Teaching the Humanities in a World Wide Web Environment, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities as a Focus Study Grant, is a program of faculty seminars, workshops, and training sessions that aims to enrich the humanities curriculum at Northern Virginia Community College through the application of instructional technology to the teaching/learning process.

During Spring Semester 1998, fourteen members of the humanities faculty will undertake a thoughtful and critical exploration of instructional technology to discover how it can be used to create an interdisciplinary teaching and learning environment for humanities instruction. The forum will also provide time for faculty to explore the changing relationship between the humanities,the technological environment, and the demands of teaching at a community college.

The project staff has designed a twelve-week program of faculty enrichment activities: (1) a brief discussion of approaches to the creation of an enriched humanities curriculum and a review of the impact of the technological revolution on humanities education in the United States today; (2) training in technology applications useful for academia; and (3) a dialogue on how to use technology to teach the humanities and to develop a World Wide Web (Web)-integrated humanities curriculum.

Faculty will work on short "humanities enrichment modules" which can be either Web-based learning resources, an instructional module, or a sample interactive module. These resource modules will become part of the Web at the College and will serve as a modest beginning for the creation of a Web-integrated humanities curriculum.

The project will lead to improved humanities instruction at the College and provide a model for other academic institutions. Using the Web as a humanities resource, faculty will expose students to images, texts, and sounds previously unavailable. Using the Web as a course delivery mechanism, faculty will offer students specialized humanities courses and instructional modules that are not now offered because of time, space, and administrative constraints. Using the technology of the Web, faculty will interlink humanities courses to allow students to draw on humanities resources common across all disciplines.

Thus students will not only improve their technology skills while studying in this curricular environment, but they will also engage in a far more systematic and penetrating study of the humanities. Finally, the project will promote a collaborative spirit among diverse disciplines and across the College's campuses.

Last revised:  January 25, 1998
Send comments to:  Charles Evans