Courses are offered on a rotational basis by semester, other than the required program courses: *HUM 510, Introduction to Graduate Humanities, will be the first course taken in the program and can be taken concurrently with other program courses. ***HUM 680, Thesis Project, is the final course in the curriculum and can also be taken concurrently with other courses. **HUM 512, Introduction to Individual Projects – Fall 2009
Human Experience (Choose One):
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Human Thought (Choose One):
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Course Number: ENG 501
Course Name: Writing in Graduate Humanities
Hours: 2
Course Description:
Course introduces students who need extra work in their writing ability to the writing level needed for study in graduate-level Humanities studies. Emphasizes appropriate writing style and academic tone, documentation in the MLA and APA formats, and developing a thesis statement into an argument. *Does not count towards program hours
REQUIRED COURSES
Course Number: *HUM 510
Course Name: Introduction to Graduate Humanities
Hours: 4
Course Description:
Course introduces students to the important questions and issues in graduate Humanities. Includes overview of methods and emphasizes appropriate writing style. This course will be taken in the first semester and is a Pre/Co-Requisite for all other courses in the MH program.
Course Number: **HUM 512
Course Name: Introduction to Individual Projects
Hours: 3
Course Description: FALL 2009
Course Number: ***HUM 680
Course Name: Thesis Project
Hours: 3/4
Course Description: Application Process Required
This course requires that the student, with the support and guidance of a faculty member, carry out an independent research project, detailed position paper, or creative project that draws on the coursework in the Master of Humanities Program.
AREA: HUMAN EXPERIENCE
Course Number: COM 520
Course Name: Philosophy of Communication
Hours: 3
Course Description:
This course is a survey of the genealogy of communication and how communication creates shared experiences between people. Through a collection of readings, students will examine how and why society thinks about communication the way it does.
Philosophy of Communication is generally concerned with analytical, theoretical and political issues that cross different disciplinary boundaries. It explores how people live their lives and deal with the conflicts that are inevitable whenever communication occurs in a society, whether in person, in groups, electronically or through the mass media. Throughout the course, students are exposed to the broader study of the field and how it relates to contemporary philosophical arguments, positions and concerns. By studying the historical and social contexts for communication, students will come to understand and appreciate how meaning is created through human interaction and more about themselves and how they relate to others.
Course Number: COM 630:
Course Name: Cybercultures and Issues in Cyberspace
Hours: 3
Course Description: This course explores the culture of Cyberspace and the wide range of social, legal, ethical, political and economic issues associated with the evolution of the online world. From its origins as a government sponsored communications network, The Internet has evolved to become the de facto center of information society. In the process, online communication is fundamentally changing how people relate to each other in a computer mediated world.
Cybercultures and Issues in Cyberspace examines the environment that created the Internet and the issues that are emerging along with it. Through a series of readings, reflections, exploration of web sites and online exchanges, students will examine how the Internet is changing culture and society. This will include an exploration of online public spaces (such as Facebook, You Tube, MySpace), blogs, online dating, virtual environments and identities, globalization and the legal issues surrounding privacy, anonymity, predatory online behavior, copyright, libel, indecency, obscenity, hate speech, cyberbullying and junk mail. Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on developing an understanding of the boundaries of online behavior and freedom of expression in the complex, rapidly changing Internet environment.
Course Number: CUL 511
Course Name: Culture and Identity: Archetypal Characters and Themes in Cultural Interplay
Hours: 3
Course Description: An examination of the creation and interplay of cultural identity. It may draw on readings from sociology, philosophy, cultural studies, literary theory, and communication. Students examine major intellectual approaches to formation and consequences of culture.
Course Number: CUL515
Course Name: Mythologies in Human Experience
Hours: 3
Course Description:
Selected readings in the nature of myth as a working hypothesis whose object is to explain the world and make its phenomena intelligible. Topics for study include the role of myth as mediator between past and present, the spiritual quality of myth, the transformation of myth into objective reality, myth as symbol, etc. Texts may include Greek, Roman, Celtic, and Nordic mythologies.
Course Number: CUL530
Course Name: Critical Approaches to Cult and Independent Films
Hours: 3
Course Description: This course will examine and familiarize the students with various cult films and the cult film phenomenon. From the definition (or designation) of “cult”, to the unusual, yet vital role in society this non-genre fills, the cult film does not fit into traditional critical rhetoric. Instead, by being a marginalized area of film, the cult film and the audiences of this phenomenon deconstruct mainstream film entertainment and analysis.
