Minor in Humanities

Students in the humanities minor learn about the great works of literature, philosophy, art, music, science, and theology.

18 units

The interdisciplinary humanities minor offers students opportunities to develop the arts of deep reading, thinking, and conversing about humanity’s greatest questions while living in an age of social media that often discourages these practices.

A hallmark of the humanities minor is its flexibility—students have the option to fulfill anywhere from one to seven of their General Education requirements through the program’s courses, designated by the HUM prefix (also known as the Great Works Option for General Education). Beyond that, students can choose how to complete the minor. This program allows students to show their ability to integrate disciplines in thinking from multiple angles about essential human questions.

Humanities courses have roots in the liberal arts. The liberal arts provide the foundation for a comprehensive liberal education, which prepares students not for a specific profession but for life itself, for the moral, intellectual, social, civic, and spiritual maturity and growth that accompany a life well lived. A successful liberal arts education prepares students for the proper ordering of all spheres of life and for a lifetime of learning. The liberal arts are preparation for the lofty and rigorous discipline of understanding in its fullness “the truth [that] shall make you free” (John 8:32).

Great works of history, literature, art, philosophy, and theology offer the most enriching content of the liberal arts; they are living teachers speaking to each generation with rare wisdom. Through study of such works, students of the humanities integrate the liberal arts with one another, with education as a whole, and with Christian higher education in particular.

The first task of the liberal arts is to secure the liberation of the mind from those many fetters that can bind it, notably ignorance, prejudice, and the influence of the passions. In and through this essential freedom—the freedom of the mind—humanity manifests itself. The integrative principle of the liberal arts is the idea of humanitas.

Requirements

The Humanities minor consists of 18 units, including four core courses and two electives:

Required Courses
HUM 221Core Texts in History 13
HUM 222Core Texts in Literature 23
HUM 223Core Texts in Aesthetics 33
HUM 224Core Texts in Philosophy 43
Elective Courses6
Select two of the following:
Intercultural Knowledge and Competence 5
Civic Knowledge and Engagement 6
Core Texts in History 1
Core Texts in Literature 2
Core Texts in Aesthetics 3
Core Texts in Philosophy 4
Core Texts in Christianity 7
History of Ancient Art and Architecture 3
Writing 3: History of Modern Art and Architecture 8
History of Early Christian and Medieval Art and Architecture 3
History of Renaissance to Rococo Art and Architecture 3
Shakespeare
American Novel
British Novel
Modern American Intellectual History
Humanities Seminar
Ancient, Renaissance, and World Music Literature
Writing 3: Baroque, Classical, and Early Romantic Music Literature 8
Late Romantic and 20th-Century Music Literature 1
History of Ancient Philosophy
Medieval Philosophy
History of Early Modern Philosophy
Writing 3: Concepts of Human Nature 8
Classical Political Thought
Modern Political Thought
The American Founding
Basic Sociological Theory
Literary Masters 2
Spanish Language Poetry and Short Story
The Rise of the King: I and II Samuel 9
Romans and Galatians 9
Thessalonian and Corinthian Epistles 9
Total Units18
1

Meets the General Education Humanities: History requirement.

2

Meets the General Education Humanities: Literature requirement. 

3

Meets the General Education Humanities: Fine Arts requirement. 

4

Meets the General Education Philosophy requirement. 

5

Meets the General Education Intercultural Competence requirement.

6

Meets the General Education Civic Knowledge and Engagement requirement.

7

Meets the General Education Theology requirement.

8

Meets the General Education Writing 3 requirement. 

9

Meets the General Education Upper-Division Bible requirement. 

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this program shall be able to:
  1. Familiarity with Great Works: Demonstrate familiarity with great works from at least three General Education categories from multiple disciplinary perspectives.
  2. Reading, Studying, and Responding: Demonstrate skill and flexibility in reading, studying, and responding to great works.
  3. Liberal Education: Articulate the value of a great works approach to a liberal arts education.
  4. Christian Perspective: Articulate a Christian perspective of truth and life.

HUM 201, Intercultural Knowledge and Competence, 3 Units

This course employs an interdisciplinary approach to expanding students' intercultural knowledge and experience in three stages. First, through a study of core texts in the humanities, it studies a chronologically arranged variety of cultural perspectives on the meaning and value of the natural world. Second, it punctuates this study with affective experience in a new cultural setting (typically by visiting with a representative from local Native American or Armenian communities). Third, it requires students to reflect upon and analyze their own culturally structured attitudes toward the concept of nature. Meets the General Education Requirement: Intercultural Competence. 

