DR ELLIE MACKIN ROBERTS
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What are the Humanities?

29/12/2017

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A twitter thread from my week at @wethehumanities (July 2017) - and prompted by Storify closing:

So I might as well have one-last-thread during my time on We the Humanities. And it might as well be about the Humanities!

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

My understanding of the Humanities is, like most people I suppose, grounded really in what it is that I have studies. That is, Classics.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

Classics is an interesting discipline because it is inherently very interdisciplinary. That has been good, and bad, for the discipline.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

What I mean is that I rather think that for a long time classicists didn't interact with outside disciplines. That's most obvious when...

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

...we look at methodological advancement in classics sub-disciplines vs comparable disciplines. For instance: the way we looked at...

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

... religion was different to religious studies and other historical religious scholars were looking at it. Obviously this is extremely...

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

...over simplified, and there is a HUGE amount of very excited methodological work being done in classics and ancient history. But much...

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

...of it is being done by - shall we say - 'not traditional classicists'. □ Disclaimer: not all classicists and all that.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

But anyway, my BA pass degree actually was also in archaeology and (modern) philosophy. So my base understanding of the Humanities also...

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

...stems from those disciplines. By and large I've kept up with classical archaeology, but my philosophy knowledge is rusty as anything...

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

(I mean, beyond the point I know I never want to read Kant's Critique of Pure Reason again! □)

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

So. What are the Humanities?

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

The Humanities are about thinking through the past, present, and future implications of *being human* and *being in the world*.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

They give us direction for thinking about doing best and doing worst, and what those two things might mean.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

They give us the chance to be critical of ourselves and the world around us. In though, action, being, and creation.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

The Humanities give us confidence to navigate the world. To be bold without being brash. To be compassionate and kind and rough and honest.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

And mean. The Humanities aren't a shining beacon of All That Is Good. They also give us the opportunity to think about our darker instincts.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

But, again - always - with critical awareness.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

Knowing humanity gives us the tools needed to take calculated risks. In ourselves and in society.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

Humanities are, essentially, the study of what makes us human and, at the same time, the study of why we want an answer to that question.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017

This is, of course, my understanding, and knowledge of *my* Humanities. There will be subtly and vastly different answers from others.

— WetheHums/On Holiday (@WetheHumanities) July 2, 2017
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We the Humanities (26/6-2/7/2017)

25/6/2017

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Next week I am once again taking over the @wethehumanities rotation curation Twitter account! It's going to be a busy week for me, so I thought I'd lay out a loose plan of what I'll be talking about over the week. I've tried to give each day a theme, that I'll discuss from a research-perspective and from an ECR/academic/life perspective.

MONDAY
​I'll start the week talking about what I'm currently writing - which is a sensory approach to necromancy in the ancient Greek world. In the short term, this is a paper I'm giving on Wednesday at Leicester and, in the medium term, it's work that will fit into the book I'm writing this summer, on ​Hades. 

​Tenuously connected (that is, I'm starting the week by ignoring my 'themed' days idea...), I'm going to talk about balancing life (teaching and admin, but will also be relevant to non-academic world) and research. 

TUESDAY
​Today's theme is ​feelings​. I'm going to chat about emotive and sensory approaches (which I am slightly less at home with than I could be) and how Sensoriality fits with Materialism. So, we'll be chatting about how things make you feel, and about how life makes you feel. 

WEDNESDAY
​Today's theme is ​moving around! I'll be heading to Leicester today, and will be talking about what my commute from London is like. I'll also talk about my 'journey' so far - from school to now, and what I hope my career will look like (and why that's connected to feelings).

​In research, I'll talk about how my PhD research (on Underworld gods) is related to my new research (on religious embeddedness) and how I feel about moving around within my sub-discipline.

​THURSDAY
​Today's theme is ​marginality. I'll talk a bit about ancient Greek Underworld gods, and about being a marginal person in the world and in the academy - I'll also be doing some signal-boosting today!

​It's an #ECRchat day as well, so I'll be tying my time at We the Humanities in to the topic for ECR chat, which is about being an early career academic in an unstable political climate.

FRIDAY
​Today's theme is ​family​. I want to chat about having a family and a career, and being away from your family and setting up in a new place. We'll touch on research families, and divine families (that is how so-called 'chthonic' gods fit in with so-called 'Olympic' gods).

SATURDAY
​
​Today's theme is ​constructed families​. I'll be at a wedding! I want to talk about downtime, how we make our own families, friends, support and touch on mental illness.

SUNDAY
​The last day will be my HUGE #ScholarSunday list (please feel free to send in nominations for anyone you want me to shout out to!). I'll also be talking about setting future research and teaching plans, how I plan, and intersectionality in the academy. It's also Kiddo's ballet show, so there might be some more family-related fun! 

I hope you'll join me for a huge, busy, and (hopefully!) great week of chatting and Underworld gods!
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  • CV
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    • BBB
    • Publications
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  • Teaching
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    • HEA Applications >
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    • Diversity in the Classroom
  • TikTok