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HUMN 1020-6 Introduction to Humanities II
This course provides an analytical, chronological, comparative and integrated study of works in literature, music and visual arts from the Baroque to contemporary eras. While students are reading Racine and Moliere, for example, the art and music lectures examine the architecture of Versailles and compositions of Lully and other court composers. In the appropriate context with the literature, such composers as Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Stravinsky are studied, along with such artists as Fragonard, Goya, Monet, and Picasso.This course is approved for arts and sciences core curriculum in 2 areas: historical context or literature and the arts.
HUMN 2145-3 African America in the Arts
W. Stewart Lawler
Introduces interrelationships in the arts of African Americans and the African American contribution to American culture as a whole. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: cultural and gender diversity or United States context.
HUMN 3092-001-3 Shipwrecks, Mutinies, & Other Catastrophes at Sea
Davide Stimilli
As the scene of sinking, the sea is the natural mise-en-abîme par excellence of human history. But it is also the stage for a variety of other catastrophic events: mutinies, discoveries, acts of piracy, deadly confrontations with marine creatures, natural and supernatural. This course will consider the conditions under which history stages its own catastrophe against the backdrop of the sea, the most archetypical symbol of human destiny, and then sacralizes the wreckage as relic.
HUMN 3093-3 The Craft of Mystery
Shirley Carnahan
The Craft of Mystery is an interdisciplinary course intended to explore several examples of and theories about the formation and growth of the genre of detective fiction, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The course also explores the social conditions of the times in which the texts were written and the possible resulting influences on style. An intensive reading course, The Craft of Mystery includes short stories, novels, plays, films, and critical essays. The final portion of the course compares concepts about the formation of the genre to examples from other genres and time periods to see how they compare to the “classic” examples.
HUMN 3104-3 Film Criticism and Theory
Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz
Surveys the range and function of film criticism, introduces major positions and concepts of film theory, and focuses on students’ abilities to write about film. Prerequisite FILM 1502. Same as FILM 3104.
HUMN 3240-3 Tragedy
Paul Gordon
In this course we will examine theories of tragedy (Aristotle, Hegel, Nietzsche) and apply those theories to various works of art. After a careful examination of Greek tragedy, beginning with Aeschylus and Sophocles and concluding with Euripides’ last play (The Bacchae), the only extant tragedy which deals with Dionysus and the “birth of tragedy,” we will examine the survival of tragedy in numerous 19th and 20th century works of art which challenge the notion of the so-called “death of tragedy”—specifically, the works of William Butler Yeats, Ibsen (Hedda Gabler), Chekhov (The Cherry Orchard), and Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire).
HUMN 3505-3 The Enlightenment
Anne Schmiesing
By questioning long-standing assumptions and traditions, Enlightenment thinkers achieved a reformulation of ideals and values which has been of lasting influence on modern society. In the context of the Enlightenment emphasis on reason and humanity, this course examines eighteenth-century European arguments for (and against) freedom of religion, the abolition of slavery, and the emancipation of women, as well as eighteenth-century views on science, education, and government. Text by Leibniz, Lessing, Kant, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, Graffigny, Locke, Hume, Wollstonecraft, and others. Same as GRMN 3505. Approved for arts and science core curriculum:ideals and values.
HUMN 3660-010-3 The Postmodern
David Ferris
HUMN 4000-3 The Question of Romanticism
Jillian Heydt-Stevenson
This course seeks to answer the question, “What is Romanticism?”—as an historical period, an aesthetic sensibility, and a nexus of philosophical questions and debates. We will work to identify what Romanticism means (and to whom), when it took place (whether in England, Germany or France), how it differently manifests itself in literary, artistic, and philosophical works. How, for instance, does Romanticism resolve the tensions between the classicism and emotionalism? What are Romanticism’s responses to colonialism, to slavery, to the rights of women, and to revolution? To answer these questions, the course will be organized into four units, each of which will focus on a particular problematic. Unit One will focus on traditional definitions of Romanticism and recent challenges to them, as it explores key Romantic philosophical texts such as Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Hegel’s Phenomenology of Mind (1807). Units Two, Three, and Four will focus on Romantic poetry, Romantic prose fiction, and Romantic art respectively. Students will write four short papers (one for each course unit); give a class presentation; and take a final exam.
HUMN 4004-3 Topics in Film Theory: Realism and Reflexivity
Bruce Kawin
A study of classical theory, emphasizing the issue of realism (including the differences between film and reality, what happens when an object is photographed, whether film is inherently photographic, psychological reality, etc.), and the effects of narrative framing, emphasizing contemporary theories of reflexive aesthetics and structures (including films by Kurosawa, Bergman, and Godard and studies of works that appear to be aware they are works of art or may appear to have narrating minds). Restricted to senior HUMN/FILM/FMST majors. Prerequisite FILM 3104 or instructor consent. Same as FILM 4004 and ARTF 5004. This course is approved for Arts & Sciences core curriculum: critical thinking.
HUMN 4120-3 Greek and Roman Tragedy
Jacqueline Elliott
This is a reading course which carries upper-division credit in the Core Curriculum in the content area of Literature and the Arts. There is no formal prerequisite, but experience writing and talking about literature will be helpful. We will be reading a selection of the surviving works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides (all works written at Athens in the 5th c. BCE) and Seneca (whose 1st c. CE tragedies represent the sole examples of the genre at Rome surviving in non-fragmentary form). There will be some additional primary sources I will ask you to consider, and substantial secondary or background reading to guide the development of an understanding of the political, religious and moral dimensions of tragic drama in context. Techniques of production and performance will be considered as meaningful as issues of theme and characterization. In this course, the aim will be to develop skills and habits of close observation, analysis and argument, as well as respect for ideas, nuances and differences. We will also consider what these texts tell us of what it is to be human in a complex, ever-changing and ever-challenging world. Same as CLAS 4120.
HUMN 4130-3 Greek and Roman Comedy
Andrew Cain
Studies Aristophanes, Plautus, and Terence in English translation. No Greek or Latin required. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.
HUMN 4555-3 The Arts of Interpretation
Paul Gordon
Introduces various hermeneutical methodologies (literary/philosophical criticism, biblical exegesis, art history, etc.) with which to examine the question of interpretation. Methodologies are studied in close conjunction with particular works of art. Prerequisites, HUMN 2000 or junior/senior standing. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: critical thinking.
HUMN 4730-3 Italian Feminisms: Culture, Theory, and Narratives of Difference
Cosetta Seno Reed
Studies Italian women writers, artists, and film makers of this century. Literary and visual texts are analyzed in dialogue with readings of leading Italian gender theorists. Italian history and culture is reread by following the development of a discourse about women. Taught in English; readings in Italian for Italian majors. Same as ITAL 4730. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: cultural and gender diversity.
HUMN 4821-3 20th Century Russian Literature & Art
Rimgaila Salys
Interdisciplinary course emphasizing the influence of art in 20th century Russian literature. Follows the changing cultural landscape from the time when Russia was in the vanguard of modern European literature to the gradual cultural relaxation that culminated in perestroika and glasnost. Same as RUSS 4821. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.