Typical Humanities: A symposium on research in the field of humanities education

On November 3, HERUU (Humanities Education Research Universiteit Utrecht) organizes a one-day symposium on research in the field of humanities education.

What are THE Humanities?

Are there specific (transferable) skills that humanities students and staff gain or is it quite comparable to other disciplines? Some will claim that there is a core body of knowledge and skills to be found in all humanities disciplines, for example the fact that in many subdisciplines in the Humanities students learn to focus on close reading and critical analysis of texts. Yet, others will point out that THE Humanities do not exists and that research and education in the Humanities is much more dynamic and that a variety of methodologies and skills are required that diverges from the assumed core body of knowledge and skills. Moreover, if humanities courses are taught in other disciplines, like in Medical Humanities, will the nature of the humanities education change and if so, how and why?

Symposium by HERUU

By organising a symposium, we aim to bring together scholars to stimulate debate on this yet unexplored topic in educational research in the Humanities. The debate on what is typical to humanities education and research and reflections on this topic will be core to this symposium that will be organised by HERUU, a group of scholars that share an interest in educational research in the humanities.

Call for abstracts 

We welcome abstracts for oral presentations in break out sessions that either present results of higher education research in the humanities as well as more conceptual, theoretical and reflective contributions on humanities education. The abstract should clearly indicate what you think you contribute to the question what is typical to humanities education. We also welcome contributions from people working with a humanities focus in other disciplines (like medicine, technology). 

Deadline for abstracts: September 13, 2021. Send your abstract to HERUU@uu.nl. 

Word limit: the abstract should not exceed 500 words, references excluded.