Why Do We Need Humanities?

Glasnik Etnografskog instituta SANU, Belgrade, 2013

In the first part of the paper the author briefly describes the role of social sciences and humanities in the present in Europe and in Slovakia. The description focuses on those research fields, in which social sciences and humanities contribute to the scientific knowledge the most. In the second part the author addresses the questions, which were prepared by the organizers of the round table and sent to all participants in advance. Namely: How is the relationship between the state and scientific institutions? What sources of funding are available for scientific study? Which institutions and in what ways conduct studies in the humanities? How are the research topics for projects chosen? The answers to these questions are based on participant's experiences as a member of diverse Slovak and international research committees and institutions.

In this article we have examined the impact of neoliberal policy on higher education, paying particular attention to the status of humanities in the new circumstances marked by the uncritical acceptance of market-driven policies which became dominant during the last several decades. Starting our analysis with the classical idea of education (Germ. Bildung), formulated during the Age of Enlightenment, we have explored the aims of humanistic education in the context of social and cultural function of modern universities, as well as its status at the universities reformed according to the principles of the so-called Bologna Process. Since these are disciplines which critically analyze and evaluate the culture as an intrinsic emanation of human spiritual existence, humanities couldn't be subjugated to the pure logics of commercialization i.e. to the demands imposed by the neoliberal policy. Focusing our attention on the status of humanities in Serbia, we have put this analysis into broader European context, concluding that humanities have a crucial role in the development of critical thinking indispensable for any society commited to the universal humanistic values.

Teksty Drugie, 2015

2021

The paper is a brief mapping of the situation in the field of didactics of philosophy in the Slovak Republic. We observe that, despite almost three decades of separation of official philosophy from the dominance of Marxist philosophy, there is no satisfactory basis for the didactics of philosophy. The discipline Didactics of philosophy is represented by improvising several enthusiasts instead of developing serious theoretical foundations. We try to post a few recommendations that belong to all who want to seriously deal with the didactics of philosophy. The most important of them is the establishment of the Slovak scientific journal of didactics, the establishment of the organization of trade didactics, the separation of philosophy from other core subjects and the accreditation of the third level of university education in didactics of philosophy. The author convincingly proves the need to introduce knowledge of philosophy in school, since it will help teach students to think better...

Phainomena, 2024

The article provides the analysis of the scientific work of the prominent Polish philosopher, cultural critic, sociologist, and educator Lech Witkowski in the field of modern humanities, application of hermeneutics, critical reflection, and anthropology, including: (1) scientific reflections on the integration of humanities and social sciences, the findings of humanities as applied to pedagogy; several conceptual ideas of pedagogy viewed in their relation to philosophy and culture; (2) criticism against dualism towards bipolarity (unifying duality); (3) important aspects of cultural ecology, tradition, and their implications for education in their outline; (4) the concept of the “explosive effect” of reading in the humanities and its dynamics; (5) the phenomenon of identity through various perspectives (6) shedding light on the difficulties concerning the effectiveness of modern scientific research and education. The fundamental concepts of contemporary humanities (according to Witkowski) are interpreted through such categories as ambivalence, duality, irony, tradition, identity, and others, taking into consideration the extent of ethical and cognitive distancing, as well as the analytical and critical approach to the study of scientific texts.

Slovene Studies 44.1 (2022): 79–98

Er(r)go. Teoria - Literatura - Kultura

Nycz outlines the main trends of the New Humanities in the world - digital humanities, engaged humanities, cognitive humanities, posthumanism, art-based research, as well as the main debates and misunderstandings that have emerged over the last decade in the Polish context. An example of the evolution of ways of thinking and conducting research are the cultural-literary studies, CLS. This acronym stands for a variety of terms ranging from cultural literary theory to cultural-textual literacy.

Historia Scholastica, 2017

This paper presents and analyses the process of constitution of Pedagogy as an independent academic discipline in Slovakia after formation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. The first part of the paper deals with origination of the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava (1919); the second part pays attention to the origination of the Seminar of Education and beginnings of teaching of pedagogy at the given faculty, based on archival research findings; and the third part of the paper outlines a strife for the character of pedagogy after the sociopolitical changes in 1989. In the period of socialism, which lasted in Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1989, pedagogy lost its international character and was influenced exclusively by the Russian pedagogy based on the principles of Marxism-Leninism. A more complex reflection of pedagogy of this period has been missing so far, which represents a challenge for us, historians of education.

International Congress Imagine There Were No Humanities, Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, 9-10/06/2015

2016

Marginalisation of the discipline of history of education as well as historical-educational research in Slo-vakia, which is pointed out e.g. by Hamada (1995); Michalička (2004, 2012); Kudláčová (2009, 2010, 2012), resulted in a state in which educational past is no longer reflected and it causes disturbance of historical continuity of pedagogy. Historians of education are aware of it and they have been pointing out the importance of reflection on educational past. The aim of this paper is: 1) to point out the development and transformations in the perception of the academic discipline history of education and historical-educational research in Slovakia, especially in the 20 th century; 2) to identify current problems in the examined field and 3) to point out possible foundations and direction in the given field in Slovak as well as broader European context. Historical-educational research based on confrontation of scientists from various scientific fields, nationalities, methodological schools etc. can represent a new qualitatively higher level.