The Humanities Major is a broad yet rigorous program that examines the ideas, values, and creative works of earlier cultures and their later influence, through multiple disciplines of the humanities (literature, history, art, philosophy, religion, music etc.). The cultural importance and continuity of mythology and literature has a central place in this curriculum, but for students who want to focus further on the study of myth and literature, across a range of cultures and periods, the Concentration in Comparative Mythology and Literature brings a special emphasis to their major, and adds a unique distinction to their degree. By taking a small number of additional key courses, students taking this concentration develop a deeper familiarity with the myths and literatures of different cultures, and important tools for understanding, interpreting, and comparing them.
Program Requirements Overview
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Credits |
| 42 |
| 3-9 |
| 46 |
| 29-23 |
| Total Credits | 120 |
Major Requirements
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Credits |
| HUMN 201 | General Humanities I (to 1400) | 3 |
| HUMN 202 | General Humanities II (from 1400) | 3 |
| HUMN 285 | Mythology | 3 |
| HUMN 499 | Senior Humanities Seminar | 4 |
| 21 |
| HUMN 151 | Seminar: Inquiry in the Humanities | 3 |
| 3 |
| Myth and Literature | |
| African Myth and Literature | |
| Celtic Mythology | |
| Mythic Traditions | |
| Special Topics in Interdisciplinary Humanities | |
| The Mythology of JRR Tolkien's Middle-Earth | |
| Seminar in Classical Humanities | |
| Principles of Mythic Symbolism | |
| Greek Tragedy | |
| Viking Mythology | |
| Religion and Peacemaking | |
| 3 |
| Russian Culture and Civilization | |
| Reading Asian Cultures | |
| Viking Mythology | |
| Celtic Mythology | |
| Mythic Traditions | |
| Special Topics in Greek and Roman Literature and Culture | |
| History of Criticism | |
| Special Topics in Interdisciplinary Humanities | |
| Imaging Medieval and Early Modern Women | |
| Alexander the Great: Legend and Legacy | |
| Cleopatra | |
| The Mythology of JRR Tolkien's Middle-Earth | |
| Greek Tragedy | |
| 3 |
| Seminar in Classical Humanities | |
| Independent Study in General Humanities | |
| Principles of Mythic Symbolism | |
| Total Credits | 46 |
General Humanities Electives
History
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Credits |
| 6 |
| |
| Greek Civilization | |
| Roman Civilization | |
| Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Ancient World | |
| Special Topics in Ancient History (Greece, Rome, W. Asia, N. Africa, Europe) | |
| Imaging Medieval and Early Modern Women | |
| The City in Antiquity | |
| Alexander the Great: Legend and Legacy | |
| The Roman Republic | |
| Cleopatra | |
| The Roman Empire | |
| Special Topics in Mediterranean Archaeology | |
| Field Methods in Mediterranean Archaeology | |
| Africa in Classical Antiquity | |
| Introduction to Roman Law | |
| Medieval European Civilization 450-1350 | |
| Age of Renaissance, 1350-1517 | |
| |
| Social History of the United States | |
| Economic History of the United States | |
| History of United States Foreign Relations | |
| U.S. Women’s History | |
| African American History | |
| Political History of the United States | |
| Feminist Ideas in Western Thought | |
| Historical Geography of the United States | |
| History of Russia to 1917 | |
| Russia Since 1917 | |
| U.S. Immigration History | |
| Cultural and Intellectual History of the United States Since 1880 | |
| European Social History | |
| The Reformation Era, 1500-1650 | |
| The Nazi Third Reich | |
| The Holocaust, 1939-1945 | |
| American Colonial History 1607-1763 | |
| The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877 | |
| The Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 1877-1920 | |
| The Rise and Decline of the New Deal Order: United States Politics and Society, 1920·1980 | |
| America in the Sixties: The Crisis of Consensus Liberalism | |
| Urban Politics | |
| Black Politics in the United States | |
| The American Presidency | |
| Contemporary Western European Politics | |
| |
| Introduction to African Civilization | |
| Early Latin America | |
| Modern Latin America | |
