May 2, 2003

Expanding the Agenda of Cultural Research

By PETER N. STEARNS

For the past several decades, key disciplines in or around the humanities, including my own field of history, have been strongly influenced by what has been termed "the cultural turn" -- the belief that culture influences, indeed powerfully shapes, the human condition.

In this pervasive view, key aspects of life can best be understood by exploring the fundamental beliefs and assumptions of a culture and (in some formulations especially) the language in which they are expressed. Some of

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