Humanities

Humanities are academic disciplines that study human culture. In Middle Ages, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the time. Today, the humanities are more frequently contrasted with natural, physical and sometimes social sciences as well as professional training.

The humanities use methods that are primarily critical, or speculative, and have a significant historical element—as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences. The humanities include ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, international relations and musicology. Areas that are sometimes regarded as social sciences and sometimes as humanities include history, archaeology, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, classical studies, law, politics, semiotics and linguistics.

Scholars in the humanities are "humanity scholars" or humanists. The term "humanist" also describes the philosophical position of humanism, which some "antihumanist" scholars in the humanities refuse. The Renaissance scholars and artists were also called humanists. Some secondary schools offer humanities classes [almost across all modern legal systems], usually consisting of English literature, global studies and art.

National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 (Pub.L. 89–209), dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is housed at 400 7th St SW, Washington, D.C.; From 1979 to 2014, NEH was located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. in the Nancy Hanks Center at the Old Post Office.

History and Overview

The NEH provides grants for high-quality humanities projects to cultural institutions such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars. NEH was created in 1965 under the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities, which also included the National Endowment for the Arts and later the Institute for Museum Services, as a move to provide greater investment in culture by the federal government. NEH was based upon recommendation of the National Commission on the Humanities, convened in 1963 with representatives from three US scholarly and educational associations. The agency creates incentives for excellent work in the humanities by awarding grants that strengthen teaching and learning in the humanities in schools and colleges across the nation, facilitate research and original scholarship, provide opportunities for lifelong learning, preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources and to strengthen the institutional base of the humanities. As part of its mandate to support humanities programs in every US state and territory, the agency supports a network of private, nonprofit affiliates, the 56 humanities councils in the states and territories of the United States.

University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Humanities

The Faculty of Humanities is one of the faculties of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, located in the South West Engineering Building on East Campus. The Dean of the Faculty is Professor Tawana Kupe. The Faculty offers undergraduate Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Education (BEd) degrees, and postgraduate Honours (BA Hons.), Masters (MA) and PhD degrees. The Faculty encompasses the following schools:

Courses provided

The School of Social Sciences, located in Central Block, provides undergraduate courses in:

The School of Literature and Language Studies, located in Senate House, provides undergraduate courses in: