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Discusses papers submitted in the 26th Annual Conference on Social Theory, Politics and the Arts which was held in Washington, D.C. from October 12 to 15, 2000. Main challenges for the arts and humanities; Central topic of the event; Topics of the papers.

Recent policy discourse suggests that arts and humanities research is seen as being less useful to society than other disciplines, notably in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The paper explores how this assumption’s construction has been built and whether it is based upon an unfair prejudice: we argue for a prima facie case to answer in assuming that arts and humanities research’s lower societal value. We identify a set of claims circulating in policy circles regarding science, technology, engineering and mathematics research and arts and humanities research’s differences. We find two groups: arts and humanities research is less useful than science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and arts and humanities research is merely differently useful. We argue that empirical analysis is necessary to disentangle which ones are true to assess whether policy-making is being based on rational and evidence-based claims. We argue that debates about public research value should recognise that humanities have different (but equally valid) kinds of societal value. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The application of e-Science technologies to disciplines in the arts and humanities raises major questions as to how those technologies can be most usefully exploited, what tools and infrastructures are needed for that exploitation, and what new research approaches can be generated. This paper reviews a number of activities in the UK and Europe in the last 5 years which have sought to address these questions through processes of experimentation and targeted infrastructure development. In the UK, the AHeSSC (Arts and Humanities e-Science Support Centre) has played a coordinating role for seven projects funded by the Arts and Humanities e-Science Initiative. In Europe, DARIAH (Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities) has sought to develop a deeper understanding of research information and communication in the arts and humanities, and to inform the development of e-infrastructures accordingly. Both sets of activity have indicated a common requirement: to construct a framework which consistently describes the methods and functions of scholarly activity which underlie digital arts and humanities research, and the relationships between them. Such a ‘methodological commons’ has been formulated in the field of the digital humanities. This paper describes the application of this approach to arts and humanities e-Science, with reference to the early work of DARIAH and AHeSSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the growing use of tools from the arts and humanities for investigation and dissemination of social science research. Emerging spaces for knowledge transfer, such as the World Wide Web, are explored as outlets for "performative social science". Questions of ethnics and questions of evaluation which emerge from performative social science and the use of new technologies are discussed. Contemporary thinking in aesthetics is explored to answer questions of evaluation. The use of the Internet for productions is proposed as supporting the collective elaboration of meaning supported by Relational Aesthetics. One solution to the ethical problem of performing the narrations of others is the use of the writer's own story as autoethnography. The author queries autoethnography's tendency to tell "sad" stories and proposes an amusing story, exemplified by "The One about Princess Margaret" (see Appendix). The conclusion is reached that the free and open environment of the Internet sidelines the usual tediousness of academic publishing and begins to explore new answers to questions posed about the evaluation and ethics of performative social science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the first large-scale quantitative investigation into collaboration, demonstrated in co-authorship, by Australian humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) researchers. Web of Science data were extracted for Australian HASS publications, with a focus on the softer social sciences, over the period 2004 - 2013. The findings show that collaboration has increased over the last ten years, with strong intra-region collaboration concentrated on the east coast of Australia. International collaboration occurred most frequently with English speaking countries at vast distances from Australia. On average, fields in the social sciences collaborated at higher rates and attracted higher citations than humanities fields, but co-authorship of any kind was likely to increase citation rates. The results provide a snapshot of collaboration by Australian HASS authors in this time period and can be used as a benchmark to explore collaboration patterns in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Taiwan Humanities Citation Index (THCI) is Taiwan's effort to construct a search, research, and evaluation tool for research in the arts and humanities. This article describes the design, framework, features, and policies and rules of the THCI. Citation analysis has been regarded as a systematic way to investigate research developments and trends. Since the Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) indexes mostly English journals, the THCI could become an auxiliary citation index of the A&HCI for Taiwanese researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Information -- Wissenschaft und Praxis is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article describes interdisciplinary research seminars in the arts and humanities at Montana State University that combine music with humanities or other art forms. It discusses the context for undergraduate research at the university, as well as course guidelines and learning outcomes. According to the article, the seminars give undergraduates opportunities to conduct original research on academic pathways and provide professors an opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in other disciplines. Topics of the seminars include music and economics, music and literature, and music and sculpture.

Taking as its starting point the European Commission's agenda for promoting collaborative, interdisciplinary research that includes the Humanities as well as the Social Sciences, this article argues that arts and humanities research needs greater integration into that research agenda and more, as well as more imaginative and incentivizing, funding and support. Utilizing the issue of the London bombers as an example, the article indicates that the Arts and Humanities can provide both insights into and perspectives on the challenges Europe faces in the 21st century. It suggests that a trans-disciplinary approach to research issues is required that is, inter alia, best supported by the establishment of advanced interdisciplinary research institutes that include the Humanities and Social Sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]