, Topik concludes that the idea of underdevelopment is a European construct resulting from greater European progress and a…

This paper takes the position that "the general phenomenon of meta-disciplinarity should find a place in contemporary investigations into the organization and production of knowledge." In the meta-disciplinary triad of art, science, and the humanities, the humanities originated out of a distinction between the human and the divine. The history of…

Discussion of electronic resources in the humanities highlights the history and development of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, an electronic data bank of ancient Greek literature from the classical and postclassical periods. Data entry is discussed, hardware is described, and implications for the humanities and other disciplines are suggested. (LRW)

Discusses the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) 1985 summer seminar on Plato's political philosophy. States that the objective of the seminar was to give high school teachers an opportunity for intensive, uninterrupted study of the world's great literature so they could enrich their own knowledge of the subject and share what they gained…

Describes a new translation of Mao Zedong's speeches and writings that is being produced by Harvard University. Provides three selections from this series of translations as examples of the first-hand information which will be included in an effort to illustrate distinct phases of Mao's intellectual development. (KO)

Explains the theory of noosphere developed by Soviet academician Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. States that this theory is based on a new morality concerning the unity of humanity and its responsibility for the fate of the planet. (GG)

These two annotated reading guides to Boston's political and social history developed out of lecture sequences offered at the Boston Public Library under the National Endowment for the Humanities Library Learning Program. The first, which cites 28 titles focusing on various community leaders of Boston from the coming of the Puritans to the 1970's,…

Noting that higher education across the centuries has constituted a continuing dialogue between the minds of ancestors and of contemporaries, this paper traces the history of the common or core curriculum at the university level and warns against the current state of affairs. The paper proposes that a pedagogy is needed that can both discern and…

This study was undertaken as a report on a relatively new kind of graduate program. It is intended to present the characteristics of existing general education programs in the humanities for comparison and appraisal. Since this study deals with a relatively new and still experimental field, it should be regarded as a status report, or perhaps even…

These three annotated reading guides were developed for courses offered at the Boston Public Library under the National Endowment for the Humanities Library Learning Program. The first lists 32 selected recent works of major importance covering the areas of colonial society, political structure, and the American Revolution. The 27 titles cited in…

These three annotated reading guides were developed for courses offered at the Boston Public Library under the National Endowment for the Humanities Learning Library Program. The permutations in style and content of black Boston literature are exemplified in this collection of 18 writings to serve as an index to the cultural and social life of the…

Points out that movies from the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's are excellent resource materials for the history and social science classroom. Suggests some ways particular films can be used to study mainstream, white, middle-class attitudes toward various issues and groups. (RKM)