Since this is an on-line course, students will be responsible for watching the films on their own. Because of possible difficulty in getting the films, some weeks will have a choice of films that deal with similar themes or techniques. In that case, the discussions can be more cohesive than if students haven’t seen any of the films. Some of the students (and the professor) will have seen all films under discussion for the week. Specific films must be watched by all students, however, and will be part of the course materials.
Course Number: ENG 583
Course Name: Poetics of Western Drama
Hours: 3
Prerequisite(s): Completion of 12 hours in the Humanities program
Course Description: Readings from ancient dramatic works including those of Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, and Aristophanes. All discussion will stem from Aristotle’s Poetics as the basis for western dramatic traditions and conventions. Topics of study from the texts will include such issues as the tragic voice, the role of women, the nature of heroism, human beings ’ relationship to the divine, and the role of fate in human affairs.
Course Number: HIS 521
Course Name: British History I: Prehistory to 1066
Hours: 3
Course Description: British History 1: Prehistory to 1066 examines the complex social and political history of the peoples of the British Isles from prehistory, to the Celtic migration, to the Roman Conquest, to the invasions of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, ending immediately prior to the Norman Conquest. This study will encompass a history of the English language as well as an introduction to the artistic, literary, architectural, and legal developments of this period, with an eye toward how these developments have shaped the present world.
Course Number: HIS 522
Course Name: British History II: 1066 to 1660
Hours: 3
Course Description: British History 2: 1066 to 1660 examines the complex social and political history of the peoples of the British Isles from the Norman Conquest through the English Civil War era, ending at the Restoration. This study will encompass a political, economic, and social history of the British Isles as well as an introduction to the artistic, literary, architectural, and legal developments of this period, with an eye toward how these developments have shaped the present world.
Course Number: HIS 522
Course Name: British History III: 1660 to 1910
Hours: 3
Course Description: British History 3: 1660 to 1910 examines the complex social and political history of the peoples of the British Isles from the Restoration through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, ending prior to WW I. This study will encompass a political, economic, and social history of the British Isles as well as an introduction to the artistic, literary, and legal developments of this period, with an eye toward how these developments have shaped the present world.
Course Number: HIS 640
Course Name: A History of Africans In America
Hours: 3
Course Description:
This course provides a comprehensive review of African American history from the days of slave trade through today. Through the course work students will become familiar with the wide sweep of this history and the contributions of African Americans, particularly in United States History.
Course Number: HUM 592
Course Name: Special Topics: Human Experience: Literary Yuletide
Hours: 3
Course Description: Exploring the Winter Holiday through Literature is a literary journey of the holidays commonly known as Winter Solstice and Christmas. A survey of the history of pagan and Christian yuletide opens the course and is followed by an explication of global Yuletide literature, literature traditionally associated with Christmas, and more contemporary pieces. Some films may be introduced. Consideration of culture, historical relevance of current yuletide celebrations, theme, place, and personal experience are integral components of this course.
Course Number: HUM 600
Course Name: Readings Special Topics
Hours: 3
Prerequisite(s): By Permission
Course Description: Allows an advanced student to develop the readings plan and written evaluation process for a topic of interest to that student, under the supervision of a faculty member.
Prerequisite: Completion of 18 hours in the MA Humanities program
AREA: HUMAN THOUGHT
Course Number: ART 623
Course Name: Aesthetics
Hours: 3
Course Description: This course provides students with an overview of aesthetics as it embraces a philosophy of art, beauty, and taste and further investigates the ways in which humans create, experience, and evaluate the fine arts. Class discussions will focus on artistic masterpieces from a number of disciplines including music, drama, literature, painting, and sculpture. Throughout the course students will analyze readings that explore philosophical issues and historical problems of various theoretical approaches to art and will include discussions on the nature and function of the artist, the intrinsic significance of an artistic object, and the concepts of aesthetic value, experience, attitude, and criticism. An emphasis will be placed on developing a personalized philosophy of art.
