Course Description
Humanistic inquiry of transformative texts from antiquity to the modern era, drawn from the Cornerstone: Learning for Living initiative. Course texts engage with multiple disciplines in the humanities to improve communication skills and to develop critical thinking and imaginative capacity for problem solving.
Athena Title
Intro to the Humanities Hon
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in FCID 1000
Prerequisite
Permission of Honors
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to describe, interpret, and evaluate the claims of primary source texts on defining humanism and the humanities.
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to construct discussions and formal presentations using informative, persuasive, explanatory, interrogatory, and argumentative strategies and techniques.
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to select, organize, and appraise effective supporting materials for their arguments in oral and written formats.
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to describe and appraise the ways in which the texts are interpreted and reinterpreted in accordance with individual, historical, and contemporary perspectives.
Topical Outline
- Texts selected vary from section to section, but there is commonality between sections through a shared list of authors and pedagogical approaches: in-class writing, journaling, discussion, debate, role playing, oral presentations, and constructive critiquing. Topics include:
1. Historical and contemporary definitions of the humanities to understand human expression, values, and ideas; as well as the relationships between humans and their environments.
2. Approaching texts from different cultures and time periods for commonality of themes involving the human experience.
3. Authorial framing: texts analyzed from the perspective of the author and how a reader engages with the text against the cultural backdrop of its composition. How are humanistic values communicated?
4. Taking ownership of the creative process and evaluating the composition and publication history of texts.
5. AI and the Humanities: Can the Humanities exist without humans?
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
