The major in Humanities critically examines the culture, ideas, and values of earlier cultures, western and non-western, both in their original time periods and as they have been appropriated and transformed by later ages. In particular, the program seeks to develop a critical awareness of how the classical past has been utilized as a symbol or an ideal by modern cultures, including American, and how western culture has developed its own particular views about itself as being distinctly different from non-western cultures.
The major is especially recommended for students who have a broad interest in the liberal arts either for their own sake or as preparation for business and the professions. The Humanities program is unique in allowing students the opportunity to select a wide spectrum of courses from a multiplicity of different disciplines (history, literature, philosophy, religious studies, art history, music history).
Students who wish to pursue K-6 teacher certification in Elementary Education must apply and be admitted to the Teacher Education Program. Once admitted, students will be matriculated into the B.A. in Elementary Education program as a second major.
Please visit the Teacher Education Program website for the required professional sequence of courses and other important Program requirements, guidelines, and procedures. Students are strongly advised to review the Teacher Education Program Handbook.
120 credits of coursework is required for the baccalaureate degree with a minimum 3.0 overall GPA. Major GPA requirements differ depending on field of study. Consult the Teacher Education Program Handbook for more information.
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Program Requirements Overview
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Requirements | 14 | |
| World Languages and Cultures Requirements | 3-6 | |
| Major Requirements | 37 | |
| Teacher Education Program Requirements | 60 | |
| Free Electives | 6-3 | |
| Total Credits | 120 | |
Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Core Courses | ||
| 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 |
| Humanities Electives | ||
| History | ||
| Complete one course from 2 out of 3 History categories listed below. | 6 | |
| Philosophy | ||
| Complete one course from the list below. | 3 | |
| Religion | ||
| Complete one couse from the list below. | 3 | |
| Myth Studies | ||
| Complete one couse from the list below. | 3 | |
| National Literature | ||
| Complete one couse from the list below. | 3 | |
| Comparative Literature | ||
| HUMN 217 | Reading Asian Cultures | 3 |
| Art and Music | ||
| Complete one course from the list below. | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 37 | |
Humanities Electives
History
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select two of the following three requirements: | 6 | |
| Earlier Western History | ||
| Select 0-3 credits from the following: | ||
| 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 Times | ||
| Age of Renaissance, 1350-1517 | ||
| Later Western History | ||
| Select 0-3 credits from the following: | ||
| 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 | ||
| Non-Western History | ||
| Select 0-3 credits from the following: | ||
| African History | ||
| Early Latin American History | ||
| 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
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| HUMN 454 | Lucretius and Ancient Science | 3 |
| JUST 360 | Rights, Liberties and American Justice | 3 |
| PHIL 102 | Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 202 | Ethics and Business | 3 |
| PHIL 204 | Philosophical Issues in Biomedical Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 206 | Philosophical Issues in Law and Justice | 3 |
| PHIL 212 | Social and Political Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 231 | American Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 233 | Contemporary Philosophers | 3 |
| PHIL 237 | Asian Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 239 | Existentialism | 3 |
| PHIL 260 | Philosophies of Art | 3 |
| PHIL 262 | Philosophy of Religion | 3 |
| PHIL 264 | Critical Reasoning and Arguments | 3 |
| PHIL 266 | Philosophy of Science | 3 |
| PHIL 270 | Philosophy of Mind | 3 |
| PHIL 271 | Philosophy of Sport | 3 |
| PHIL 280 | Philosophy of Technology | 3 |
| PHIL 290 | Special Topics in Fields in Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 295 | Special Topics in Periods and Movements | 3 |
| PHIL 297 | Special Topics in Periods and Movements | 3 |
| PHIL 310 | Knowledge, Belief and Truth | 3 |
| PHIL 312 | Existence and Reality | 3 |
| PHIL 316 | Philosophy of Law | 3 |
| PHIL 324 | Legal Reasoning | 3 |
| or JURI 324 | Legal Reasoning | |
| PHIL 330 | Philosophy and Death | 3 |
