Vision for the Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities

The Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Florida State University is an academic unit devoted to the production and construction of knowledge from an interdisciplinary perspective. Our object of study is the human agent in the arena of culture. The program examines the Western tradition, its criticism and self-criticism, as well as multiculturalism and global culture.

The program is informed by five major concepts:

Interdisciplinarity
A Dialogical Community
Criticism
Transdisciplinarity
Pluralism

INTERDISCIPLINARITY

The Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities at FSU approaches cultural objects from an integrated perspective of the various disciplines that make up the humanities: literature, philosophy, visual arts, performing arts, history, cultural studies as well as popular culture. Interdisciplinarity should be distinguished form multidisciplinarity, that is to say, from the mere sum or aggregate of disciplines. Interdisciplinary inquiry implies the collaboration of the diverse disciplines that make up the humanities in order to cultivate fluency in diverse methods and approaches to culture. Thus, our program examines cultural objects from philosophical, artistic, historical and sociological perspectives.
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DIALOGICAL COMMUNITY

The Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities has a defining characteristic that distinguishes it from other interdisciplinary programs: it is constituted both scholarly and pedagogically as a dialogical community. Thus, we privilege dialogue as well as pluralistic research and teaching. Moreover, our program emphasizes advanced humanistic inquiry that makes scholarly research sensitive to the learning process. For the Humanities Program, research and teaching are not mutually exclusive. We encourage our students and faculty to become partners in shared research and teaching. Our program fosters interdepartmental initiatives and encourages a classroom atmosphere in which students and professors become fellow inquirers. In sum, we educate scholars who will also teach and teachers who will also be scholars.
Moreover, the notion of "dialogical community" implies wonder, challenge, intellectual risk as well as an open attitude to change. Hence, the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities constitutes a site of experimentation and imagination for students and faculty members who wish to explore new avenues of inquiry within the liberal arts.

CRITICISM

For the Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities, criticism is the body of theoretical knowledge that investigates, explains, contests, deconstructs, analyzes and questions cultural objects, as well as written, visual and musical texts. Thus, it approaches cultures from various critical perspectives such as hermeneutics, critical theory, textual exegesis, historicism etc… We incorporate these approaches in both undergraduate and graduate studies.
However, criticism or being critical is also an academic virtue that we foster among our students. The program has as a goal the formation of individuals who can make critical judgments about culture based on aesthetic, literary, philosophical and historical criteria. We encourage our students to engage in intellectual dialogues with texts, their professors, and their fellow students. Our students become critical inquirers not only because they acquire fluency in more than one discipline, but also because they are active participants of a dialogical pedagogy in which their voices are heard, and their judgments refined by the movement of the discussions in the class.

TRANSDISCIPLINARITY

As an interdisciplinary, dialogical community, the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities reaches to areas beyond the disciplines. Our pedagogy aims at the formation of citizens who do not take knowledge for granted and who can place the knowledge acquired in our program to improve America's communities. For our program, interdisciplinary education must transcend the body of knowledge acquired by the students and have an impact in the students' immediate lives and in the life of their communities. Thus, we encourage the creation of courses that expose students to experiences outside the classroom such as research in situ, travel abroad and community work.

PLURALISM

As a dialogical, interdisciplinary community, the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities is committed to an inclusive curriculum that examines the Western Canon and all forms of human expressions without placing them in a particular hierarchy. We overcome dualities such as East/West and high/low culture by critically examining the wealth of human cultural experiences. By emphasizing pluralism we also construe our program as a site to develop students that will contribute to an open and diverse society. Hence, our curriculum reflects the pluralism that defines us.

		Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities 432 Diffenbaugh Building (#1549) Tallahassee, FL 32306-1549 Contact send email 850/644-9121


About Us -Vision -Contact News & Events -News -Events Directories -Faculty -Staff -Graduate Teaching Assistants Graduate Studies -Goals -Masters Program -PhD Program -Certificate -Courses -Graduate Guides -Application Inquiry Undergraduate Studies -Advising Aid -Major -Minor -Courses -Undergraduate Guide Student Organizations -A.I.R. -InterCulture -InterDisciplines -IPH Abroad (Valencia, Spain, 2005) -E.A.R.T.H. Forms & Downloads Required Textbooks, FALL 2008	Vision for the Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities The Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Florida State University is an academic unit devoted to the production and construction of knowledge from an interdisciplinary perspective. Our object of study is the human agent in the arena of culture. The program examines the Western tradition, its criticism and self-criticism, as well as multiculturalism and global culture. The program is informed by five major concepts: Interdisciplinarity A Dialogical Community Criticism Transdisciplinarity Pluralism INTERDISCIPLINARITY The Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities at FSU approaches cultural objects from an integrated perspective of the various disciplines that make up the humanities: literature, philosophy, visual arts, performing arts, history, cultural studies as well as popular culture. Interdisciplinarity should be distinguished form multidisciplinarity, that is to say, from the mere sum or aggregate of disciplines. Interdisciplinary inquiry implies the collaboration of the diverse disciplines that make up the humanities in order to cultivate fluency in diverse methods and approaches to culture. Thus, our program examines cultural objects from philosophical, artistic, historical and sociological perspectives. Top DIALOGICAL COMMUNITY The Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities has a defining characteristic that distinguishes it from other interdisciplinary programs: it is constituted both scholarly and pedagogically as a dialogical community. Thus, we privilege dialogue as well as pluralistic research and teaching. Moreover, our program emphasizes advanced humanistic inquiry that makes scholarly research sensitive to the learning process. For the Humanities Program, research and teaching are not mutually exclusive. We encourage our students and faculty to become partners in shared research and teaching. Our program fosters interdepartmental initiatives and encourages a classroom atmosphere in which students and professors become fellow inquirers. In sum, we educate scholars who will also teach and teachers who will also be scholars. Moreover, the notion of "dialogical community" implies wonder, challenge, intellectual risk as well as an open attitude to change. Hence, the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities constitutes a site of experimentation and imagination for students and faculty members who wish to explore new avenues of inquiry within the liberal arts. CRITICISM For the Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities, criticism is the body of theoretical knowledge that investigates, explains, contests, deconstructs, analyzes and questions cultural objects, as well as written, visual and musical texts. Thus, it approaches cultures from various critical perspectives such as hermeneutics, critical theory, textual exegesis, historicism etc… We incorporate these approaches in both undergraduate and graduate studies. However, criticism or being critical is also an academic virtue that we foster among our students. The program has as a goal the formation of individuals who can make critical judgments about culture based on aesthetic, literary, philosophical and historical criteria. We encourage our students to engage in intellectual dialogues with texts, their professors, and their fellow students. Our students become critical inquirers not only because they acquire fluency in more than one discipline, but also because they are active participants of a dialogical pedagogy in which their voices are heard, and their judgments refined by the movement of the discussions in the class. TRANSDISCIPLINARITY As an interdisciplinary, dialogical community, the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities reaches to areas beyond the disciplines. Our pedagogy aims at the formation of citizens who do not take knowledge for granted and who can place the knowledge acquired in our program to improve America's communities. For our program, interdisciplinary education must transcend the body of knowledge acquired by the students and have an impact in the students' immediate lives and in the life of their communities. Thus, we encourage the creation of courses that expose students to experiences outside the classroom such as research in situ, travel abroad and community work. PLURALISM As a dialogical, interdisciplinary community, the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities is committed to an inclusive curriculum that examines the Western Canon and all forms of human expressions without placing them in a particular hierarchy. We overcome dualities such as East/West and high/low culture by critically examining the wealth of human cultural experiences. By emphasizing pluralism we also construe our program as a site to develop students that will contribute to an open and diverse society. Hence, our curriculum reflects the pluralism that defines us.