Course Number: ENG 530
Course Name: The Culture and Literature of Modernity
Hours: 3
Course Description: Readings in cultural and literary identity: 1880-1920. Coming after Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud, the style and traditions of literature, music, dance, and art took on a new reality that shattered old artistic conventions. The course will examine the novels of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce, the music of Igor Stravinsky and American jazz artists, the art of the cubists, the dance forms of Isadora Duncan and the evolution of modernism.
Course Number: HUM 593
Course Name: Women in Art
Hours: 3
Course Description: Art history as a discipline has expanded over the last thirty years to move beyond formalism and connoisseurship to include divergent perspectives in theory and visual culture. Feminism has provided a framework to examine the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality to challenge the idea of art history as a unified discourse. This course will examine the impact of women on the arts in three ways. It will examine theories of feminism, race, gender and sexuality, and explore how these theories are expressed in the visual arts. The course will survey the lives and contributions of women artists from the Renaissance to the present, and some of the shifts in the portrayals of women over that time period. There will also be discussion of the effect of women artists in specific media
Course Number: NAT 517
Course Name: The History and Philosophy of Scientific Exploration
Hours: 3
Course Description: A study of the history of how scientists described the methods and goals of science. Selected readings from Archimedes, Aristotle, Newton, Einstein and others.
Course Number: PHI 522
Course Name: Reasoning, Formal Logic and Persuasion
Hours: 3
Course Description: A study of the development of reasoning and formal logic and its relationship to persuasion and argumentation. Readings will include Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and nineteenth century logician/philosophers.
Course Number: PHI 570
Course Name: Atheism, Agnosticism and Skepticism
Hours: 3
Course Description: This course will examine the areas of thought in Atheism, Agnosticism, and Skepticism. While the purpose of the course is not to change anyone's beliefs, logical methods of argument will be applied to religion, belief and the question of a deity or deities. According to some studies, approximately 30% of the world population is agnostic or atheist. This course will explore the atheist and agnostic perspectives on ethics, creation, and other issues, while also examining the preconceptions society has about those who challenge the status quo by not following popular beliefs. The common arguments for and against religion, existence of a deity or deities, and morality will be considered. Fringe belief systems from fairies to homeopathic medicine will be examined using the skeptical methodology.
Course Number: PHI 625
Course Name: Discovering the Golden Rule: Philosophers and Philosophies of the Axial Age
Hours: 3
Course Description: This course will examine what is referred to as the axial age, a period in history from 800 BC to 200 BC which, according to German philosopher Karl Jaspers, was a time when common precepts in philosophical principles appeared in China, India, the Middle East and the West. Jaspers, who put forth the theory of the axial age, saw this time as pivotal in human evolution in that the philosophical and spiritual principles emerging throughout these regions seeded the world’s major religions and contemporary philosophical beliefs: Confucianism and Taoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, philosophical rationalism in Greece, and monotheism in Israel that formed the basis of Rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
This was also a time of great violence and brutality. It is this brutality to which the axial sages spoke and uniformly called on people to be compassionate and ethical in their relations with others. It is from this time period that the idea of the Golden Rule—do unto others as you would like done to yourself—became a universal cornerstone of religious and philosophical teaching. Scholar Karen Armstrong says that this time is one of the most seminal periods of psychological and spiritual change because the codes of conduct these sages called for have not changed significantly over the past 2,500 years and continue to be a source of inspiration.
The modern age has also been a time of great violence and brutality. Armstrong says that through a review of the axial sages and their ideas humanity can rediscover the ethos of the Golden Rule as well as learn to increase our empathy for others.
AREA: HUMAN PRACTICE
Course Number: ART 524
Course Name: Creativity and Its Development
Hours: 3
Course Description: This course is a study of how artists, writers, composers, and scientists develop creativity and how to generate new ideas, considered from psychological, educational, and artistic points of view. Readings from psychologists, philosophers, artists, and student contributions will help examine this broadly defined field.
In this seminar-style course, the creative process will be examined from various angles. Students will participate in the analysis of theories of creativity, experiments in their own creative processes, and through examination of the work of other artists.
This course investigates artistic decision-making by involving students in the creative process and examining the psychology, sociology, and biology of creation. A combination of independent study and seminar, students design, research, and produce artistic work focused on their individual interest within the arts; collectively, the students examine the nature of creativity and art. Students analyze artistic choice by examining works of art, researching and discussing the artist and his/her context, and participating in workshops with visiting teaching artists.