| PHIL 331 | History of Philosophy: Ancient Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 333 | History of Philosophy: Modern Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 390 | Special Topics in Fields of Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 395 | Special Topics in Periods of Movements | 3 |
| PHIL 397 | Special Topics in Periods of Movements | 3 |
| PHIL 424 | Seminar in Philosophy | 3 |
| POLS 215 | Ethnic Politics in America | 3 |
| POLS 307 | American Political Thought | 3 |
| POLS 323 | American Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties | 3 |
Religion
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| RELG 200 | Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures | 3 |
| RELG 204 | New Testament/Christian Scriptures | 3 |
| RELG 207 | American Religious Texts | 3 |
| RELG 209 | Introduction to Greek and Roman Religion | 3 |
| or HUMN 209 | Introduction to Greek and Roman Religion | |
| RELG 213 | Buddhism | 3 |
| RELG 214 | Asian Texts | 3 |
| RELG 215 | Hinduism | 3 |
| RELG 217 | Taoism | 3 |
| RELG 218 | Death, Dying and Afterlife | 3 |
| RELG 221 | Religion and Culture | 3 |
| RELG 223 | Religion in the United States | 3 |
| RELG 225 | Religion and Social Activism | 3 |
| RELG 240 | Asian Religions | 3 |
| RELG 246 | Islamic Religious Traditions | 3 |
| RELG 254 | Native American Religion | 3 |
| RELG 256 | Religion in Latin America | 3 |
| RELG 267 | Women and Religion | 3 |
| RELG 273 | The Holocaust: Religious Perspectives | 3 |
| RELG 301 | Spirituality and Mysticism | 3 |
| RELG 362 | Philosophy of Religion | 3 |
| RELG 363 | Psychology of Religion | 3 |
Myth Studies
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 210 | Myth and Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 366 | African Myth and Literature | 3 |
| HUMN 220 | Celtic Mythology | 3 |
| HUMN 221 | Viking Mythology | 3 |
| HUMN 288 | Mythic Traditions | 3 |
| HUMN 320 | Special Topics in Interdisciplinary Humanities (Course may be used if the topic is appropriate.) | 3 |
| HUMN 380 | The Mythology of JRR Tolkien's Middle-Earth | 3 |
| HUMN 385 | Greek Tragedy | 3 |
| HUMN 470 | Seminar in Classical Humanities | 3 |
| HUMN 490 | Principles of Mythic Symbolism | 3 |
| RELG 332 | Myth, Meaning and Self | 3 |
National Literature
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 234 | American Drama | 3 |
| ENGL 238 | Black Writers in the United States: A Survey | 3 |
| ENGL 239 | Social Protest Literature in America | 3 |
| ENGL 240 | English Literature I: Beginnings to 1660 | 3 |
| ENGL 241 | English Literature II: 1660 to Present | 3 |
| ENGL 250 | Special Topics in English or American Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 256 | English Novel to 1900 | 3 |
| ENGL 275 | Vietnam War and American Culture | 3 |
| ENGL 294 | Women Poets | 3 |
| ENGL 301 | The Novels of Toni Morrison | 3 |
| ENGL 324 | American Poetry to 1940 | 3 |
| ENGL 325 | American Poetry: World War II to Present | 3 |
| ENGL 326 | Early American Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 333 | Literature of American Renaissance | 3 |
| ENGL 336 | American Literary Realism | 3 |
| ENGL 337 | Modern American Fiction | 3 |
| ENGL 338 | Recent American Fiction 1990 to Present | 3 |
| ENGL 341 | Literature of the Long Eighteenth Century | 3 |
| ENGL 343 | Milton | 3 |
| ENGL 344 | Chaucer | 3 |
| ENGL 345 | Medieval English Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 346 | 19th Century English Romantic Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 347 | Victorian Poetry | 3 |
| ENGL 348 | Renaissance Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 352 | English Drama: Beginnings to 1642 | 3 |
| ENGL 353 | Shakespeare: Comedies-Histories | 3 |
| ENGL 354 | Shakespeare: Tragedies-Romances | 3 |
| ENGL 364 | Contemporary Poetry | 3 |
| ENGL 401 | Old English Language and Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 493 | Seminar in American Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 494 | Seminar in English Literature | 3 |
| HUMN 160 | Digital Transformations in the Humanities | 3 |
Art and Music
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ARHT 191 | African-American Art | 3 |
| ARHT 280 | Asian Art | 3 |
| ARHT 281 | African Art: Sub-Saharan | 3 |
| HUMN 314 | Greek Art | 3 |
| HUMN 315 | Roman Art | 3 |
| HUMN 321 | Early Medieval Art: Early Christian, Byzantine Early Medieval | 3 |
| ARHT 322 | Medieval Art: Romanesque and Gothic | 3 |
| ARHT 331 | Renaissance Art in Italy: The Fifteenth Century | 3 |
| ARHT 332 | Renaissance Art in Italy: The Sixteenth Century | 3 |
| ARHT 336 | Northern Renaissance Painting | 3 |
| ARHT 340 | Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Art | 3 |
| ARHT 350 | Art of the Nineteenth Century | 3 |
| ARHT 360 | Twentieth-Century Art | 3 |
| ARHT 361 | Modern Architecture | 3 |
| ARHT 490 | Special Topics in Art History | 3 |
