Humanities
Director
Aine O'Healy
Objectives
The Humanities major is designed to meet the needs of a student who has a broad interest in liberal arts but whose interest would not be served by a major program within a single department. The Humanities major is an interdisciplinary program. In the first two years the student acquires a broad background in the arts, history, and literature. Language study through the advanced level is also required. In the second two years, the student concentrates in a particular area of interest. The concentration consists of five (5) upper division courses taken from departmental offerings in Archaeology, Art History, Classics, English, French, German, Greek, History, Italian, Latin, Philosophy, Spanish, or Theological Studies. The concentration is then supported by two (2) upper division history or philosophy courses and two (2) upper division courses in either an ancient or a modern literature selected in consultation with the Humanities advisor. All Humanities majors are required to complete, in their final semester, a final project which marks the culmination of the student’s interdisciplinary course of study. There are two options: the student may complete a Capstone Project (HMNT 497), which consists of a portfolio that encapsulates the student’s course of study; alternately, the student may elect to write a Senior Thesis (HMNT 490), which is a substantial research project based on the student’s concentration. The student who elects to write a senior thesis will choose a topic and a thesis advisor in consultation with the Director. Working closely with the thesis advisor, the student will produce a thesis which integrates the student’s interests in language, literature, history, art history, or philosophy. The senior thesis is reviewed and graded by the thesis advisor and the Director.
The program is a fine preparation for students interested in professional courses in law, business, or education. Also, the program is designed to allow students to complete a major in a departmental area which would qualify them for graduate studies.
Humanities Student Learning Outcomes
By virtue of pursuing a major in Humanities,
Students should know:
- How knowledge has been pursued, established, and critically evaluated in the three different disciplines representing their concentration, their literature support, and their historical or philosophical support
- The various ways in which artists have developed the fine arts to convey their sense of the world’s surface and its depth
- A foreign language
- The content as well as analytical and communicative skills that the disciplines study of their concentration demands;
Students should be able to:
- Communicate insights clearly, effectively, and with nuance in both oral and written form
- Synthesize insights from a variety of disciplines
- Develop insights from one discipline for the enrichment of others;
Students should value:
- The variety of ways in which cognitive, moral, and aesthetic disciplines have enriched our sense of the human condition
- The further pursuit of those disciplines, as required by their deeper sense of the complexity of the human condition
- Their responsibility to serve the world as whole persons, with head, heart, and hand.
For additional information, view the department website.