Global university rankings have developed to become a prominent feature of the scholarly landscape as they provide means to measure, quantify and hierarchically organise higher education...Show moreGlobal university rankings have developed to become a prominent feature of the scholarly landscape as they provide means to measure, quantify and hierarchically organise higher education institutions (HEIs) across the globe. The ways in which such measurements take place are highly criticised and call for examination of what the rankings measure, their representativity and their reflexivity to the diverse nature of scholarly fields. This thesis examines the Times Higher Education University Ranking (THE) and its incorporation of the structure of the humanities scholarly field in its rankings. A literature review is conducted to establish three core features of humanities scholarship that must be accounted for in any meaningful representation of the field. This thesis concludes that despite THE’s methodological adjustments to different fields (subjects), it fails to meaningfully represent the distinct makeup of humanities scholarship by omission of these three core features in its methodology. Means to rectify such shortcomings are proposed through the introduction of field-specific indicators and reevaluating the methodological composition producing THE’s overall score.Show less
Following a military crackdown in Myanmar’s state of Rakhine in 2017, increased reports of violence and displacement of Rohingya surfaced. At the centre of these circumstances is the Rohingya ...Show moreFollowing a military crackdown in Myanmar’s state of Rakhine in 2017, increased reports of violence and displacement of Rohingya surfaced. At the centre of these circumstances is the Rohingya ‘statelessness’, resulting from the Rohingya’s denied membership to the political community of Myanmar. Legal Studies understands statelessness as a ‘legal anomaly’ relating to non-existence of a legal bond between a state and an individual. Although this understanding dominates discourse on statelessness, including that of the Rohingya, a shift away from this conceptualisation is evident in academic circles outside Legal Studies. Scholars in Humanities, Social Sciences and Political Philosophy warn it dehumanizes how statelessness is also an experienced state of being. Stressing need for alternative approaches, suggestions have been made about focusing on artistic accounts of statelessness. These have been embraced by organisations like Oxfam, who initiated a ‘Rohingya Realities; Rohingya Futures’ art competition campaign. During this campaign, Rohingya artists submitted artworks wherein they reflect on their realities, hopes and dreams. This thesis analyses how four poetic accounts of stateless Rohingya poets, in Oxfam’s art competition campaign, may humanize dominant discourse on the Rohingya’s statelessness. It is argued the poetic accounts humanize dominant discourse by, firstly, providing a means of seeing statelessness in terms of a human condition that is lived, felt, and experienced; secondly, drawing attention to the poets’ demonstration of agency through their experiential accounts of statelessness; and finally, the poems’ ability to create empathy and invite readers to think critically about the conceptual understanding of statelessness as well as the stateless reality the Rohingya face. Given this thesis intends to enquire into theoretical understandings of statelessness politically-philosophically and culturally, whilst analysing the so-far understudied contribution artistic accounts have to statelessness discourse, this thesis adds to interdisciplinary statelessness research.Show less
In Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy, society is divided into two groups: numbers people and word people. This thesis analysed the extent to which this fictional dichotomy reflects and comments...Show moreIn Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy, society is divided into two groups: numbers people and word people. This thesis analysed the extent to which this fictional dichotomy reflects and comments on the ideological divide between scientists and humanities scholars in Western society. The analysis focused on the trilogy’s first novel, Oryx and Crake (2003). Oryx and Crake depicts the relationship between humanities scholars and natural scientists on a societal level, but also through the friendship between its main characters Jimmy and Crake. This thesis compares Jimmy and Crake to the stereotypical images of humanities scholars and natural scientists. It argues that the novel challenges the stereotypes of the superfluous humanities scholar and the mad scientist, by showing that the characters who represent these stereotypes are much more complex. This thesis demonstrates that these stereotypes impede open conversations between the two cultures in the novel. It concludes that reading Oryx and Crake gives the reader a better understanding of the reasons behind the conflict between the two cultures. By doing so, the novel provides a starting point to improve the mutual understanding between the humanities and the natural sciences.Show less
With 300 million monthly active users, Twitter is a global social media platform embedded in everyday communication and information diffusion. As a result, it has attracted a wide range of...Show moreWith 300 million monthly active users, Twitter is a global social media platform embedded in everyday communication and information diffusion. As a result, it has attracted a wide range of scholarly disciplines, studying its data, resulting in hundreds of studies that utilized Twitter’s data. This thesis will focus on the challenges and potential of using Twitter data for Humanities. As every social media platform has its unique dynamics, Twitters structure will be explored to see how it relates to the research questions applied to it. The process of increasing policy-orientated measures, will be described to illustrate how Twitter data is a valuable, and therefore limited accessible form of information. A number of studies is analyzed to explore potential methods and the results. Finally, a case study will be executed to demonstrate both the challenges and potential for humanities students. The focus will be on how Twitter’s 140 character long tweets can eventually be used to attribute to the greater stories written about human society and culture.Show less
Abstract in Dutch: In de negentiende eeuw speelden (wetenschappelijke) deugden een grote rol in het leven van wetenschappers zoals de kerkhistoricus Johannes Gerardus Rijk Acquoy en de Historicus...Show moreAbstract in Dutch: In de negentiende eeuw speelden (wetenschappelijke) deugden een grote rol in het leven van wetenschappers zoals de kerkhistoricus Johannes Gerardus Rijk Acquoy en de Historicus Robert Fruin. Deugden zoals onpartijdigheid, waarheidsliefde en ijver golden als belangrijke karaktereigenschappen en werden door leerlingen en collega’s geroemd, onder andere in necrologieën. Deze deugden droegen bij aan de vorming van de geesteswetenschappen in de negentiende eeuw omdat zij een kader vormden waarin wetenschappers houvast vonden terwijl de manier waarop zij werkten veranderde. Het cultiveren van bepaalde (epistemische) deugden stelde hen er toe in staat als waardevolle wetenschappers te functioneren. De scriptie onderzoekt welk ideaalbeeld van Fruin en Acquoy hun deugden, epistemisch, moreel, politiek en anders, er gevonden kan worden in de necrologieën geschreven door hun collega’s en leerlingen kort na hun overlijden en wát dit zegt over manier waarop we de functie van deze verschillende deugden, epistemisch en anders, zien binnen de wetenschappelijke wereld van de geesteswetenschappen in de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw. In tegenstelling tot Herman Paul zijn suggestie dat deugden als onpartijdigheid, waarheidsliefde en ijver deel uitmaakten van een geleerdenethos, stelt deze scriptie dat de geleerde deugden niet alleen in wetenschappelijke context functioneerden, maar ook en juist, werden ingezet buiten die context. De scriptie stelt bovendien dat deze deugden, die zo’n belangrijke plaats innamen in de verwetenschappelijking van de geesteswetenschappen, niet alleen buiten een wetenschappelijke context functioneerden maar daar mogelijkerwijs ook oorspronkelijk gecultiveerd waren; in de burgerlijke wereld van de negentiende eeuw.Show less
