Inquiry-based learning in the Humanities: Moving from topics to problems using the “Humanities imagination”

Abstract

In this article, we present a new perspective on how to combine inquiry-based, problem-oriented learning with practices in the Humanities. Our particular interest is how the initial phase of finding “the problem” can be undertaken in a conjoint way with students, that is in the form of inquiry-based learning where there are no pre-defined questions set by the teacher. Inspired by C. Wright Mills , we argue that “the imagination” is key to opening up inquiries into problems, for students and researchers alike. Through an outline of what we call “the Humanities imagination” we develop a set of heuristics for stimulating a turn from topics to problems in the context of the Humanities. We show how combining inquiry-based learning with the Humanities suggests both new pedagogical practices, new models (the teacher as interlocutor), and a new balancing of the ecology of the Humanities emphasizing its particular imaginary over its disciplines.