Humanities, VAL-ŠAF

The humanities are those branches of knowledge that concern themselves with human beings and their culture. The humanities include the study of all languages and literatures, the arts, history, and philosophy.
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Humanities Encyclopedia Articles By Title

Valla, Lorenzo
Lorenzo Valla was an Italian humanist, philosopher, and literary critic who attacked medieval traditions and anticipated......
Van Dine, S.S.
S.S. Van Dine was an American critic, editor, and author of a series of best-selling detective novels featuring......
Van Rensselaer, Mariana Alley Griswold
Mariana Alley Griswold Van Rensselaer was an American writer and critic who is perhaps best remembered for her......
Van Vechten, Carl
Carl Van Vechten was a U.S. novelist and music and drama critic, an influential figure in New York literary circles......
Varenius, Bernhardus
Bernhardus Varenius was a major figure in the revival of geographic learning in Europe, whose scholarly general......
Vargas Llosa, Mario
Mario Vargas Llosa was a Peruvian Spanish writer who was one of the most influential authors of contemporary literature,......
Vasari, Giorgio
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, architect, and writer who is best known for his important biographies of......
Vassar College
Vassar College, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S., one of the......
Vendémiaire
Vendémiaire, first month in the French republican calendar. It also was the name given to the event of 13 Vendémiaire......
Vennberg, Karl
Karl Vennberg was a poet and critic who was the critical-analytical leader in Swedish poetry of the 1940s. Vennberg......
Vergerio, Pietro Paolo
Pietro Paolo Vergerio was an Italian educator whose treatises on humanistic education greatly influenced educational......
Vergil, Polydore
Polydore Vergil was an Italian-born Humanist who wrote an English history that became required reading in schools......
Verner, Karl
Karl Verner was a linguist and formulator of Verner’s law, which provided convincing evidence of the regularity......
Vico, Giambattista
Giambattista Vico was an Italian philosopher of cultural history and law, who is recognized today as a forerunner......
victimology
victimology, branch of criminology that scientifically studies the relationship between an injured party and an......
Vidal de La Blache, Paul
Paul Vidal de La Blache was a French geographer who had a profound influence on the development of modern geography.......
Vitier, Cintio
Cintio Vitier was a Cuban poet, anthologist, critic, and scholar of Cuban poetry. Vitier began as a writer of extremely......
Vitry, Philippe de
Philippe de Vitry was a French prelate, music theorist, poet, and composer. Vitry studied at the Sorbonne and was......
Vives, Juan Luis
Juan Luis Vives was a Spanish humanist and student of Erasmus, eminent in education, philosophy, and psychology,......
Vossius, Gerardus Johannes
Gerardus Johannes Vossius was a Dutch humanist theologian, one of the foremost scholars of the Dutch Republic’s......
Wach, Joachim
Joachim Wach was a Protestant theologian and one of the foremost scholars in the modern study of religion. As a......
wage theory
wage theory, portion of economic theory that attempts to explain the determination of the payment of labour. A......
wage-price control
wage-price control, setting of government guidelines for limiting increases in wages and prices. It is a principal......
Waley, Arthur David
Arthur David Waley was an English sinologist whose outstanding translations of Chinese and Japanese literary classics......
Wallace, Anthony F.C.
Anthony F.C. Wallace was a Canadian-born American psychological anthropologist and historian known for his analysis......
Wallis, Wilson D.
Wilson D. Wallis was an American anthropologist noted for his explorations of science and religion in small-scale......
Warlock, Peter
Peter Warlock was an English composer, critic, and editor known for his songs and for his exemplary editions of......
Warner, W. Lloyd
W. Lloyd Warner was an influential American sociologist and anthropologist who was noted for his studies on class......
Watts-Dunton, Theodore
Theodore Watts-Dunton was an English critic and man of letters, who was the friend and, after 1879, protector,......
Weber, Carl Maria von
Carl Maria von Weber was a German composer and opera director during the transition from Classical to Romantic......
Wei Yuan
Wei Yuan was a historian and geographer of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12). Wei was a leader in the Statecraft......
welfare economics
welfare economics, branch of economics that seeks to evaluate economic policies in terms of their effects on the......
Wellesley College
Wellesley College, private women’s college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, U.S., one of the Seven Sisters schools.......
Wellesz, Egon
Egon Wellesz was an Austrian composer and musicologist, highly esteemed as an authority on Byzantine music. A pupil......