| MUGN 100 | Introduction to Music | 3 |
| MUGN 109 | Introduction to Jazz | 3 |
| MUGN 120 | Rap and Rock as Cultural Phenomena | 3 |
| MUGN 136 | The History of Broadway | 3 |
| MUGN 150 | Influence of Afro-American Culture on Music | 3 |
| MUGN 160 | Introduction to Music in World Cultures | 3 |
| VIST 109 | Special Topics in Global Art Cultures | 3 |
| VIST 203 | Modern Philosophies of Art | 3 |
| VIST 205 | History of Contemporary Art | 3 |
| VIST 270 | On Photography | 3 |
| VIST 272 | History of Product Design | 3 |
| VIST 305 | Theories of Looking: Critical Theory and Visual Culture | 3 |
Second Major in Elementary Education
General Education Requirements
Click here for a list of courses that fulfill General Education categories.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| A. New Student Seminar | ||
| Complete a 1 credit New Student Seminar course. | 1 | |
| C. Communication | ||
| 1. Writing | 3 | |
| 2. Literature | 3 | |
| 3. Communication | ||
| Fundamentals of Speech: Communication Requirement (Fulfilled in the Teacher Education sequence.) | ||
| D. Fine and Performing Arts | ||
| Fulfilled in the major. | ||
| Introduction to Music | ||
or MUGN 109 | Introduction to Jazz | |
or MUGN 120 | Rap and Rock as Cultural Phenomena | |
or MUGN 136 | The History of Broadway | |
or MUGN 160 | Introduction to Music in World Cultures | |
| F. Humanities | ||
| 1. Great Works and Their Influences | ||
| Fulfilled in the major. | ||
| General Humanities I (to 1400) | ||
or HUMN 202 | General Humanities II (from 1400) | |
or HUMN 285 | Mythology | |
| 2. Philosophical and Religious Perspectives | ||
| Philosophical Orientation to Education (Fulfilled in the Teacher Education sequence.) | ||
| G. Computer Science | ||
| Complete a 3 credit Computer Science course. | 3 | |
| H. Mathematics | ||
| Mathematics in Elementary Schools I (Fulfilled in the Teacher Education sequence.) | ||
| I. Natural Science Laboratory | ||
| Complete a 4 credit Natural Science Laboratory course that also fulfills the Teacher Education Health/Hygiene requirement. | 4 | |
| K. Social Science | ||
| 1. American and European History | ||
| Historical Foundations of American Education (Fulfilled in the Teacher Education sequence.) | ||
| 2. Global Cultural Perspectives | ||
| Reading Asian Cultures (Fulfilled in the major.) | ||
| 3. Social Science Perspectives | ||
| Introduction to Psychology (Fulfilled in the Teacher Education sequence.) | ||
| L. Interdisciplinary Studies | ||
| Perspectives on Early Childhood and Elementary Education in a Democracy (Fulfilled in the Teacher Education sequence.) | ||
| Total Credits | 14 | |
World Languages and Cultures Requirements
Click here for a list of courses that fulfill World Languages and Cultures categories.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| World Languages | ||
| Based on placement exam complete one or two sequential courses in one language. | 3-6 | |
| World Cultures | ||
| African American History (Fulfilled in the major.) | ||
| Total Credits | 3-6 | |
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 |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (A) New Student Seminar: GNED 199 | 1 | GENERAL EDUCATION (C2) Literature: WRIT 106 | 3 |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (C1) Writing: WRIT 105 | 3 | GENERAL EDUCATION (G) Computer Science: CSIT 100 | 3 |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (C3) Communication: CMST 101 | 3 | GENERAL EDUCATION (K1) Social Science – American and European History: EDFD 221 | 3 |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (D) Fine and Performing Arts | 3 | HUMN 202 | 3 |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (K3) Social Science – Social Science Perspectives: PSYC 101 | 3 | Myth Studies Elective | 3 |
| HUMN 201 | 3 | ||
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (L) Interdisciplinary Studies: ECEL 200 | 3 | GENERAL EDUCATION (F2) Humanities – Philosophical and Religious Perspectives: EDFD 220 | 3 |
| World Language I | 3 | GENERAL EDUCATION (I) Natural Science Laboratory | 4 |
| FSHD 214 | 3 | World Language II | 3 |
| HUMN 285 | 3 | FSHD 314 | 3 |
| History Elective course | 3 | HUMN 217 | 3 |
| 15 | 16 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (H) Mathematics: MTHM 201 | 3 | GENERAL EDUCATION (J) Physical Education | 1 |
| ECEL 279 | 3 | ECEL 408 | 3 |
| READ 399 | 3 | ECSE 339 | 3 |
| National Literature Elective course | 3 | MTHM 302 | 3 |
| History Elective Course | 3 | READ 408 | 3 |
| Philosophy Elective course | 3 | ||
| 15 | 16 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| ECEL 410 | 2 | ECEL 414 | 9 |
| ECEL 412 | 1 | ECEL 421 | 3 |
| ECEL 427 | 3 | No other coursework permitted | |
| HUMN 499 | 4 | ||
| Religion Elective course | 3 | ||
| Free Elective | 2 | ||
| 15 | 12 | ||
| Total Credits 120 | |||