Humanities GUR Courses
also see CGM Block A GUR courses, C-COM GUR courses, and other non-GUR courses
To fulfill the HUMANITIES GUR you may take the following set of courses: Liberal Studies 121, 122, 123, The Western Tradition I, II, III (5 credits each). These courses do not have to be taken in order. All three are required for all B.A. Humanities majors and for the minor in Humanities. This option has the advantage of a provided a thoughtful, integrated introduction to the whole history of Western culture, and practice in fundamental skills of close reading and expository writing.
Or, you may take any one or two courses from the following list to satisfy the three course, 12 credit humanities requirement. This option encourages students to fulfill the requirement by taking some 300 level GUR courses in their junior or senior years.
Course List (LBRL)
110 Confession and Self-Promotion: Autobiography from Augustine to the Blogosphere (5)
(a First Year Experience course)
121 The Western Tradition I: The Ancient World (5)
122 The Western Tradition II: Medieval & Early Modern Europe (5)
123 The Western Tradition III: The Modern World (5)
231 Introduction to the Study of Religion (5)
232 Myth and Folklore (4)
243 Art and Ideas (4)
321 Between Renaissance and Inquisition: Censorship and Religious Conflict in Spain’s Golden Age (5)
323 The Romantic Paradox: Love, Life and Death (4)
325 Surveillance, Voyeurism, and the Culture of Suspicion (4)
332 Universal Religions: Founders and Disciples (4)
333 Religion in America (5)
334 Hebrew Bible and the Religion of Ancient Israel (4)*
336 New Testament and Early Christianity (4)*
*Only one of the following courses may be taken for to fulfill the HUMANITIES GUR: English 336 Scriptural Literatures (5), LBRL 334, Hebrew Bible (4), and LBRL 336, New Testament and Early Christianity (4).
Liberal Studies Course Descriptions
Liberal Studies 110
CONFESSION AND SELF-PROMOTION: AUTOBIOGRAPHY FROM AUGUSTINE TO THE BLOGOSPHERE5 credits; Class size: 25
No prerequisites. A first year experience course taught only in Fall Quarter. Enrollment is limited to entering first year students.
An examination of the historical origins of autobiographical writing in the European tradition, this class considers how individuals have imagined both themselves and their relationship to society. Through visual media (such as portraiture) and various written genres (from letters to trial records to essays), the class uses an interdisciplinary approach to introduce some important themes in European cultural history. Teaching is by lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by participation, a mid-term examination, and two assigned papers.
Liberal Studies 121, 122, 123
HUMANITIES (5 credits each)
An interdisciplinary introduction to the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs which have given shape to Western culture. These courses analyze significant themes in art, literature, philosophy, history, politics, and religion, and the interplay between them.
Each of these courses may be counted towards the Humanities GUR, and one may complete that GUR by taking all three courses. Although they build upon one another, the courses in this series do not need to be taken in sequence and may be taken independently.
Liberal Studies 121
THE WESTERN TRADITION I: THE ANCIENT WORLD
5 credits; Class size: 45
No prerequisites. May be taken
in any order with 122 and 123 to satisfy the entire Humanities GUR.
This course studies the Near Eastern and Mediterranean origins of Western culture through an examination of Mesopotamian, Hebrew, Greek, and Roman sources. It considers ancient world views and conceptions of what it meant to be human. Sections explore such varied topics as debates about knowledge and ideas about justice, gender, mortality and immortality; they examine the organization of ancient societies and their production of visual arts and architecture. Readings often include selections from the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Hebrew Bible, Greek plays, the Iliad or Odyssey, Plato, and Virgil's Aeneid.
Liberal Studies 122
THE WESTERN TRADITION II: MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN EUROPE
5 credits; Class size: 45
No prerequisites. May be taken in any order with 121 and 123 to satisfy the entire Humanities GUR.
This course is an introduction to the cultural history of medieval and early modern Europe (from the 4th to the 18th centuries) through an analysis of a wide variety of sources. It examines works of visual art, philosophy, rhetoric, literature, history, and religion, and considers a range of themes, from pilgrimage and the interaction between the sacred and the profane to disputes about authority, religious conflict, and imperial expansion. Readings may include works by Augustine, Marie de France, Christine de Pizan, Erasmus, Camões, Shakespeare or Cervantes; all sections include Dante.
Liberal Studies 123
THE WESTERN TRADITION III: THE MODERN WORLD
5 credits; Class size: 45
No prerequisites. May be taken in any order with 121 and 122 to satisfy the entire Humanities GUR.
This course explores the construction of modernity. As an introduction to modern Western culture from the 18th century to the present, it examines such modern ideologies as feminism, Romanticism, and nationalism. This course considers a spectrum of views of the individual, of progress, and of the alienation and integration of the individual in society. Many sections include study of films and other material from the visual arts. Readings often include novels, and the writings of Freud, Marx, Nietzsche, Mill, Baudelaire, and Rousseau.
Liberal Studies 231
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION
5 credits; Class size: 45
No prerequisites.
This course provides an introduction to the academic study of religion. Although scholars do not always agree about what they are studying when they study religion, they tend to concur that religious life is an important, perhaps the most important, aspect of human experience. The course will focus on four main case studies: Buddhist teaching stories, Hasidic Jewish spirituality and practice, Christian fundamentalist belief, and Muslim, Jewish and Christian apocalypticism. Each unit will offer an overview of a major world religion, explore some major themes, and consider different models of social organization that structure religious life. Evaluation is by class participation, in-class writing exercises, a paper, and two exams.
