Portal talk:Humanities

History
Could someone please add the School of History to this department? I think it should be both here and in the Social Sciences. Jade Knight 07:44, 7 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I agree, just do it!Nannus 23:38, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Linguistics and literature belong here as well, as does cultural anthropology/ethnology, media studies, theater studies (do we have that already?), Archaeology, in short, all disciplines concerned with the study of human cultures. Nannus 00:14, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I also agree that History should be a part of this department. --Dctrainor 14:46, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

Irish studies
Irish studies should rather be a subdivision of some school than a separate school. What would it look like if we put all these "national" studies in this page? We would have an endless list of English, Russian, Polish, German, Greek, Turkish... studies! Better list it at School:Language and Literature/Catalogue or somewhere else. --George D. Bozovic talk 21:37, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * It probably either belongs under Language and Literature, or in a new School or Portal called "Ethnic Studies". The Jade Knight 21:46, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Hi all! As the creator of the school, I'd like to weigh in a bit.  While I haven't found the time to flesh the school out as of yet, it should definitely have its own school.  Nearly every major Irish university has its own school of Irish studies, which is to be expected, I suppose.  However, many elite US universities have their own school of Irish studies as well, including Notre Dame, Boston College, and New York University (NYU).  Irish studies encompasses history, literature, culture, language, etc., and as such, it needs its own school.  Cheers Hoopydink 22:52, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * That's fine, but the Humanities page could quickly become overwhelming large if every ethnic studies school was placed there—there are potentially hundreds of schools that could be founded this way. I would perhaps recommend creating a Portal:Ethnic Studies, which could then be linked to from within the School of Humanities.  The Jade Knight 04:29, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I concur. Just make the portal! ;) --George D. Bozovic talk 19:55, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Ah, ok, I see what you're saying, but I don't see the harm in allowing multiple schools under the "humanities" flag. There are already plenty of schools relating to specific business studies in different portals.  There hasn't been a call to restrict new schools in that area or to create a seperate portal.  I guess we have to decide how inclusive and exclusive to be in terms of subject matter.  Irish studies, or any international studies I suppose, encompasses a plethora of fields, and as such, should have its own school to keep the information in one place, so it's easily accessible.  Hoopydink 00:36, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, that makes sense. It would just be problemsome to have them all listed here separately.  Feel free to make the portal, and we can try to get George to list it prominently here on the Humanities portal, so people can find it easily from here.  The Jade Knight 06:56, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Well (and I mean this with the utmost respect), you don't need to "try to get George to" do anything :-) - you can simply do it yourself! However seems the simplest, most intuitive way of organising the structure of pages, just do it - whether the organiser page for "Irish studies" is a portal, school or topic; it is still simply an organiser page, with links to educational content, and which can be linked to from any other organiser page. How we structure organiser pages in general is a discussion that we possibly still need to have as a wider community - keep an eye out for it on the Colloquium.. Cormaggio 13:15, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, you're making the assumption that I'm easily capable of doing it. The Humanities portal is filled with all sorts of display code that makes my head spin.  Rather than giving myself a headache trying to figure out how to add something to that orderly mess, I'd much rather ask someone else who is clearly capable of it.  Or I could just add a random link and expect someone else to make it look good, but I don't think that's much better than asking first.  The Jade Knight 03:45, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
 * You really don't need to try to get me to do anything. :) I have nothing against the School of Irish studies. I just think that listing all these ethnic school on the Humanities page would make this page ridiculous. That's why a separate portal for them is quite a good solution. And that portal can be linked from here, of course. :) --George D. Bozovic talk 21:29, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Phew, you took me in good faith. :-) Still, I didn't understand the complex code bit - I now know why you have to "ask George". :-) I think I'll bow out now... Cormaggio 21:52, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Still kind of a moot discussion; there's no content at all on the School of Irish Studies page yet at this point. The Jade Knight 19:57, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I have removed the School of Irish studies from the Humanities page once again. You are free to create the portal for various ethnic studies and list the school there, which I warmly recommend. Then you can list this portal on the Humanities page. --George D. Bozovic talk 15:41, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Distinction between Humanities and Social Sciences
What is the rational for the distinction of Humanities and Social sciences (apart from being a traditional distinction)? I find the distinction rather fuzzy and arbitrary. There are a lot of things that belong in both sides, so I suppose they should be merged! There are things here that deal with the study of different aspects of human culture and over there you find other disciplines also concerned with studying different aspects of human culture. Nannus 23:38, 5 March 2007 (UTC)


 * The Social sciences article at Wikipedia says, "The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study human aspects of the world. They diverge from the arts and humanities in that the social sciences tend to emphasize the use of the scientific method in the study of humanity, including quantitative and qualitative methods."--JWSchmidt 00:43, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I see the argument, but I don't believe there is "the scientific method" when it comes to investigating human culture. In the social sciences, you can find a range of different reserach paradigms. And I don't find History less scientific, although you cannot do experimental science there the same way as you can in physics. I think we should give up the attempt of putting everything in one place in a hierarchy of disciplines. Hypertext is a medium that allows everything to be in many places at once.
 * An intersting observation is that the grouping of disciplin is totally different in the German Wikiversity. The grouping seen in the English Wikiversity reflects a certain tradition in English and Aerican universities. But this grouping is not universally accepted. It is part of the Anglo-American culture.
 * The present hierarchy might have the advantage that many people are used to these groupings so they will find what they are looking for quickly, but I believe that a much better structure can be found. Nannus 17:59, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, make a proposal, then. The Jade Knight 22:47, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Portal structure
Each school is linked from the portal at least three times. I suggest to do a redesign (although there are more pressing things to do).Nannus 00:10, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
 * It might be time for the Humanities Portal to adopt the format used at other major Wikiversity portals such as Portal:Social Sciences. --JWSchmidt 00:43, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Filmmaking
Isn't filmmaking part of the Fine Arts, not the Humanities? The Jade Knight (d'viser) 19:14, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Dignity Course
I am developing a Dignity course which may fit well here. If you like it, perhaps you can add it to the curriculum. (I hesitated to do this myself because I did not want to disturb the existing structure.)--Lbeaumont--Lbeaumont 16:02, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

I am developing a dignity course which may fit well here..if you like it,perhaps you can add it to the curriculum(I hesitated to do this myself because I did not want to disturb to existing Structure.) Sfiso Mthembu (discuss • contribs) 08:58, 16 April 2021 (UTC)

Reed College Humanities 110, Introduction to the Humanities
The Reed College course "Introduction to the Humanities" is excellent. The syllabus and many of the course materials are available on line. It would be a valuable contribution to Wikiversity if someone with a background in humanities could adapt these available materials, combine them with similar available materials, and provide an analogous course here. Many of the lectures are public and on-line. The syllabus provides a good curriculum outline. Thanks! --Lbeaumont (discuss • contribs) 15:08, 22 August 2020 (UTC)