Welcome from the Head of Department

The Humanities have been central to the idea of the University since its inception in twelfth-century Europe, and they have their origins in the seven Liberal Arts of the Classical World.

The Humanities have lasted this long because of the unique training they offer: a training that is often imitated in other parts of the university system, but never equaled. The working world has sometimes found it difficult to define what those skills are, but it knows them when it sees them: mental flexibility; high powers of expression in both written and oral forms; the ability to assimilate and interpret complex information for others; an awareness of the varied nature of the human experience both in space and in time; intellectual independence, integrity, and clarity; and creative curiosity, to name a few.

All the fields this Department works in — Cinema, Communication, English, History, Journalism, Modern Languages, and Political Studies — share this ethos and this set of intellectual commitments. And our students share them, too, which makes the life and atmosphere of this Department as special as its historical inheritance. We look forward to working with you in any of the Department’s programs you may choose.

Dr Doug Hunt

Head of Department
Department of Humanities
James Cook University.