Humanities Requirement

CLS 165. Introduction to World Literature. 3 Credits.

This course is designed to introduce students to literature representative of both Western and non-Western cultures and can be taken as an alternative to LIT 165. Not open to English majors.
Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity Requirement, Humanities Distributive Requirement, Writing Emphasis.
Typically offered in Fall, Spring & Summer.

CLS 260. World Literature I. 3 Credits.

A survey of world literary texts from pre-classical times to 1600.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Prior to Fall 2020: Diversity Requirement, Humanities Distributive Requirement, Writing Emphasis.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Fall 2020 and After: Diversity Requirement, Writing Emphasis.

CLS 261. World Literature II. 3 Credits.

A survey of world literary texts from 1600 to the present.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Prior to Fall 2020: Humanities Distributive Requirement, Writing Emphasis.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Fall 2020 and After: Writing Emphasis.

DHM 260. Digital Storytelling. 3 Credits.

By engaging with digital stories from a range of cultural traditions, this course invites students to analyze and explore what it means to be human. Students as storytellers will create their own digital artifacts as citizens of the world.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter.

HIS 100. Contemporary Global History. 3 Credits.

Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the major events and themes of the "long" 20th Century and how they shaped the contemporary world from both American and global perspectives.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

HIS 101. History of Civilization I. 3 Credits.

Cultural elements and social institutions in the West and the East from earliest times through the Renaissance.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

HIS 102. History of Civilization: Power, Identity, and Culture in the Modern World. 3 Credits.

Developments in civilizations from 1500 to the present, with emphasis on Western civilization and its interrelationships with the non-Western world.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

HIS 150. The American Experience. 3 Credits.

This course examines the history of the United States from colonial times to the present. It emphasizes the history of key ideas including nationalism, sectionalism, imperialism, industrialism, and identity.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

HIS 151. History of the United States I. 3 Credits.

This course examines the social, economic, political, and intellectual development of the United States from the beginning of the Colonial period through Reconstruction.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

HIS 152. History of the United States II. 3 Credits.

A comprehensive history of the United States from 1865 to the present, examining the economic, political, and cultural development of American society, and the evolution of American foreign policy.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

HIS 195. Special Topics in History for Non-Majors. 3 Credits.

This is a special topics course that provides an alternative to the traditional introductory history survey courses. While traditional history surveys cover a range of eras and numerous topics, this course will focus on one historical theme, event, period, movement, person, debate, etc., and be covered in a manner suitable for non-majors. Topics will often reflect popular contemporary interests and newer trends in history.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

HIS 214. Do No Harm? The Pursuit of Justice in the History of Medicine. 3 Credits.

This course examines the history of how people have understood and experienced health and sickness, and how people have practiced medicine and had medicine practiced upon them, from ancient times to the present. It places particular emphasis on the historical relationship between expert and lay medical knowledge, and in understanding how cultural values have informed the diverse ways that different societies have practiced medicine. The course similarly explores how medical knowledge and practice have become a potent form of cultural authority open to both great accomplishments and great abuse. In particular, we will examine how women, persons of African ancestry, persons with disability, and other historically marginalized groups interact with medical knowledge and practice. Using the analytical tools of social constructivist theory, the course examines how medical knowledge and the practice of medicine can be agents used to maintain structural inequalities. Crucially, however, marginalized persons and their allies also have used their own medical knowledge and practice to challenge those inequalities.
Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity Requirement, Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

HIS 215. Introduction to the History of Science. 3 Credits.

This course examines the history of science from ancient Greek theories of nature, through the Scientific Revolution, Darwinian Revolution, and the Atomic Age to the Human Genome Project. In particular it looks at the historical changes in what is considered part of "nature" and its "scientific" study, changes in who and what is recognized as legitimate sources of knowledge about nature, and the significance of social factors, especially race, class, gender, and religious and political beliefs, upon the construction and reception of scientific ideas. The course emphasizes how historical methods can be used to better make sense of how and why people and societies construct scientific knowledge, and how and why they integrate that knowledge into culture, religion, politics, art, and other human endeavors.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

HIS 221. The Medieval Middle East. 3 Credits.

