Humanities Courses

HUM2101 Introduction to Spanish I

Develops some basic skills in speaking, understanding, reading, and writing in Spanish with an emphasis on language skills that can be useful in a variety of workplace settings. Students will also be introduced to some key elements of Hispanic culture.

3 Credit Hours 

HUM2103 Introduction to French I

Develops some basic skills in speaking, understanding, reading, and writing in French with an emphasis on language skills that can be useful in a variety of workplace settings. Students will also be introduced to some key elements of French culture.

3 Credit Hours

HUM2200 Arts in Contemporary Society

Provides students with a comprehensive survey of new directions in the visual arts. Topics include key artists who helped shape perceptions of the world and themes and multiple forms of art, such as traditional studio art, video, installations, and digital art.

3 Credit Hours

HUM2205 The Art of Film

Introduces film analysis and criticism. This course focuses on the techniques filmmakers use to form meaning and shape perceptions. Students view a variety of films with the goal of building a critical vocabulary to enhance their ability to analyze what they see with increased understanding and skill.

3 Credit Hours

HUM2212 The Art of Creativity

Provides an introductory, interdisciplinary exploration of creativity to discover the full scope of human potential and to maximize creative resources. Students explore factors that foster creative achievements in a variety of fields, and develop their own innate abilities for thinking and creating more imaginatively and effectively.

3 Credit Hours

HUM2220 Introduction to Philosophy

Introduces philosophy, the art of exploring the broadest questions a human being can ask. These include: What is real? What can we know? How should we live? Among the more specific topics of discussion are the arguments for and against the existence of God, the self, causality, the mind, right and wrong, mortality, and the general meaning of existence.

3 Credit Hours

HUM2225 Introduction to Ethics

Introduces the study of ethics and moral philosophy, including its historical development, the major figures within that history, and ethical and moral issues that face us today. This course presents the perspectives of various schools of thought and encourages students’ own critical thinking on ethical and moral issues in dialogue with others.

3 Credit Hours

HUM2228 Mysteries and Scandals in Modern America

Explores mysterious and scandalous events that reflect political, social cultural, and economic developments in modern America. Topics include the Scopes Monkey Trial; lynchings and the Tulsa riots; the civil war monuments controversy; prohibition of alcohol and marijuana; Bay of Pigs invasion; Roswell aliens; the Lewinsky scandal; birtherism; January 6th insurrection; and others.

3 Credit Hours

HUM2245 Medicine and Social Justice

Explores the human experience of health and illness together with the values and beliefs behind healing practices. In a global social justice context, the course considers how disease and treatment differ from place to place.  Topics include patient advocacy, disabilities rights, end-of-life care, reproductive autonomy, genetic counseling, health law, healthcare policy, alternative medicine, and human healthcare rights.    

3 Credit Hours

HUM2270 Special Topics in the Humanities

Involves readings and discussions, at an introductory level, organized around selected topics in the humanities. Topics vary each semester.

1 to 3 Credit Hours

HUM3312 World Religions

Presents the origins, central figures, major teachings, concepts, beliefs, and practices of the major religions of the world such as the indigenous religions, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, and contemporary religious movements.

3 Credit Hours

HUM3200 Fakery, Facts and Truth

Explores the nature of truth, deciphering facts from fiction, and various techniques for good argumentation and persuasive communication. Students will develop a critical and questioning mind by examining conspiracy theories and common manipulative tactics and methods of political propaganda used to sell fallacious misinformation to the unsuspecting.

3 Credit Hours 

HUM3325 Feminist Thought and Perspectives

Introduces the writings of contemporary feminist theorists that explore issues of gender identity, reproduction, ethnicity, and acculturation. Students analyze works at the theoretical level and their application to contemporary concerns, such as the role of women in the family, community, workforce, and political arena.

3 Credit Hours

HUM3330 Art of the Americas

Explores pre-colonial times through the present to provide a comprehensive view of the visual arts in America and the ideas and forces affecting them. This course takes a broad and inclusive approach to the variety and richness of Meso-American art, including work by indigenous groups. 

3 Credit Hours

HUM3355 Social Justice Issues

Focuses on western philosophies for justice in a society. Students explore debates from the courts of ancient Athens to the streets of contemporary America. Students will question how a society is arranged, opportunities for change, the distribution of wealth/power, and how morality is assessed.

Prerequisite: HUM2225

3 Credit Hours

HUM3360 Law and the Humanities

Examines the treatment of legal themes in literature, music, film, and other visual arts to consider the relationship between the humanities and the law. Students explore the ways that the humanities utilize different perspectives and aesthetic styles to discuss such legal themes as morality, justice, equality, liberty, and authority.

Prerequisite: ENG2205

3 Credit Hours

HUM4000 Ethics of Sports

Students will explore a variety of moral and social issues across amateur, scholastic, Olympic and professional athletics.  The course examines the nature of sportsmanship, and the social, religious, and political use of sports.  It studies ethical questions in sports related to gender and transgender equity, assistive technologies, performance-enhancing drugs, athletic scandals, and the ethical and legal responsibilities of sport leagues and player associations.

Prerequisite: HUM2225

3 Credit Hours

HUM4470 Special Topics in the Humanities

Involves readings and discussions, at an advanced level, organized around selected topics in the humanities. Topics vary each semester.

Prerequisite: Any 2000-level course in the Humanities

1 to 3 Credit Hours