Most Americans actually understand the importance of an education rich in arts, science and humanities. But what they may not realize is that their children are not getting enough. Each day more and more of the arts and humanities are being drained from our nation's school curriculums. Studies have shown that the arts play a stimulating role in…

Many educators lament the UNESCO study showing that by the time the average teen graduates from high school he or she has spent more than fifteen thousand hours watching television and only eleven thousand in the classroom (Gorebel, 1998). Rather than regretting this "condition," colleges, universities, and educators of adults and children should…

The purpose of this study, unique in that it centered on students as creators rather than users of programs, was to determine whether collaboratively creating HyperCard stacks that presented information on four decades (i.e, the 1920s, the 1930s, 1945-60, and the 1960s) affected the amount of knowledge and the interrelatedness of informational…

This manual reflects the highlights of an urban park study developed and tested over a 6-year period at the Churchill School, an elementary school for children with learning disabilities. This book makes possible an integrated study that develops understandings in natural science and the social studies along with reading, writing, and language…

Traditionally, humanities instruction at two-year colleges has been identified with transfer education. Since enrollments are decreasing in humanities classes, the future viability of the humanities curriculum will depend on providing humanities instruction to vocational students. This fact sheet discusses some obstacles to changing the humanities…

It is indeed a problem, perhaps even a crisis, that many Americans are ignorant of "The Tempest," the Civil War, the location of the Persian Gulf, the Constitution, or the chief justice of the Supreme Court. However, if conservative humanists continue to ostracize, scorn, and ignore both media studies and the media themselves, the result will not…

Arguing that great ideas from the past possess intrinsic value and provide students with the knowledge and attitudes essential in developing the liberated mind, this paper identifies the world's significant thinkers from Plato (427-347 B.C.) to Bertrand Russell (1873-1971). Structural ideas from each philosopher are discussed in an effort to…

Designed as a forum for discussion of substantive issues in humanities disciplines and the place of the humanities in higher education, this journal offers articles, book reviews, and reports covering a variety of humanities-related topics. This issue contains: (1) "The Feasibility of Educational Change," by Richard Ekman; (2) "The Humanities and…

The Greek concept of techne can aid in understanding technological society and the way it can generate a separation of business and personal lives. As used by the early Greeks, techne mean the knowledge required to get the job done. The "manager" of today epitomizes this early concept. He is trained to get the job done efficiently,…

Responding to the Colorado State Board of Education's request for recommendations concerning the need to improve humanities instruction and its relationship to the development of higher-order thinking skills, this task force report specifies a scope for humanities teaching; defines higher-order thinking skills as the ability to judge information,…

The mass media and especially television pose problems for teachers in humanities disciplines traditionally associated with leisure, time for reflection, and the quiet contemplation of the good, true, and beautiful. Although other media have been criticized for their deleterious effects, television most affects humanists in their mission because…

Designed as a forum for the exchange of ideas among humanities community college faculty, this journal addresses substantive disciplinary and curriculum issues in the humanities. This issue of the journal contains the following articles and reports (1) "Reanimating Tradition," by Robert N. Bellah, which looks at the instructor's role in…

This issue of "The Community College Humanities Review" contains a series of articles, reviews, and reports addressing various issues related to values education and other areas of the humanities. The issue contains: "The Study of History and the Question of Human Values," by Abraham Ascher; "A Moral Imperative for Teaching Values in a Literature…

Examined is the Humanities Program at St. Anselm College, a two-year program of readings and lectures ordered chronologically from ancient to contemporary times--from the age of Classical Greek thought and the Old Testament to the twentieth century. The first year of the Humanities Program is organized in eight units on general modes of…

Descriptions are provided for the courses in the College of San Mateo's new Humanities program. As introductory material notes, these team-taught, interdisciplinary courses were designed to be taken independently in various combinations depending upon the student's major or interests. They carry three units of transferable credit and satisfy…