Humanities General Course Descriptions

Please see the Humanities General Catalog for the most updated course descriptions.

 

LOWER DIVISION COURSES

1. Humanities Forum (2)

Lecture-2 hours. Reading and discussion of a single work representative of a particular culture, historical period, or genre and significant for its ongoing cultural impact in the humanities, sciences, social sciences, technology, and popular arenas. Attention to provocative implications for contemporary society. May be repeated once for credit if topic differs.

1D. Issues and Concepts in the Humanities (2)

Discussion-2 hours. Prerequisite: course 1 required concurrently. Small group discussions and preparation of short papers for course 1. May be repeated once for credit if topic differs. GE credit with concurrent enrollment in course 1: GE 2 credit: ArtHum, Wrt. GE 3 credit: AH, WE.

2A. Global Humanities Forum (4)

Lecture-3 hours; extensive writing. Introduction to humanities topics and methodologies; analysis of major figures, works, and genres in world arts and literatures, with emphasis on relationships between history, society, and culture. May be repeated once for credit if topic differs. GE 2 credit: ArtHum. GE 3 credit: AH, WC, WE.

2B. American Humanities Forum (4)

Lecture-3 hours; extensive writing. Introduction to humanities topics and methodologies; analysis of major figures, works, and genres in American arts and literatures, with emphasis on relationships between history, society, and culture. May be repeated once for credit if topic differs. GE 2 credit: ArtHum. GE 3 credit: AH, ACGH, WE.

3. Medicine and Humanities (4)

Lecture/discussion-3 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: completion of Subject A requirement. Evolution of the "medical arts" into the "science of medicine." The culture of medicine in the context of society, medical ethics. GE credit: SocSci, Wrt.

4. Animals and Human Culture (2)

Lecture-2 hours. The meaning of human relations with animals studied across a variety of historical periods and culture and from a variety of humanistic perspectives. Offered in alternate years.

4D. Animals and Human Culture Discussion (2)

Discussion-2 hours. Prerequisite: concurrent enrollment in course 4. Small group discussions and preparation of short papers for course 4. Offered in alternate years. GE credit with concurrent enrollment in course 4: ArtHum, Wrt.

7. Travel and Travel Literature (4)

Lecture/discussion-3 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: Subject A requirement. History of travel from the age of exploration to the modern era. Contemporary trends in travel, including mass tourism, adventure travel, and ecotravel. Social, economic, and cultural issues related to modern trends in travel. Analysis of literary representations of travel. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.

8. Introduction to Perspectives on Narrative (4)

Lecture/discussion- 3 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: satisfaction of Subject A requirement. Interdisciplinary approach to the use of story across time, culture, and discipline. How the telling and retelling of particular stories reflect the values, concerns, and assumptions of their original audiences and genres. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.

9. Don Quixote and the Modern World (2)

Lecture-2 hours. Reading Don Quixote as emblem of modernity in the West. Issues of reality versus illusion, heroism, freedom and self-fulfillment, racial tolerance and love. Don Quixote in other cultural and popular media: film, dance, art, musical drama, and television. Offered in alternate years. GE credit with concurrent enrollment in course 9D: ArtHum, Wrt.

9D. Don Quixote and the Modern World Discussion (2)

Discussion-2 hours. Prerequisite: course 9 concurrently. Small group discussions and preparation of short papers for course 9. Offered in alternate years.

13. Witches: Myth and Historical Reality (4)

Lecture-3 hours; extensive writing. This course examines the historical construction of the witch. The four areas covered are European pagan religions and the spread of christianity; the “Burning Times” in early modern Europe; 17th-century New England and the Salem with trials; and fairytales. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.

15. Language and Identity (4)

Lecture/discussion-3 hours; extensive writing. Introduction to topics related to the construction of identity through language use, including geographical and social factors affecting language groups. Language ideology affecting linguistic groups, including bilinguals and non-native speakers of English. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.

18. Performance and the 21st Century (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; extensive writing. Live performance and globalization in the twenty-first century. Consideration of the cultural context of performing arts and artists including their methods of creativity. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, SocSci, Wrt.

60. Narrative and Argumentative Approaches to Major Current Issues in the Media, Culture, and Society (4)

Lecture/discussion-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: English A or the equivalent. Interdisciplinary approach to contemporary issues (abortion, AIDS, civil rights, war and peace, welfare state) around which individuals, communities and institutions define themselves in American society, by applying principles of narrative theory to the narratives where those issues are embedded. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt.

UPPER DIVISION COURSES

144. Marx, Nietzsche, Freud (4)

Lecture/discussion-3 hours; term paper. Study of major texts of these thinkers, selected with an eye to their impact on 20th-century economics, ethics, and attitudes toward eros. Particular focus on conceptions of the self and the individual's relation to society. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.

180. Topics in the Humanities (4)

Lecture/discussion-4 hours; term paper. Analysis of interdisciplinary issues in the humanities. Topics will vary. May be repeated once for credit. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.

192. Internship (1-12)

Internship - 3-36 hours. Internships in fields where students can practice their skills. May be repeated for credit (P/NP grading only).

198. Directed Group Study 1-4)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (P/NP grading only.)

199. Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates (1-4)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (P/NP grading only.)

GRADUATE COURSES

250. Topics in the Humanities (4)

Seminar-3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Topics in the humanities, selected by the instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

292. Graduate Internship (1-15)

Lecture - 3 hours; lectures/discussion - 1 hours. Prerequisite: consent of instructor required. Individually designed supervised internship, off campus, in community or institutional setting. Developed with advice of faculty mentor. May be repeated for credit up to 15 units. (S/U grading only.)

299. Individual Research (1-4)

Individual research in the humanities resulting in a formal written research report. (S/U grading only.)