| Modern Japan: A History of Japan From the Meiji Through the Showa | |
| Introduction to Indian Civilization | |
| Introduction to Chinese Civilization | |
| Modern Chinese Civilization | |
| Communist Revolution in China | |
| Chinese Social History Through Literature | |
| History of Brazil | |
| Women and Gender in the Middle East: Past and Present | |
| Revolutions in Latin American History | |
| Development of Japanese Character and Culture | |
| Government and Politics of Africa | |
| Government and Politics of China and Japan | |
| Government and Politics of the Middle East | |
| Total Credits | 6 |
Philosophy/Religious Studies
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Credits |
| 3 |
| Lucretius and Ancient Science | |
| Rights, Liberties and American Justice | |
| Ethics | |
| Ethics and Business | |
| Philosophical Issues in Biomedical Ethics | |
| Philosophical Issues in Law and Justice | |
| Social and Political Philosophy | |
| American Philosophy | |
| Contemporary Philosophers | |
| Asian Philosophy | |
| Existentialism | |
| Philosophies of Art | |
| Philosophy of Religion | |
| Critical Reasoning and Arguments | |
| Philosophy of Science | |
| Philosophy of Mind | |
| Philosophy of Sport | |
| Philosophy of Technology | |
| Special Topics in Fields in Philosophy | |
| Special Topics in Periods and Movements | |
| Special Topics in Periods and Movements | |
| Knowledge, Belief and Truth | |
| Existence and Reality | |
| Philosophy of Law | |
| Legal Reasoning | |
| Legal Reasoning |
| Philosophy and Death | |
| History of Philosophy: Ancient Philosophy | |
| History of Philosophy: Modern Philosophy | |
| Special Topics in Fields of Philosophy | |
| Special Topics in Periods of Movements | |
| Special Topics in Periods of Movements | |
| Seminar in Philosophy | |
| Ethnic Politics in America | |
| American Political Thought | |
| American Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties | |
| 3 |
| Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures | |
| New Testament/Christian Scriptures | |
| American Religious Texts | |
| Buddhism | |
| Introduction to Greek and Roman Religion | |
| Introduction to Greek and Roman Religion |
| Asian Texts | |
| Hinduism | |
| Taoism | |
| Death, Dying and Afterlife | |
| Religion and Culture | |
| Religion in the United States | |
| Religion and Social Activism | |
| Asian Religions | |
| Islamic Religious Traditions | |
| Native American Religion | |
| Religion in Latin America | |
| Women and Religion | |
| The Holocaust: Religious Perspectives | |
| Spirituality and Mysticism | |
| Philosophy of Religion | |
| Psychology of Religion | |
| Total Credits | 6 |
Literature
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Credits |
| 3 |
| Images of Muslim Women in Twentieth Century Literature and Culture | |
| Art of Poetry | |
| Art of Fiction | |
| Art of Drama | |
| Contemporary U.S. Literature of Immigration | |
| Irish Literary Revival: 1890-1939 | |
| American Indian Themes | |
| African, Asian and Caribbean Literature in English | |
| Contemporary Irish Literature | |
| Modern Poetry to T.S. Eliot | |
| Contemporary African Literature | |
| Women Prose Writers | |
| Literary Modernism | |
| Contemporary European Drama | |
| Modern Drama: Ibsen to O'Neill | |
| Modern European Novel | |
| Speculative Fiction: Fantasy | |
| Science Fiction | |
| Autobiography | |
| Seminar in Comparative Literature | |
| Russian Culture and Civilization | |
| Reading Asian Cultures | |
| Special Topics in Greek and Roman Literature and Culture | |
| History of Criticism | |
| Seminar in Classical Humanities | |
| 3 |
| American Drama | |
| Black Writers in the United States: A Survey | |
| Social Protest Literature in America | |
| English Literature I: Beginnings to 1660 | |
| English Literature II: 1660 to Present | |
| Special Topics in English or American Literature | |
| English Novel to 1900 | |
| Vietnam War and American Culture | |
| Women Poets | |
| The Novels of Toni Morrison | |
| American Poetry to 1940 | |
| American Poetry: World War II to Present | |
| Early American Literature | |
| Literature of American Renaissance | |
| American Literary Realism | |
| Modern American Fiction | |