HUM 202, Civic Knowledge and Engagement, 3 Units

This course employs an interdisciplinary approach to expanding students' civic knowledge and their awareness of possibilities for civic engagement in two stages. First, through a study of core texts, it examines how human beings should live in relationship to their built and natural environments. Second, this course requires students to reflect upon and analyze their own civic responsibilities toward the built or natural environment through a final research project that analyzes how civic engagement has produced policy changes on a specific issue from the 1960s to the present. Meets the General Education Requirement: Civic Knowledge and Engagement. 

HUM 221, Core Texts in History, 3 Units

This course offers a study of selected classic works that shaped and represented different civilizations in a specified historical era, taught by a faculty tutor in an integrative, interdisciplinary fashion. HUM 221 and HUM 321 may not be taken concurrently, and additional work is required in HUM 321. This course may be repeated once for credit as the topic varies. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: History. 

HUM 222, Core Texts in Literature, 3 Units

This course offers a study of selected literary texts from a variety of cultures and genres in a specified historical era, taught by a faculty tutor in an integrative, interdisciplinary fashion. HUM 222 and HUM 322 may not be taken concurrently, and additional work is required in HUM 322. This course may be repeated once for credit as the topic varies. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

HUM 223, Core Texts in Aesthetics, 3 Units

A study of the creative process and of selected aesthetic masterpieces in a variety of cultures and genres from a specified historical era. Taught by a faculty tutor in an integrative, interdisciplinary fashion. HUM 223 and HUM 323 may not be taken concurrently, and additional work is required in HUM 323. This course may be repeated once for credit as the topic varies. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Fine Arts. 

HUM 224, Core Texts in Philosophy, 3 Units

This course offers a study of selected philosophical works illustrating intellectual perspectives of a specified historical era, taught by a faculty tutor in an integrative, interdisciplinary fashion. HUM 224 and HUM 324 may not be taken concurrently, and additional work is required in HUM 324. This course may be repeated once for credit as the topic varies. Meets the General Education Requirement: Philosophy. 

HUM 321, Core Texts in History, 3 Units

This course offers a study of selected classic works that shaped and represented different civilizations in a specified historical era, taught by a faculty tutor in an integrative, interdisciplinary fashion. HUM 221 and HUM 321 may not be taken concurrently, and additional work is required in HUM 321. This course may be repeated once for credit as the topic varies. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: History. 

HUM 322, Core Texts in Literature, 3 Units

This course offers a study of selected literary texts from a variety of cultures and genres taught by a faculty tutor in an integrative, interdisciplinary fashion. HUM 222 and HUM 322 may not be taken concurrently, and additional work is required in HUM 322. This course may be repeated once for credit as the topic varies. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Literature. 

HUM 323, Core Texts in Aesthetics, 3 Units

This course offers a study of the creative process and selected aesthetic masterpieces in a variety of cultures and genres from a specified historical era, taught by a faculty tutor in an integrative, interdisciplinary fashion. HUM 223 and HUM 323 may not be taken concurrently, and additional work is required in HUM 323. This course may be repeated once for credit as the topic varies. Meets the General Education Requirement: Humanities: Fine Arts. 

HUM 324, Core Texts in Philosophy, 3 Units

This course offers a study of selected philosophical works illustrating intellectual perspectives of a specified historical era, taught by a faculty tutor in an integrative, interdisciplinary fashion. HUM 224 and HUM 324 may not be taken concurrently, and additional work is required in HUM 324. This course may be repeated once for credit, as the topic varies. Meets the General Education Requirement: Philosophy. 

HUM 325, Core Texts in Christianity, 3 Units

This course offers a study of selected classics on Christian life and doctrine from a specified historical era, taught by a faculty instructor in an integrative, interdisciplinary fashion. May be repeated once for credit as the topic varies. Meets the General Education Requirement: Theology. 

Faculty

Program Director

Ethan Schrum, PhD, History

Affiliated Faculty

Thomas Allbaugh, PhD, English

Paul Boles, PhD, Theology

Alexander Koops, DMA, Music

Carole Lambert, PhD, English

Christopher Noble, PhD, English

Daniel Palm, PhD, Political Science

Windy Petrie, PhD, English

Abbylin Sellers, PhD, Political Science