Defining the Humanities

"Think of this as 'The Thinking Man's Bloom' or 'The Thinking Woman's Closing of the American Mind.' It takes up debates about education and reasons about them, where Bloom often only blasted away... This is one of the more helpful recent statements of the case for the classics, accompanied by rather venturesome curricular suggestions." Christian Century "His exciting readable book calls for a return to a study of the classics - and of the Renaissance poets and scholars, like Petrarch, who rediscovered the classics." Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World " ... a splendid statement bringing together in a careful and coherent way the prospects for a solid humanities curriculum." Ernest L. Boyer "For the first time, in my estimation, has a scholar succeeded in showing the relation of humanistic studies to the personal and social life of the ancient world and of the Renaissance. He...indicates the possibilities of bringing back an effective relationship between what is taught in our colleges and universities and the ethical perspectives of their graduates." Charles Trinkaus " Curriculum for Today is a splendid statement bringing together in a careful and coherent way the prospects for a solid humanities curriculum." Ernest L. Boyer "Proctor's book is consistently engaging, scholarly, and humane ...an excellent place to begin discussions of the role of the university and the place of liberal education within it." Teaching Sociology "...a stimulating treatment of a profoundly important subject, which addresses fundamental questions about the moral purpose of education in the humanities." Speculum " ...a splendid analysis of the history of the humanities. Its virtues are multiple... It is profound in its induction, stimulating in its aims and purposes, and a book to be weighed carefully by scholars of the humanities, historians, and teachers in liberal arts programs and humanities studies." The History Teacher