Discusses the development of religious studies as an academic discipline. Examines the work of leading thinkers in the field, including anthropologists Sir James Fraser and Edward Burnett Taylor, sociologist Max Weber, and psychologist Erik Erikson. Identifies some of the many reference works that deal with religious studies. (SG)

A study used multiple regression analysis to evaluate publisher pricing practices for a random sample of 439 scholarly journals. Holding cost factors constant, it was found that prices to United States college libraries are significantly higher for physical science journals and for those from commercial publishers, especially from Europe.…

Investigates academic course areas that public relations executives foresee as important to the practice of public relations in the 1990s. Finds major emphasis on areas traditionally outside public relations education. (SR)

Reviews how second-language acquisition (SLA) research appeals to ideas of attention and distinguishes among attention, awareness, and consciousness. Suggests how problems in SLA might be investigated through an alliance of SLA insights with those of the cognitive literature on attention. (Contains 90 references.) (JP)

This essay considers the discipline of psychology as distinct from history, defining it as a science within philosophy dedicated to the study of the causal structure of the human mind. Although Hugo Munsterburg was considered an important figure in applied psychology, this essay represents an earlier epistemology. (SLD)

Adult educators engaged in critical practice must address four issues: (1) the connection between their own political commitment and encouragement of learners' critical thinking (CT); (2) whether CT should be based on one intellectual tradition; (3) accessibility of the language of CT to learners; and (4) balance between CT's liberatory…

Traces the occupational and intellectual components of sociology's effort to win recognition as a science. Focuses on the model of science used and its limits. Argues that sociology, as quasi-science and quasi-humanities, should be maintaining the empirical outlook of a science while recognizing the impact of civilization on concepts and theories.…

Ten examples of quick and easy classroom assessment techniques, carried out by higher education faculty in 10 different disciplines, are described. The techniques, designed to inform and inspire faculty to adjust classroom instruction, focus on four dimensions of learning: declarative, procedural, conditional, and reflective. (MSE)

Discussion of the use of citation analysis and bibliometrics to study the organization of a subject literature focuses on an experiment in journal cocitation mapping in the field of economics. Results are compared with an earlier journal network study of economics journal literature, and future research is suggested. (16 references) (LRW)

Scholars in gay and lesbian studies anticipate formation of a professional association and more academic programs. The work is closely associated to other developments in the humanities categorized as cultural studies. Much of the new scholarship is social constructionist, analyzing how sexuality is constructed in various cultures at various…

Demographic changes, shifts in intellectual fashion, and divisions between clinical and research-oriented psychologists will challenge the discipline of psychology in the coming years. Increasingly, psychology is becoming a feminine field, with concentration in certain subfields. The postmodern movement is influencing perspectives, and new testing…

Discussion of journals and the nature of their interrelationships focuses on a loglinear model of citation frequency that allows an examination of the influence between journals of related disciplines. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) is described, and an example using the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and journals relating to marketing is…

Looks at arguments about the lineage of the field of mass communication, identifying and discussing three major discernable positions. (SR)

Describes some developments in the academic field of communication since 1983 (including accelerating fragmentation and departmental specialization). Suggests what these changes may imply for the prospects of the field in the years just ahead. (SR)

Offers thoughts about some of the problems facing mass communication as a cultural practice by mapping briefly its historical constitutiveness (and the problems therein). Discusses the dimensions of communication research as site. Offers a diagnosis of how to view the avowed "fragmentation" of the field. (SR)