The retrospect and prospect of Ancient Western History(2013~4): Again ‘Diversification of History’

Abstract

The characteristic which the study of ancient western history of this session(2013~4) shows can be summarized as ‘diversification of history’. Ancient western history unlike other fields of history targets a great multitude of time and space, therefore the diversification of themes itself is not a surprise. However, given the numbers of the scholars, the endless discovery and excavation of a variety of subjects is a surprising and welcomed event. This trend is expected to continue for some while. However, the future of the ancient western history academia is not to be taken optimistically. It is now a well known fact that as universities give up on being an ‘university’ and are becoming ‘companies’, the environment for research and education of ancient western history, as along with other humanities fields, is deteriorating day after day. Moreover, the ‘diversification of history’ is still limited where it meets the eyes. In other words, the great variety of studies have yet to achieve ‘relationship’ and ‘creativity’, the ultimate essences of diversity which are able to independently produce historical and social discourses through promoting interaction and communication between scholars or themes of studies. This is the reason why we need to deliberate the paradox of ‘diversification of history’. The ancient western history academia must seek constructive means for the future. The quantitative slowdown or reduction of studies this session, in these times of diversification of themes, is not to be regarded as a temporary event but a message calling for self-examination.