The Humanities Writ Large Steering Committee, chaired by Srinivas Aravamudan, Dean of Humanities, has selected six proposals to become the inaugural Emerging Humanities Networks of the Mellon Foundation-funded Humanities Writ Large initiative. They are:
Duke Art, Law & Markets Initiative
Under the direction of Professors Neil DeMarchi (Economics) and Hans J. Van Miegroet (Art, Art History & Visual Studies), Humanities Writ Large will support two workshops for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as expert international visitors, on Art, Law & Markets (April- November2012); the development of Fantasy Collecting Network, a web‐based network that will allow users to form virtual art collections according to rules that are consistent with some of the dynamics of the real-world art market; and the creation of an e-journal that will publish the results of research into the role of rationality and/or irrationality in purchasing art and related investment decisions.
Humanities on Demand
Duke's six ACLS Fellows have come together with Assistant Professor Jakob Norberg (German Studies) and an undergraduate student and a graduate student to explore a new approach to course design. They will construct a cutting-edge website that will provide students with the opportunity to suggest material for a pilot course: Humanities on Demand: Narratives Gone Viral. The goal of the course is to introduce students to the significant role of the humanities and how they can help us to reflect upon our interests and practices. In advance of the course being taught, students will be asked to upload narratives that they find meaningful, amusing, perplexing, and/or interesting. Online submissions, if chosen, will be combined with already established course materials.
Learning to Listen: Empathy in Literature and Medicine
Associate Professor Charlotte Sussman (English) and Dr. Doris Iarovici (CAPS) will lead a series of workshops to explore the efficacy of literature in the teaching and understanding of empathy in clinical contexts. The seminars will pair undergraduate students interested in studying medicine with current medical students to explore together questions of attuned listening and ways to avoid the erosion of empathy that has been recognized widely as a by-product of medical education. They will also challenge literature students to approach books in new ways. Medical School faculty and guest speakers will participate in the seminars. Professor Sussman and Dr. Iarovici hope these workshops will lead to the development of a regular course in the future.
Networks of Knowledge: Pedagogy in the Service of Society
Associate Professor Jocelyn Olcott (History and Women’s Studies) and Associate Professor Kristen Neuschel (History and Thompson Writing Program) will be leading a series of workshops arising from the History Department’s newly restructured major, which aims to provide undergraduates with a framework for connecting their Duke education with their broader social, ethical, and professional objectives. Each of the concentrations in the redesigned History major will be featured in a workshop that will develop connections with students and faculty from other units. By incorporating the perspectives of scholars from different schools and disciplines, they plan to highlight not only the diverse ways that scholars produce knowledge in their fields but also the range of objectives they have for this knowledge.
Performance and Integrated Media
Professor of the Practice Jody McAuliffe (Theater Studies, Slavic and Eurasian Studies), Professor Thomas DeFrantz (Dance and African and African American Studies), Assistant Professor of the Practice Torry Bend (Theater Studies), and Associate Professor of the Practice William Noland (Visual Arts) will be forming a working group to redefine the understanding of possible relationships between live performance and integrated media in the humanities in undergraduate education. They seek to connect humanistic inquiry with application of digital technologies and new media, and integrate multiple media and disciplines into unique forms of expression that combine art and technology. The group will, among other activities, bring in talented artists and scholars at the leading edge of performance practices research.
Rivalrous Masculinity: Images of the Male Body over Time
Professor Ann Marie Rasmussen (Germanic Languages and Literature) and her graduate and undergraduate student co-conveners will develop a series of undergraduate seminars at Duke that will meet virtually with similar seminars being held at the University of Hamburg, the University of Frankfurt, and the University of Bamberg to curate an exhibition at the Nasher Museum of Art. The thematic focus for the project is “changing images of masculinity from the Middle Ages to the present.” This topic affords the opportunity to explore changes in the representation and social construction of the body over a long span of time via the rich holdings of the Nasher Museum of Art and Perkins Library and will enhance language acquisition for participating students.
