Humanities, Culture, and Interdisciplinarity

Julie Thompson Klein

Description

The study of culture in the American academy is not confined to a single field, but is a broad-based set of interests located within and across disciplines. This book investigates the relationship among three major ideas in the American academy—interdisciplinarity, humanities, and culture—and traces the convergence of these ideas from the colonial college to new scholarly developments in the latter half of the twentieth century. Its aim is twofold: to define the changing relationship of these three ideas and, in the course of doing so, to extend present thinking about the concept of "American cultural studies." The book includes two sets of case studies—the first on the implications of interdisciplinarity for literary studies, art history, and music; the second on the shifting trajectories of American studies, African American studies, and women's studies—and concludes by asking what impact new scholarly practices have had on humanities education, particularly on the undergraduate curriculum.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Humanities, Culture, and Interdisciplinarity

Part I. Historical Warrants

1. Forming Humanities

2. Changing Humanities

3. Forging Theory, Practice, and Institutional Presence

Part II. Inter/disciplining Humanities

4. Rewriting the Literary

5. Refiguring the Visual

6. Retuning the Aural

Part III. Interdisciplining “America”

7. Reconstructing American Studies

8. Defining Other Americas

Conclusion: Crafting Humanities for a New Century

Works Cited
Index

Sujets

• Sociology
• History of education
• Tertiary education

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791482674
• Langue: English

Extrait

Humanities, Culture, and Interdisciplinarity

TheChanging American Academy

julie thompson klein

H U M A N I T I E S , C U LT U R E , A N D I N T E R D I S C I P L I N A R I T Y

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H U M A N I T I E S , C U LT U R E , A N D I N T E R D I S C I P L I N A R I T Y

The Changing American Academy

J U L I E T H O M P S O N K L E I N

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2005 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a re trieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including elec tronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 122102365

Production by Kelli Williams Marketing by Susan Petrie

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Klein, Julie Thompson. Humanities, culture, and interdisciplinarity : the changing American academy / Julie Thompson Klein. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn0791465772 (hardcover : alk. paper) —isbn0791465780 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Humanities—Study and teaching (Higher)—United States. 2. Humanities—Philosophy. 3. Culture— Study and teaching—United States. 4. Education, Humanistic—United States. 5. Interdisciplinary approach to knowledge. 6. Learning and scholarship—United States. 7. Learned institutions and societies—United States. I. Title.

az183.u5k57 2005

001.3'071'173–dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2005001021

For George Klein

who embodies the vitality of humanities in public life

through his commitment to music and American culture

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c o n t e n t s

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Humanities, Culture, and Interdisciplinarity

Part I. Historical Warrants

Chapter 1. Forming Humanities

Chapter 2. Changing Humanities

Chapter 3. Forging Theory, Practice, and Institutional Presence

Part II. Inter/disciplining Humanities

Chapter 4. Rewriting the Literary

Chapter 5. Refiguring the Visual

Chapter 6. Retuning the Aural

Part III. Interdisciplining “America”

Chapter 7. Reconstructing American Studies

Chapter 8. Defining Other Americas

i

1

3

x

1

1

4

5

8

5

3

107

128

153

176

viii

contents

Conclusion: Crafting Humanities for a New Century

Works Cited

Index

203

221

251

a c k n ow l e d g m e n t s I am grateful for the conversations and resources that nurtured this book. Barbara Ashbrook and the recently departed Enayet Rahim hosted me on several trips to the National Endowment for the Humanities, affording ac cess to the Endowment’s library and inhouse materials. Fred Schroeder of the University of Minnesota at Duluth supplied the entire backlist of the journal of the National Association for Humanities Education, providing a rare glimpse of sustained deliberation on the nature of interdisciplinary humanities. In conferring on me the post of Senior Fellow in 1997–98, the Association of American Colleges and Universities gave unparalleled ac cess to leading thinkers on higher education. I especially thank the presi dent, Carol Geary Schneider, and senior scholar and former vice president, Jerry Gaff. For offering valuable suggestions on parts of an earlier draft, I thank William Newell of Miami University, Fran Shor of Wayne State University, and the anonymous reviewers. Beth Babini provided welcome secretarial help in preparing the manuscript, and Wayne State University granted me the most precious resources: time to complete the project, in the form of a sabbatical leave, and a rare academic home. The opportunity to incubate the ideas in this book with the Interdisciplinary Studies program’s diverse adult student population has been vital to its development. They continue to teach me about the meaning and value of humanities in American life. Finally, I am grateful to Kelli Williams, for valuable help as production editor, and James Peltz, for his generous and steadfast support of the book as Editorinchief of the Press.

Parts of chapters 3, 4, 7, and 8 are adapted from my previous book,Cross ing Boundaries: Knowledge, Disciplinarities, and Interdisciplinarities. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the original publisher, the University of Virginia Press.