Humanities (HUM)

Focused on the history of ideas, students survey core readings in the humanities. Perspectives, problems and debates concerning the human relationship to culture and technology are considered in the fields of philosophy, religion, literature, history and art. This course lays the interdisciplinary foundation for the related methods course, HUM-618, and later dissertation work. Students prepare an interdisciplinary bibliographic essay on a significant humanities problem or debate.

This course provides opportunities for students to investigate technology in a historical context as the organization and institutionalization of knowledge for practical purposes. Students examine the effects of technology on the traditional human wisdom that has served as a stabilizing force throughout history.

This course examines the interaction between religion, culture, the human person and the earth, using both general theories of religion and particular traditions. Areas explored include interpretations of technology, science, work, social justice, spirituality, morality, evil and death.

This course examines the role that technology plays in creating political systems that are just and fair. After looking at the origins of the Western liberal tradition in the political philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, we then trace a line of thinking through Locke, Jefferson, and Kant. We close with readings from the contemporary political philosopher John Rawls. Our final objective is to determine the effects particular technological advances have had on the evolution of Western political liberalism and on the adaptability of modern liberal democracy to the developing world.

This course surveys research methods and theoretical frameworks in the humanities. Students review basic critical and empirical research methods, pure vs. applied research, and quantitative vs. qualitative approaches. Models that combine scholarly perspectives are emphasized, as well as major debates concerning the uses of evidence, theory and method within and across disciplines. Case studies focus on humanities approaches and questions as they intersect with the dilemmas of technological society.

Students examine social change as reflected in, and caused by, the imagery of art. The course critiques important connections among art, technology and philosophical ideas expressed during periods of significant technological progress.

This course investigates technology's impact on the human condition throughout history. Considered in this investigation are advances in technology based on human ingenuity, observation, and experimentation. Practical examples are taken from fields such as agriculture, communication, education, manufacturing, medicine, and business.

Guided by the key principles of traditional western ethics - human dignity, justice, freedom, goodness, the common good and truth telling - this course considers how modern technology affects the human experience. Selected moral questions arising from the use of science-based and capital-driven technology are examined, e.g., the search for a more comprehensive ethic than the cost-benefit calculations of popular utilitarianism.

This course is based on imaginative works that reflect conflicting moral and technological dilemmas of contemporary life. Classes focus on a range of major authors whose fiction, drama and poetry illumine the human situation in the 21st century.

This course offers a final opportunity for students to integrate perspectives drawn from coursework in the broader humanities with work in their chosen program areas. Students and faculty work to develop a synthetic understanding of the global condition relative to accelerating technological changes and diverse cultural and societal influences. This course precedes the comprehensive examination and admission into the dissertation phase. It must be taken as the last 600-level humanities course.

Research colloquium may be taken for 1-3 credits to fulfill the doctoral research requirement.

In this course students who have completed all of their coursework, their language requirement and at least one subject field take the comprehensive exam. The comprehensive exam is designed to test the students' knowledge and comprehension of the material covered in their classes. Each instructor will set questions pertinent to the material covered in their class. Students must answer four questions. Passing the HUM-670 is the pre-requisite for entry to the HUM-680, the dissertation reading and writing class.

Students are expected to enroll in Dissertation Research and Writing each fall and spring until the final version of the dissertation is accepted. Mentoring and guidance is provided to the student during the process of researching, writing, revising and defending the dissertation.