Liberal Studies 232
MYTH AND FOLKLORE4 credits; Class size: 50
No prerequisites.
A study of myths and folktales and their cultural roles. Students read selections from the mythologies and folklores of America, Europe, Asia and Africa to discover what meanings they have in their own cultural context for the people who narrate and listen to them, and universal patterns and meanings of myths. The course also will consider the modern ‘myth’ of the Western frontier in stories and movies, and modern interpretations of folktales in the maturation process. Careful reading in preparation for class is essential. Evaluation is by exams and a 4-6 page paper.
Liberal Studies 243
ART AND IDEAS
4 credits; Class size: 50
No prerequisites.
A study of Western humanities through the visual arts of sculpture, painting and architecture, the course explores values expressed through choices of style and subject matter, and examines relations between visual arts and other aspects of culture. Historical periods discussed are ancient Greece and Rome, Renaissance Europe, and 19th and 20th Century Europe and America. Lectures with discussion; evaluation is by essay exams.
Liberal Studies 321
BETWEEN RENAISSANCE AND INQUISITION: CENSORSHIP AND RELIGIOUS CONFLICT IN SPAIN’S GOLDEN AGE5 credits; Class size: 45
Early modern Spain has simultaneously been perceived as an artistic Golden Age (which saw a flourishing production of plays, verse, and prose) and as an era in which censorship and religious intolerance closed off Spain and its empire to the wider world. The course explores this central paradox in Spanish religious, cultural and intellectual history, through an interdisciplinary examination of literature, trial records, painting and architecture. It examines the foundation of the Spanish Inquisition in a society which included Christians, Muslims, and Jews; it traces the development of Catholic laws and courts both in European contexts and in Spain's American colonies.
Prerequisites: One previous Liberal Studies course, or HIST 112, or HON 104, or permission of instructor.
Liberal Studies 323
ROMANTIC PARADOX: LOVE, LIFE, AND DEATH
4 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: Junior status or permission of the instructor.
A study of the complex, international cultural movement known as romanticism throught the exploration of characteristic romantic tensions: the desire for unity, harmony, infinity, and beauty versus the experience of fragmentation, limitation and loss. Analysis of texts and films representing various facets of the romantic mind from the late 18th century through the present. Readings include Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, Max Frisch, Homo Faber, Patricia Duncker, Hallucinating Foucault, Allen Ginsberg, Howl, Judith Hermann, Summerhouse, Later, and Patricia Highsmith, Ripley’s Game. Films include ‘Lovers of the Arctic Circle’, ‘Brief Crossings’, and ‘Gods and Monsters’. Evaluation is by attendance and class participation and three short essays; no exams.
Liberal Studies 325
SURVEILLANCE, VOYEURISM AND THE CULTURE OF SUSPICION
4 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: Junior status or permission of the instructor.
This course will trace the concept of surveillance and its connection to voyeurism as the primordial desire to see from the 18th Century to the present. Through careful reading of primary and secondary sources of literature, sociology, philosophy, history, journalism, and film studies and analysis of visual material, this course will examine the paradox within the concept of surveillance which can be understood as a means to implement security and insure peace as well as constitute a threat to private and civic rights and freedoms. Formally, the course will alternate between the analysis of visual material and printed material. Class time is divided into lecture, organized class discussion and student presentations. Evaluation is by attendance and participation, two essays and a research paper.
Liberal Studies 332
UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS: FOUNDERS AND DISCIPLES
4 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: None.
This course introduces students to comparative religion, through the study of five important religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We will use a historical approach the emergence and growth of religions and the ways that beliefs and practices change over time. Our main goal, however, will be interpreting how these religions find expression in the present. Evaluation is by class participation and three written exams.
Liberal Studies 333
RELIGION IN AMERICA
5 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: Junior status or permission of the instructor.
This course offers a survey of American religious history, from 1500 CE to the present. Students read original sources that introduce students to some influential American thinkers and reflect popular religious ideas. Students also are introduced to some guiding principles for the academic study of religion. In forming answers to life’s ultimate questions, Americans have been highly creative, and pluralism historically has characterized the American religious experience. For this reason, LBRL 333 places strong emphasis on the study of religious and cultural diversity. Readings include: Religion in American Life, a Short History, by Butler, Wacker and Balmer, and many readings of original sources. Evaluation is by class participation, two exams and a paper.
Liberal Studies 334
HEBREW BIBLE AND THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT ISRAEL
(Please note restrictions on taking more than one Biblical course for GUR Humanities credit.)
4 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: Junior status or permission of instructor.
An academic study of the Biblical tradition, this course is a survey of representative sections of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament for Christians) and related literature. Biblical texts are analyzed as expressions of how groups or individuals understood themselves, their world, and God. The historical and cultural contexts in which the texts were originally written are emphasized, with attention to the ways that elements of the Hebrew Biblical tradition developed under changing historical circumstances. Teaching is by lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by essay exams and short analytical papers.
Liberal Studies 336
NEW TESTAMENT AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY
(Please note restrictions on taking more than one Biblical course for GUR Humanities credit.)
4 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: Junior status or permission of instructor.
An academic study of the Biblical tradition, this course is a survey of the New Testament and related early Christian literature. The texts are analyzed as expressions of how groups or individuals understood themselves, their world, and God. The historical and cultural contexts in which the texts were written are emphasized with attention to the variety of early Christian traditions and their development in changing historical circumstances. Teaching is by lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by essay exams and short analytical papers.