Advising Appointment Update

In alignment with the campus directives regarding the precautions surrounding COVID-19, the Languages and Literatures academic advising offices are now physically closed.  Our Advisors remain available and will be offering academic advising appointments to students through zoom, phone call, or email.  Once you have scheduled your appointment in the online appointment system, your advisor will reach out to you via email with instructions on how to connect with them using zoom, phone call, or email. Resource FAQ for Students

HUM 2A. Topic: "Adam and Eve"

CRN 67911 | Prof. Noah Guynn | MWF 12:10-1:00 | 6 Wellman

Note: HUM 2A can be repeated one time for credit if topic differs.

How does Scripture shape our identities and beliefs? Are those identities and beliefs stable, or do they change? Does the meaning of Scripture change along with our identities and beliefs? Does Scripture have a single, truthful meaning? Or is it open to interpretation? In what ways have interpretations of Scripture been used to dictate moral conduct, social relationships, and political behavior? How does the way in which we interpret Scripture define our relationships with God and other people? In particular, how do interpretations of Scripture determine our understanding of gender, sexuality, and race?

This course will seek answers to these questions by examining the story of God’s creation of the world and of Adam and Eve in Jewish and Christian sacred texts and commentaries from the tenth century BCE through the present day. Specifically, we will investigate:

  1. The basic accounts of Creation in the Old Testament (Genesis 1-3)
  2. The ways in which different authors from different historical periods have interpreted (or improvised on) those accounts
  3. The ways in which spiritual insights derived from the interpretation of sacred texts give shape to moral, social, and political issues.

About the instructor: Prof. Noah Guynn is an associate professor of French.

GE credits (Old): Arts & Humanities
GE credits (New): Arts & Humanities, Writing, and World Cultures

Readings:

  • Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent: Sex and Politics in Early Christianity (Vintage, 1989)
  • Kristen Kvam (ed.), Eve and Adam: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Readings on Genesis and Gender (Indiana UP, 2009)

 

 

HUM 2B. Topic: "Crisis and Disaster in Contemporary California"

CRN 67912 | Prof. Jack Hicks | TR 12:10-1:30 | (Room: TBA)

Note: HUM 2B can be repeated one time for credit if topic differs.

In this American Humanities Forum survey class, we examine aspects of life in contemporary California that individually and collectively present major challenges.

Specifically, we examine (1) the unique geology and hydrology of living in a state with flood/drought and earthquake challenges; (2) a demography that has been defined by tides of immigration and migration, and the particular challenges of being a border state; (3) the omnipresence of gang culture and how it influences daily life; (4) the rise of California as the garden for the world, and how traditional agribusiness “factories in the field” are being challenged by alternatives such as the organic food movement, farmers’ markets, urban and suburban gardens and increased attention to what we eat, how it’s grown and what is in it.

About the instructor: Prof. Jack Hicks is a senior lecturer in English.

GE credits (Old): Arts & Humanities
GE credits (New): Arts & Humanities, Writing, and American Cultures Litreacy

Readings/Film Viewings:

  • Mark Reisner, A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate (Penguin, 2004)
  • Ruben Martinez, Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail (Picador, 2002)
  • Sanyika Shakur, Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member (Grove Press, 2004)
  • Spring Warren, The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn, and Fed My Family for a Year (Seal Press, 2011)
  • Viewing of several films, including Food, Inc. and Super Size Me