HUMANITIES are academic disciplines that study human culture. The
humanities use methods that are primarily critical, or speculative, and
have a significant historical element[1]—as distinguished from
the mainly empirical approaches
of the natural sciences.[1] The
humanities include ancient and
modern languages, literature, philosophy, religion,
and visual and performing arts such
as music and theatre .
Areas that are sometimes regarded[by
whom?] as social sciences and
sometimes as humanities include history, archaeology,anthropology, area studies, communication studies, classical studies, law, semiotics and linguistics.
Scholars in the humanities are "humanities
scholars" or humanists.[2] The
term "humanist" also describes the philosophical position ofhumanism,
which some "antihumanist" scholars in the
humanities refuse. The Renaissance scholars and artists were also called humanists. Some secondary schools offer
humanities classes, usually consisting of English literature, global studies, and art.
Human disciplines like history and cultural anthropology study subject matters that the experimental method does not apply to—and instead mainly
use the comparative method[3] and comparative research.
History
History is systematically collected information about the past. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and
interpretation of the record of humans, societies, institutions, and any topic
that has changed over time.
Traditionally, the study of history has been
considered a part of the humanities. In modern academia, history is occasionally
classified as asocial science.
History (from Greek ἱστορία, historia,
meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation")[2] is the study
of the past, particularly how it relates to humans.[3][4] It is
an umbrella term that
relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection,
organization, presentation, and interpretation of information about these
events. Scholars who write about history are called historians.
Events occurring prior to written record are considered prehistory.
History can also refer to the academic discipline which
uses a narrative to examine and analyse a sequence of
past events, and objectively determine the patterns of cause and effect that
determine them.[5][6] Historians
sometimes debate the nature of history and
its usefulness by discussing the study of the discipline as an end in itself
and as a way of providing "perspective" on the problems of the
present.[5][7][8][9]
Stories common to a particular culture, but not supported
by external sources (such as the tales surrounding King Arthur) are usually classified as cultural heritage or legends,
because they do not support the "disinterested investigation"
required of the discipline of history.[10][11] Herodotus,
a 5th-century BC Greek historian is considered within the Western
tradition to be the "father of history", and, along with his
contemporary Thucydides, helped form the foundations for the modern study
of human history. Their work continues to be read today and the divide between
the culture-focused Herodotus and the military-focused Thucydides remains a
point of contention or approach in modern historical writing. In the Eastern
tradition, a state chronicle the Spring and Autumn Annals was known to be compiled from as early
as 722 BC although only 2nd century BC texts survived.
Ancient influences have helped spawn variant
interpretations of the nature of history which have evolved over the centuries
and continue to change today. The modern study of history is wide-ranging, and
includes the study of specific regions and the study of certain topical or
thematical elements of historical investigation. Often history is taught as
part of primary and secondary education, and the academic study of history is a major discipline in University studies.
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