Course Number: ART 525
Course Name: History of Photography
Hours: 3
Course Description: This is a survey course of topics in the histories and cultural uses of photography in Europe and the US in the 19th and 20th centuries. It starts with the origins of photography in Enlightenment and early Industrial Revolution Europe. The course will examine the role of the daguerreotype in the US, and photography’s role with war, western expansion and social Darwinism. There will be discussions on the establishment of elite art organizations in Europe and the US by the 1890s, concurrent with the flood of mass consumer photography and commercial production. From there the course will examine major developments and uses of photography such as magazine journalism, advertising and fashion, social documentary, as well as photographic practices linked to art movements like constructivism, surrealism, documentary realism, and formalism. It will conclude with a look at the more contemporary postmodern practices which foreground the question of photography’s social and psychic operations. Special attention will be paid to the interrelations among photography’s diverse cultural uses and the terms in which debates about the medium’s unstable art status have played out.
Course Number: COM 580
Course Name: Politics and the News
Hours: 3
Course Description: Course examines the rise and implications of mass politics and mass communication in the 20th and 21st centuries. Drawing on readings from communication, political science, and history, students encounter the practical, normative, and theoretical issues connecting political power and the forms of news in mass democracies.
Course Number: ENG 541
Course Name: Creative Writing: The Short Story
Hours: 3
Course Description: This would be an advanced writing course in the tradition of the classic writer’s workshop, but with the advantage of being on line. Students will write and criticize their own material in light of modern critical thought and development.
Course Number: ENG 542
Course Name: Creative Writing: The Novel
Hours: 3
Course Description:
This would be an advanced writing course in the tradition of the classic writer’s workshop, but with the advantage of being on line and the focus will be on writing a novel or a good portion of a novel over the course of the semester. Students will write and criticize each other’s work with suggestions for improvement.
Course Number: ENG 543
Course Name: Creative Writing: Poetry
Hours: 3
Course Description: Creative Writing Workshop (Poetry) will develop students’ poetry writing capacity through both the practice of writing poetry and the critical and aesthetic study of poetry. Students will be trained in both the history and the formal practice of poetry writing as they write poetry in a variety of formal and informal verse forms, combining them in a final poem presented at the end of the semester. This course will emphasize critique and revision from the standpoint of the author’s goals for his or her work.
Course Number: HUM 550
Course Name: Development of Government Systems
Hours: 3
Course Description: From Feudalism to Capitalism to Communism, governments, their control of people, and their systems of control, have long been the applied science of mass psychology. Theoretical systems, such as technocracy or true socialism will be compared with historic systems, such as monarchy, theocracy, oligarchy, fascism, etc.. Source materials ranging from Plato's Republic to Thomas More's Utopia and B.F. Skinner's Walden II will be examined to provide historical context.
Course Number: HUM 554
Course Name: Social Practice: How People Behave & Why
Hours: 3
Course Description: This is a course about exploration and discovery of ideas and the world in an ever-changing society. Through the examination of a variety of readings of classical and contemporary humanistic readings in social practice, the course explores a complex social world in which locations, pathways, and boundaries are not fixed. The course also allows students to seek connections between “private troubles and public issues.”
Course Number: HUM 594
Course Name: Women, Imperialism, & Islam
Hours: 3
Course Description: Current events in the Middle East have brought two contrasting images to the fore: the veiled, oppressed Muslim woman and the "modern" woman. One image condemns Islam as backwards and oppressive; the other presages Islamic countries' ability to modernize. Using 19th and 20th century Egypt as our backdrop, this course will familiarize students with the growing body of literature that examines the roles and positions of women in post-colonial, Islamic societies. We will look at how modernization, colonization, independence, and radicalism have affected women's real, lived experiences and contributed toward the manufacture of images of idealized, female behavior. What lies behind such changes: politics, economics, Islam, imperialism? Can we separate or isolate those actors?
Students will explore the roles and attitudes of women in 19th and 20th century Egypt through film, biographies, monographs, autobiographies and photographs. We will examine issues such as feminism, the veil/higab, female genital mutilation, “great” women, celebrity magazines, Egyptian actresses (Rose al Youssef, Fatma Rushdi), singers, like Umm Kulthum, harems, Nawal al-Sadaawi, expat- communities in the Middle East, and photograph.