West Liberty University
West Liberty University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in West Liberty, West Virginia, U.S.......
Westermarck, Edward
Edward Westermarck was a Finnish sociologist, philosopher, and anthropologist who denied the widely held view that......
Western Colorado University
Western Colorado University, public coeducational institution of higher learning in Gunnison, Colorado, U.S. A......
Weymouth, Richard Francis
Richard Francis Weymouth was a philologist and biblical scholar who made one of the major 20th-century translations......
What Is Intersectionality?
In the 2010s intersectionality became the rallying cry of many left-wing activists fighting for social justice.......
What Is the “Ides” of March?
You may have heard the phrase “beware the Ides of March,” but what is an Ides and what’s there to fear? The Ides......
Wheaton College
Wheaton College, private, coeducational liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, U.S. Wheaton College began as......
Wheaton College
Wheaton College, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Norton, Massachusetts, U.S. It is a liberal......
Whistler, James McNeill
James McNeill Whistler was an American-born artist noted for his paintings of nocturnal London, for his striking......
White, Leslie A.
Leslie A. White was an American anthropologist best known for his theories of the evolution of culture and for......
Whitney, William Dwight
William Dwight Whitney was an American linguist and one of the foremost Sanskrit scholars of his time, noted especially......
Whorfian hypothesis
Whorfian hypothesis, in linguistics, a hypothesis given classic form by the American linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf......
Why Do We Have Seasons?
Seasons occur due to the tilt of Earth’s axis, which is approximately 23.5°. Because of this tilt, each hemisphere......
Why Does the Tropic of Cancer’s Location on Earth Move Over Time?
The Tropic of Cancer is a line of latitude approximately 23°27′ north of Earth’s Equator. This latitude corresponds......
Why Is Summer Warmer Than Winter?
The temperature people feel outside is largely based on the absorption of radiant energy from the Sun. Differing......
Widmann, Joseph Viktor
Joseph Viktor Widmann was a Swiss writer, editor, and critic. Widmann settled in Switzerland early in life. As......
Wied-Neuwied, Maximilian, Prinz zu
Maximilian, prince zu Wied-Neuwied was a German aristocratic naturalist, ethnographer, and explorer whose observations......
Wilberforce University
Wilberforce University, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Wilberforce, Ohio, U.S. It is......
William & Mary, College of
College of William & Mary, state coeducational university of liberal arts at Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S. The second......
Wilson, Edmund
Edmund Wilson was an American critic and essayist recognized as one of the leading literary journalists of his......
Wilson, Godfrey
Godfrey Wilson was a British anthropologist and analyst of social change in Africa. In 1938 Wilson was appointed......
Winckelmann, Johann
Johann Winckelmann was a German archaeologist and art historian whose writings directed popular taste toward classical......
Wissler, Clark
Clark Wissler was an American anthropologist who developed the concept of culture area. Though educated as a psychologist......
Wolf, Hugo
Hugo Wolf was a composer who brought the 19th-century German lied, or art song, to its highest point of development.......
Women in the United States by the Numbers: 1920 Versus 2020
This infographic shows graphs that compare aspects of the lives of women in the United States over a century. Spotlight,......
Woollcott, Alexander
Alexander Woollcott was an American author, critic, and actor known for his acerbic wit. A large, portly man, he......
Wyss, Johann Rudolf
Johann Rudolf Wyss was a folklorist, editor, and writer, remembered for his collections of Swiss folklore and for......
Xie He
Xie He was a Chinese figure painter and critic who is best remembered for collating or inventing the famous “Six......
Zacconi, Lodovico
Lodovico Zacconi was an Italian musicologist, last of a distinguished line of Renaissance writers on music. Zacconi......
Zarlino, Gioseffo
Gioseffo Zarlino was a Venetian composer and writer on music, the most celebrated music theorist of the mid-16th......
Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng was a Chinese mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. His seismoscope for registering earthquakes......
Zola, Émile
Émile Zola was a French novelist, critic, and political activist who was the most prominent French novelist of......
zoogeography
zoogeography, the branch of the science of biogeography (q.v.) that is concerned with the geographic distribution......
Šafařík, Pavel Josef
Pavel Josef Šafařík was a leading figure of the Czech national revival and a pioneer of Slavonic philology and......

Humanities Encyclopedia Articles By Title