This course offers a survey of some of the most fascinating topics and heated debates of pre-modern Middle East history, covering the periods of Islamic Origins, Golden Age, and Global Connections. Students will analyze crucial moments in Islamic history and understand how these pre-modern roots have lasting effects on our world today.
Gen Ed Attribute: Arabic Culture Cluster, Foreign Language Culture Cluster, Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall.

HIS 222. The Modern Middle East. 3 Credits.

This course provides a general introduction to the modern Middle East, including topics such as European imperialism, nation-building, the Cold War, and the war on terror. Rooted in a global comparative perspective, the course highlights the Middle East as a diverse region, home to many religious traditions and cultural practices.
Gen Ed Attribute: Arabic Culture Cluster, Foreign Language Culture Cluster, Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Spring.

HIS 224. Reform and Revolution in Imperial Russia. 3 Credits.

Focusing on the Russian Empire from the reforms of Peter the Great in the early eighteenth century to the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty in 1917, the course examines the experiences and perspectives of the empire's diverse peoples. It immerses students in the world of imperial Russia via role-playing simulations and the analysis of primary sources. Students develop the critical skills of reading, writing, and speaking from the perspective of a historian and from the perspective of multiple historical figures in conventional and creative genres.
Gen Ed Attribute: Foreign Language Culture Cluster, Humanities Distributive Requirement, Russia & Eastern Europe Culture Cluster, Speaking Emphasis.
Typically offered in Spring.

HON 212. Ethics and Moral Choice in Tech Age. 3 Credits.

Approaches to ethical recommendation and moral decision-making processes. Engagement of the scientific approach by using case studies from genetics, ecology, physics, chemistry, and computer science to allow students to confront ways traditional views of ethics and moral decision-making apply to a contemporary world.
Gen Ed Attribute: Ethics Requirement, Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Spring.

HON 311. Stewardship and Civic Engagement. 3 Credits.

Foundations of market and nonmarket economies as they relate to good stewardship and civic responsibility. Fusing literature and economics, the values and limitations of market capitalism and command socialism will be addressed.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement, Speaking Emphasis.
Typically offered in Fall.

LAN 100. Language and the Human Experience. 3 Credits.

Language plays a fundamental role in how humans experience the world around them. In this class, we will explore the nature of language and how language and culture intersect in various ways. Some of the questions we will attempt to answer include: What is human language? Does language equal thought? How are languages similar and different? How and why is language gendered? How are language and power connected? This course will expose you to new ways of thinking and talking about language, thus allowing you to view language use more critically in everyday interactions.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LAN 150. Lovely Accents: The World's Vocal Tapestry. 3 Credits.

Accents are a big part of what makes us human. Nothing showcases more vividly the vocal tapestry stitched and reflected in our voices like accents do. This course introduces students to the study of the way people around the world sound when they speak. Why do people have accents? Is it true that each person has an accent? Have accents always existed? What causes us to perceive some accents as "cool", and other accents less so? Can someone get rid of their accent? Should they? The course presents a general survey of human accents around the world. The course also discusses people's attitudes to accents different than those of their own.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement, Speaking Emphasis.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter.

LIN 130. The World's Languages. 3 Credits.

Language diversity is a central part of the human experience. How many languages are there in the world, where are they spoken, and where do they come from? Why are some languages very similar, while others are very different? Why have some languages disappeared, while other languages are thriving? This course presents a general survey of language diversity in the world from the perspectives of language structure, language use, and language history. The core of the semester consists of a panoramic view of the world's main language families and the main languages in each of them. Other topics covered include: the origin of language among humans; language fragmentation and the birth of languages; language families; language contact; language endangerment and death; the main writing systems; and the meaning of bilingualism and multilingualism.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LIN 140. Language, Power, and Ideology. 3 Credits.

This course investigates the relationship between language and power as it is manifested in a variety of contexts. It examines the discourse of politics, the language of advertising and journalism, and the discourse of institutions and organizations to uncover ideological biases towards socioeconomic class; sexuality and gender; and race, ethnicity, and age. It also examines how these marginalized groups resist oppression and use language as an agent to speak against and subvert exclusion and discrimination in the United States and globally. Students will look at marginalized groups, including women, immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, speakers of low prestige dialects, such as Pittsburghese and African American English, and low prestige languages, such as creoles and pidgins, and they will examine how these groups use language to resist and subvert dominant ideologies. The course aims to introduce students to the basic principles of critical discourse analysis, critical stylistics, and sociolinguistics, enabling them to conduct their investigations of issues related to language and power as well as foster an informed and reasoned openness to, and understanding of, difference.
Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity Requirement, Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LIT 100. Popular Culture: Reading Culture as Text. 3 Credits.

