Skip to main content
Journal cover image

The Case for Bringing Experiential Learning into the Humanities

Publication ,  Journal Article
Balleisen, EJ; Chin, R
Published in: Daedalus
June 1, 2022

Drawing on innovative programs at the University of Michigan and Duke University, this essay explores an important trend in humanistic education: the provision of opportunities for experiential learning, whether for undergraduates or graduate students. Avenues for applied humanistic research, such as research-based internships and courses structured around collaborative, client-inflected research projects, provide numerous benefits. In addition to cultivating teamwork, leadership, and communications skills, such experiences build intellectual confidence, expand horizons, and foster motivation to pursue additional research challenges. Although humanistic experiments with experiential learning now abound across higher education, pedagogical conservatism among faculty has slowed the pace of change, with pilots often occurring outside the frameworks of standard curricular structures. We call on departments in the humanities and interpretive social sciences to embrace the promise of engaged, public-facing scholarly endeavor, and to make collaborative research a core feature of curricular expectations for students at all levels.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Daedalus

DOI

EISSN

1548-6192

ISSN

0011-5266

Publication Date

June 1, 2022

Volume

151

Issue

3

Start / End Page

138 / 152

Related Subject Headings

  • General Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
  • 43 History, heritage and archaeology
  • 36 Creative arts and writing
  • 21 History and Archaeology
  • 19 Studies in Creative Arts and Writing
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Balleisen, E. J., & Chin, R. (2022). The Case for Bringing Experiential Learning into the Humanities. Daedalus, 151(3), 138–152. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01934
Balleisen, E. J., and R. Chin. “The Case for Bringing Experiential Learning into the Humanities.” Daedalus 151, no. 3 (June 1, 2022): 138–52. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01934.
Balleisen EJ, Chin R. The Case for Bringing Experiential Learning into the Humanities. Daedalus. 2022 Jun 1;151(3):138–52.
Balleisen, E. J., and R. Chin. “The Case for Bringing Experiential Learning into the Humanities.” Daedalus, vol. 151, no. 3, June 2022, pp. 138–52. Scopus, doi:10.1162/daed_a_01934.
Balleisen EJ, Chin R. The Case for Bringing Experiential Learning into the Humanities. Daedalus. 2022 Jun 1;151(3):138–152.
Journal cover image

Published In

Daedalus

DOI

EISSN

1548-6192

ISSN

0011-5266

Publication Date

June 1, 2022

Volume

151

Issue

3

Start / End Page

138 / 152

Related Subject Headings

  • General Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
  • 43 History, heritage and archaeology
  • 36 Creative arts and writing
  • 21 History and Archaeology
  • 19 Studies in Creative Arts and Writing