| Recent American Fiction 1990 to Present | |
| Literature of the Long Eighteenth Century | |
| Milton | |
| Chaucer | |
| Medieval English Literature | |
| 19th Century English Romantic Literature | |
| Victorian Poetry | |
| Renaissance Literature | |
| English Drama: Beginnings to 1642 | |
| Shakespeare: Comedies-Histories | |
| Shakespeare: Tragedies-Romances | |
| Contemporary Poetry | |
| Old English Language and Literature | |
| Seminar in American Literature | |
| Seminar in English Literature | |
| Digital Transformations in the Humanities | |
| Total Credits | 6 |
Art and Music History
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Credits |
| 3 |
| African-American Art | |
| Asian Art | |
| African Art: Sub-Saharan | |
| Greek Art | |
| Roman Art | |
| Early Medieval Art: Early Christian, Byzantine Early Medieval | |
| Medieval Art: Romanesque and Gothic | |
| Renaissance Art in Italy: The Fifteenth Century | |
| Renaissance Art in Italy: The Sixteenth Century | |
| Northern Renaissance Painting | |
| Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Art | |
| Art of the Nineteenth Century | |
| Twentieth-Century Art | |
| Modern Architecture | |
| Special Topics in Art History | |
| Introduction to Music | |
| Introduction to Jazz | |
| Rap and Rock as Cultural Phenomena | |
| The History of Broadway | |
| Influence of Afro-American Culture on Music | |
| Introduction to Music in World Cultures | |
| Special Topics in Global Art Cultures | |
| Modern Philosophies of Art | |
| History of Contemporary Art | |
| On Photography | |
| History of Product Design | |
| Theories of Looking: Critical Theory and Visual Culture | |
| Total Credits | 3 |
General Education Requirements
Click here for a list of courses that fulfill General Education categories.
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| 1 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 4 |
| 1 |
| |
| 3 |
| |
| Total Credits | 42 |
World Languages and Cultures Requirements
Click here for a list of courses that fulfill World Languages and Cultures categories.
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| 3-6 |
| 0-3 |
| Total Credits | 3-9 |
Recommended Roadmap to Degree Completion
This four-year plan is provided as an outline for students to follow in order to complete their degree requirements within four years. This plan is a recommendation and students should only use it in consultation with their academic advisor.
| First Year |
|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
|---|
| GNED 199 | 1 | WRIT 106 | 3 |
| WRIT 105 | 3 | GENERAL EDUCATION (D) Fine and Performing Arts | 3 |
| CMST 101 | 3 | GENERAL EDUCATION (K3) Social Science – Social Science Perspectives | 3 |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (K2) Social Science – Global Cultural Perspectives | 3 | HUMN 202 | 3 |
| HUMN 151 | 3 | HUMN 285 | 3 |
| HUMN 201 | 3 | |
| | 16 | | 15 |
| Second Year |
|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
|---|
| GENERAL EDUCATION (F2) Humanities – Philosophical and Religious Perspectives | 3 | GENERAL EDUCATION (K1) Social Science – American and European History | 3 |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (L) Interdisciplinary Studies | 3 | World Language 2 | 3 |
| World Language 1 | 3 | Major Elective: History | 3 |
| Major Elective: History | 3 | Major Elective: Religious Studies | 3 |
| Free Elective | 3 | Free Elective | 3 |
| | 15 | | 15 |
| Third Year |
|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
|---|
| GENERAL EDUCATION (I) Natural Science Laboratory | 4 | GENERAL EDUCATION (G) Computer Science | 3 |
| Major Elective: Comparative Literature | 3 | Major Elective: Art and Music | 3 |
| Concentration Elective | 3 | Concentration Elective | 3 |
| Free Elective | 3 | Free Elective | 3 |
| Free Elective | 3 | Free Elective | 3 |
| | 16 | | 15 |
| Fourth Year |
|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
|---|
| GENERAL EDUCATION (H) Mathematics | 3 | GENERAL EDUCATION (J) Physical Education | 1 |
| Concentration Elective | 3 | HUMN 499 | 4 |
| Free Elective | 3 | Free Elective | 3 |
| Free Elective | 3 | Free Elective | 3 |
| Free Elective | 3 | Free Elective | 3 |
| | 15 | | 14 |
| Total Credits 121 |