An introduction to analyzing and interpreting everyday cultural expressions within diverse social, historical, economic, and political contexts.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LIT 101. Contemporary Issues Through Literature. 3 Credits.

This lecture-style course links the study of various genres of literature from a range of time periods (texts included on the syllabus can range from medieval to contemporary) to contemporary events and issues.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LIT 165. Topics in Literature. 3 Credits.

A course designed to develop awareness of literature as being central to all the arts, to increase levels of literacy and critical faculties, and to broaden understanding of the human condition.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement, Writing Emphasis.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LIT 219. Literature for Young Children. 3 Credits.

A critical study of the literature for young children for prospective specialists in early grades.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LIT 220. Children's Literature. 3 Credits.

A critical study of literature for children, setting standards for evaluation and appreciation.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LNC 100. Discover the World on Film. 3 Credits.

Did you ever want to travel the world? In this course you will cross cultural and linguistic borders through film. We will engage diverse national films that represent varied cultural, historical, and philosophical traditions while asking what it means to be human in the contemporary world. Knowledge of languages other than English is not required.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LNC 105. Global Science Fiction. 3 Credits.

How do people relate to one another in a constantly changing universe? Students will engage a broad range of global science fiction to reflect on some of the most pressing ethical questions of the modern world. Topics may include how individuals and communities confront mad scientists, alien races, surveillance technologies, and post-apocalyptic landscapes, while exploring what it means to be human. All materials in English translation.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement, Writing Emphasis.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall, Spring & Summer.

LNC 106. Global Fantasy Fiction. 3 Credits.

In this introductory class, students engage with a broad range of global fantasy fiction and film. In a technology-saturated world, humans often crave a sense of wonder and seek out hope in the unexplainable. They imagine fantasy worlds to satisfy this need, stretch their imagination, and expand their range of expression. Topics may include epic struggles between right and wrong, schools for magic, and a wide range of fantastic creatures. At the same time, students will connect these stories back to reality to explore the role of fantasy in describing complex emotions, troublesome events, and the lived effects of oppression and injustice. All materials available in English.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement, Speaking Emphasis.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

LNC 110. Global Human Rights in Cultural Production. 3 Credits.

This course will introduce students to the concept of Human Rights, familiarize students with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and examine case studies of Human Rights problems from around the world. In the first half of this course, students will learn about the development of the concept of human rights through an examination of its theoretical foundations, considering the tension between universality and relativity posed by the concept of universal human rights, and problematizing what this "universality" means for societies that perhaps have other, more pressing needs/priorities not included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the second half of this course, students will focus on examining a variety of human rights cases as represented in multiple cultural mediums (including films, a poem, a novel, a diary, and documentaries) and practice analyzing these cases to pinpoint the various stakeholders and their interests in the issue at hand. In class, students will learn tactical mapping and the case study method, which will be brought into class discussions throughout the second half of the course as they consider each human rights case study. Lastly, students will practice imagining themselves within these situations and think critically about the different choices of action they would have as an actor in the issue at hand. Students will practice ethical reasoning in examining how best to act as they imagine themselves navigating the complex field of these human rights questions.
Gen Ed Attribute: Ethics Requirement, Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Spring.

PHI 100. Creating Meaning. 3 Credits.

This course is an introduction to existentialism, one of the most influential intellectual currents of the 20th century. Through film, literature, and the primary philosophical texts of existential philosophers, such as Frederick Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Simone de Beauvoir, we will explore basic existential themes such as the formation of values, "dread" and "alienation." Existentialism focuses less on what to think and more on how to live in the face of radical freedom and responsibility.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall, Spring & Summer.

PHI 101. Introduction to Philosophy. 3 Credits.

The chief problems and methods of philosophic thought, with a survey of some typical solutions. The place and influence of philosophy in life today.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall, Spring & Summer.

PHI 125. Theology & Science: Enemies or Partners?. 3 Credits.

