Course Offerings
Summer 2011 Seminar
HUM 5611 Hindu Religious Philosophy (T/TH 6-9 pm, Session II, Bilimoria, Religion)
An exploration of Hindu religious philosophy and culture via a critical study of key theological doctrines, scriptural sources, and personalities. Beginning with concepts of Atman (self), dharma (ethics) karma (action-effect), the course considers practices and contemporary challenges - such as Gandhi's nonviolent truth; status of women; poverty, liberalization and education.
Fall 2011 Seminars
HUM 5105 History of Gardens and Landscape Design (Mon 6-8 pm, Leslie Ross, Art History)
A chronological and thematic survey of garden history and landscape design from the ancient/classical period to the present, including Western and non-Western examples. Literary, philosophical/aesthetic, political, scientific, social architectural, and artistic themes are addressed in this interdisciplinary seminar.
HUM 5000 Pro-Seminar (Tues 6-8 pm, Mairi Pileggi, Required Introductory Seminar)
A study of the history of education and the key issues raised in contemporary culture about the humanities. Also provides an introduction to research methods, including use of library resources available for advanced study of the humanities.
Hum 5207 Dante’s Divine Comedy (Tues 6-8 pm, Sr. Aaron Winkleman, Literature)
John Ruskin called Dante “the central man of all the world.” This “central man,” this center of the Western Canon, Dante Alighieri is the focus and delight of our study. We journey with him, the poet and the pilgrim, through the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso of his Divine Comedy. Our main goal is to know The Divine Comedy as literary art in itself and in its literary contexts; additionally we want to know this work even more fully by seeing it in relation to several other disciplines.
HUM 5508 Gender, Ethics, and Politics (Wed 6-8 pm, Christian Dean, Political Philosophy)
A survey and critical analysis of contemporary feminist scholarship. Explores distinctions between various forms of feminism - liberal, socialist, radical, lesbian, postmodern - addresses gender socialization, gender in relation to race and class, inequality, oppression, violence, work, families, mothering and fathering, intimacy and sexuality, health and medicine, and ethics.
HUM 5303 19th Century Paris, City of Light (Thurs 6-8 pm, Sr. Patricia Dougherty, History)
Focuses on Paris, on the women and men (both notable and notorious) who lived, worked, wrote, painted, and died there; also on the monumental architecture which changed the look of the French capital (e.g., Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, and Eiffel Tower) during the nineteenth century.
HUM 5252 Writing Themes and Techniques (Thurs 6-8 pm, Judy Halebsky, Creative Writing)
An advanced writing workshop that invites students to explore their own capacity to surprise, inform, entertain, and provoke readers in one or more genres of creative writing, such as poetry, prose, drama, or screen writing. Special emphasis on using themes and/or researched material to develop well-crafted work that is both artistic and authentic. Through readings, exercises, peer workshops, and conferences with the instructor, a portfolio of revised pieces will be developed.
Spring 2011 Seminars
HUM 5001 Core Seminar (M 6-8 pm, Christian Dean, Required)
An historical and philosophical inquiry into the nature of human being, knowing and acting. The concept of the soul provides a thematic thread that links the selection of readings. Our challenge in this seminar is not just to consider what some have articulated about the soul, but also to reflect upon the human capacity for self-discovery and symbolic expression in the pursuit of understanding what it means to be human.
HUM 5313 Rake’s Progress: Hogarth to Nabobs -- 18th Century England and her Empire (T 6-8 pm, Martin Anderson, History)
This seminar examines 18th century England and her empire from 1689 to 1815, covering political, economic, literary, artistic, and social issues. Topics include the Glorious Revolution, the Jacobites, the Age of Walpole, the struggle with France, the Slave Trade, and British colonies. Students will read and discuss primary sources from Swift to Austen, examine the work of artists such as Hogarth, and read works by contemporary historians relating to 18th century British history.
HUM 5251 Prose Writing Workshop (T 6-8 pm, Tom Burke, Creative Writing)
Practice in the craft of writing prose (essays, short fiction, or a novella) through discussions, exercises, peer workshops, and conference with the instructor. Special emphasis will be given to technical aspects of writing, such as characterization, structure, dialogue, and narrative tension.
HUM 5120 Decadence to Revolution: Images of 18th Century France (W 6-8 pm, Heidi Chretian, Art History)
The 18th century is a period of contradictions. It began in the delicate salons of beautifully clad, influential French women and ended with the horror of the Terror. It was a period of Enlightenment thinkers who helped shaped the political constitutions of several modern democracies. It also revealed the dark side of human nature, so aptly captured in Goya’s Black paintings. This interdisciplinary seminar explores the changing political scene in 18th century France, focusing on the visual images which depict the last vestiges of the vanishing Republic
HUM 5620 Higher Education and the Future of the Humanities (R 6-8 pm, Harlan Stelmach, Humanities and Social Science)
For centuries the humanities have been the gold standard of an educated person and the heart of our educational institutions. In the late 1800’s in the United States the development of an industrial and material culture created great wealth for the country and a small group of men. We begin our understanding of the future of the humanities by first analyzing the 19th century roots of why our mass society now believes in the irrelevance of the humanities while an elite and privileged class still promote this ideal. We will read educational theory, historical accounts, social science analyses and proposals for what we might expect in the future for humanities education.
HUM 5212 Re-visioning Ourselves: Archetypes in Literature (R 6-8 pm, Judy Halebsky, Literature)
Harry Potter a modern day King Arthur? Grendel a tragically wronged outcast? Penelope the true hero of the Odyssey? Through re-imagining familiar myths and tales, writers continue to discover new meanings in archetypes—meanings that rejuvenate our cultural images and simultaneously redefine who we are as individuals and how we live within a community. In this course, the study of such inter-related works, within their historical, social, and geographic contexts, allows exploration of the diversity and continuity of human ideas and endeavors.
