| Humanities Course Descriptions
The University will endeavor to offer the courses as outlined below; however, unforeseen circumstances sometimes require a change of scheduled offerings. Students are strongly advised to check the Schedule of Classes or the department before relying on the schedule below.
HUMA 100 Masterpieces of Literature, Art and Music I:
This course lays the foundation for the student to engage in intensive study and discussion of some of the most significant works of literature, visual arts, and music. The in-depth course aims to teach students to analyze literary texts. The course interweaves a basic study of the great works of literature, poetry, architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and other media, as well as the historical contexts in which these works were made and understood. The study of music awakens and encourages an appreciation of the art form, and helps the student to learn to respond intelligently to a variety of musical idioms. Faculty meet with small groups of students for 3 hours per week to dialog on the works of authors including Plato, Augustine, Shakespeare, Aquinas, Austen, John Paul II, as well as Old and New Testament writings. The course considers the artistic qualities of the early Greek and Roman structures and works by Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Picasso, among others. The course attempts to involve students actively in the process of critical listening, both in the classroom and in concerts that the students attend and write about.
HUMA 200 Masterpieces of Literature, Art and Music II:
This course advances the students’ understanding through study and discussion of some of the most significant works of literature, visual arts, and music. The course builds on the foundations laid in HUMA 100, teaching students to analyze literary texts and to construct intellectual arguments of increasing sophistication and complexity. Faculty meet with small groups of students for 3 hours per week to dialog on the works of authors including Homer, Virgil, Dante, Catherine of Avila, Dostoevsky, and Woolf. The course considers the artistic qualities of the Parthenon, Amiens Cathedral, and works by Raphael, Monet, Wright, and Warhol, among others. There are field trips to art museums in Southern California.
HUMA 201 Global Cultures - History and Politics I:
This course introduces students to the broad range of human cultures from prehistory to the present, with a particular emphasis on European and North American culture. This course examines the development of human cultures in Europe, such as the rise of civilization, the emergence of urban societies, religious beliefs and practices, cultural contacts and conflicts, divisions between rich and poor, gender relations across cultures, and the artistic and literary achievements.
HUMA 300 Masterpieces of Literature, Art and Music III:
This advanced course completes the intensive study and discussion of some of the most significant works of literature, visual arts, and music begun in HUMA 100 and HUMA 200. The advanced course interweaves an in-depth study of the great works of literature, poetry, architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and other media, as well as the historical contexts in which these works were made and understood. Students engage in various debates about the character and purposes of music that have occupied composers and musical thinkers from ancient times to today. The extraordinary richness of musical life in Southern California is an integral part of the course.
HUMA 301 Global Cultures - History and Politics II:
This course examines and contrasts the development of human cultures in South America, Africa and Asia, from the earliest civilizations on each continent, the factors influencing the emergence of urban societies, religious beliefs and practices, cultural contacts and conflicts, divisions between rich and poor, gender relations across cultures, and the artistic and literary achievements.
HUMA 401 Global Cultures - History and Politics III:
This course ties together the current global political structure based on the cultural history of the major continents. The student understand how political structures evolve and the relevance of cultural traditions to current political affairs. This course: asks students to think critically about ideas within their historical contexts and to examine ways in which human expressions relate to and reflect broad intellectual and cultural patterns; introduces students to and makes them conversant with the history of ideas as expressed in the disciplines of the humanities; encourages students to assess critically and through different disciplinary methods; attempts a genuinely global reading of the world, not simply relying on unexamined assumptions.
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