An inquiry into the relationship of theology to the natural sciences. Team taught by both a physicist and a philosopher, the course investigates how ideas of God have been affected by advances in physics and biology.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Prior to Fall 2020: Humanities Distributive Requirement, Science Distributive Requirement.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Fall 2020 and After: None.
Typically offered in Spring.
Cross listed courses PHI 125, PHY 125.

PHI 150. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. 3 Credits.

Introduction of the principles needed for effective thinking and evaluation of arguments in practical situations. Topics include procedures and guidelines for identifying and evaluating arguments, recognizing fallacies, ands writing/criticizing argumentative essays.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

PHI 180. Introduction to Ethics. 3 Credits.

Introduction to major theories and contemporary work in moral philosophy. Offers tools for ethical decision making in our daily lives with emphasis on the influence of culture, power, privilege.
Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity Requirement, Ethics Requirement, Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall, Spring & Summer.

PHI 201. Contemporary Issues. 3 Credits.

Discussion and analysis of contemporary philosophical issues. The topic varies from semester to semester.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.
Repeatable for Credit.

PHI 206. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 3 Credits.

An introduction to the three major monotheistic traditions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Exploring their earliest heritage including founders, scriptures, early institutions, and practices, it will then address how these traditions were preserved, re-invigorated, and sometimes transformed in response to social change and political upheaval.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Distance education offering may be available.
Typically offered in Fall.

PHI 207. Philosophies of Non-violence. 3 Credits.

An examination of the concepts of violence and nonviolence, especially as seen by recent thinkers. The course attempts to link theory with practice by considering the contributions of Tolstoy, Gandhi, Thoreau, and other philosophers, religious thinkers, and activists.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Prior to Fall 2020: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Fall 2020 and After: None.
Typically offered in Spring.

PHI 220. Introduction to Islam. 3 Credits.

This course is an introduction to Islam as a prophetic religious tradition. Students will begin the course with an overview of Islam and how the Western discourses see it. They will then learn about the beliefs, tenants, and the teachings of Islam, as well as about the life of the Prophet Muhammad, hadith, and the Qur'an. Subsequently, students will delve into some of the most significant topics related to the classical and post-classical Islamic tradition: theology, Sufism, law, and gender. They will conclude the course by examining Islamophobia in the post-911 era.
Gen Ed Attribute: Arabic Culture Cluster, Diversity Requirement, Foreign Language Culture Cluster, Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Spring.

PHI 280. Philosophy and Film. 3 Credits.

This course helps students understand and discuss philosophy, film, and how the two disciplines intersect. Students' critical thinking skills will improve as they use film theory and terminology to decipher key philosophical texts, and vice versa.
Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity Requirement, Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall.

PHI 282. Animal Ethics. 3 Credits.

An exploration of the religious, philosophical, and scientific perspectives on animals, animal treatment, and animal use, including arguments for vegetarian/veganism and of activist groups.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall.

PHI 350. Philosophical Topics: 20th Century and Beyond. 3 Credits.

A course in recent and current philosophies and philosophers from various traditions.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Prior to Fall 2020: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Fall 2020 and After: None.
Typically offered in Spring.
Repeatable for Credit.

PHY 125. Theology and Science: Enemies or Partners. 3 Credits.

An inquiry into the relationship of theology to the natural sciences. Team taught by both a physicist and a philosopher, the course investigates how ideas of God have been affected by advances in physics and biology.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Prior to Fall 2020: Humanities Distributive Requirement, Science Distributive Requirement.
Gen Ed Attribute for Students Admitted Fall 2020 and After: None.
Typically offered in Spring.
Cross listed courses PHI 125, PHY 125.

RUX 110. Introduction to Urban Community Change. 3 Credits.

This course explores the idea that people critically understanding the world and how to act in and for themselves on the world to change it is an essential quality of humanity.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

WRH 343. Visual Rhetoric in Comics and Graphic Novels. 3 Credits.

This course will closely examine how comics and graphic novels draw on language and images to create visual narratives. Students will learn a basic vocabulary for talking about visual narrative from theorists like Scott McCloud, Will Eisner, and Molly Bang, and then they'll turn their discussion to a series of graphic novels. How do the images in the novels construct a narrative? What happens in the gutter? How do comics and graphic novels use language and images to do real cultural work?.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.