The humanities, vocationalism and the public good: exploring 'the Hamlet factor'

Wright, Laurence

Title: The humanities, vocationalism and the public good: exploring 'the Hamlet factor'
Creator: Wright, Laurence
Date Issued: 2007
Date: 2007
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: vital:7028
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007214
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1080/17535360712331393503
Description: preprint
Description: This paper argues that the social mission of the humanities is no longer well understood by the public, sometimes not even by the very institutions seeking to attract students to these disciplines, the universities. It becomes difficult to argue for the cogency of research in the humanities, let alone for a specific national research agenda, when the general relation between the humanities and society is widely mistaken. To address such misapprehensions, the discussion outlines as clearly as possible the characteristic procedures of the humanities, the manner in which they inform individual and social transformation, and the contemporary predicament which makes them more rather than less needed in society’s repertoire of educational resources. With this understanding in place, the paper then puts forward suggestions for strengthening research in the humanities as part of a broader programme to renovate the humanities in the South African education system.
Format: 19 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: English Academy Review
Relation: Wright, L. (2007). The humanities, vocationalism and the public good: Exploring ‘the hamlet factor’. English Academy Review, 24(1), 102-117
Relation: English Academy Review volume 24 number 1 102 117 2007 1753-5360
Rights: Wright, Laurence
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the English Academy Review Self-archiving Policy

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Wright, Laurence (Prof)

RU Institute for the Study of English in Africa (ISEA)

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