Humanities

College of Humanities
Dean: Nancy McDermid

Department of Humanities
HUM 410
415-338-1830
Chair: Ruth Knier

Graduate Coordinator: Rodger Birt

Faculty

 Professors--Arias, Birt, Chandler, Knier, Leonard, Luft, Lunine, Nathan

Associate Professors--Scott, Steier

Assistant Professor--Abe

Programs

B.A. in Humanities

Minor in Humanities

M.A. in Humanities

Program Scope

The program enables students to seek understanding of cultural experience through interdisciplinary study of the humanities. Social conduct, values, and artistic insights reflecting many human communities are studied in the undergraduate and graduate programs. Humanities majors develop methods of bringing the various humanities, such as literature, music, visual forms, and architecture, into an integrative view of the world's cultural diversity.

Students who wish to base their careers on broad knowledge of American and world cultures will find this major applicable to posts in government, business, education, and the arts. Practical training in a specific professional field (library work, foreign teaching or career service, journalism, museum work, etc.) may well be taken in conjunction with the major or the minor in Humanities. Students earning the B.A. in Humanities may qualify themselves for high school teaching credentials in English or History through special advising and supplemental course work. Those earning the M.A. in Humanities are qualified to seek the Community College Instructor Credential.

For the B.A. in Humanities, students must complete a core of five courses (including a senior seminar) in basic methods of understanding culture through the humanities, and then choose combinations of courses in European, American, Asian, and Cross-Cultural Studies (the cross-cultural studies area consists of courses in which the subject matter is from another geographic area than the Americas, Europe, or Asia, and courses that specifically include a number of different cultures). In one of these culture-study areas, additional courses will be chosen, making it the area of emphasis in the major. Up to three appropriate courses in related departments such as ethnic studies, English, art, and music may be included in the major with an adviser's approval.

Students minoring in Humanities must complete four core courses and three additional courses in one or more of the culture-study areas, depending upon the emphasis desired.

The Master of Arts in Humanities is an interdisciplinary program which emphasizes the integrative study of culture, ideas, and the arts, with special concern for the questions of value--moral, intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic--that are inherent in major human expressions. It serves a variety of personal and career objectives, including preparation for advanced study in a wide variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary degree programs in the humanities, as well as for teaching credentials in areas in which the master's degree is required.

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN HUMANITIES

Courses for this discipline are listed in alphabetical sequence (consult the Index for page reference).

The department's lower division General Education courses (HUM 130, 220, 225) or other lower division courses concerned with ideas, social conditions, and art forms are recommended for students planning to major or minor in Humanities. Study or practical experience toward mastery of a foreign language is strongly recommended along with the major or minor.

Core

										Units
HUM 301		Style and Expressive Forms					3
HUM 302		Theories and Methods in the Humanities				3
HUM 303		Cultural Periods and Styles					3
HUM 425		Thought and Image						3
HUM 690		Senior Seminar							3

 Cross-Cultural Studies
Three units selected from the following, or other appropriate courses on advisement:
HUM 365 	(great figures from outside Europe,
		the Americas, and Asia); 375 (cities out-
		side Europe, the Americas, and Asia); courses numbered 310-399	3

European Culture Studies

 
Six units selected from the following, or other appropriate courses on advisement:
HUM 365 	(European great figures); 375 
		(European cities); courses numbered 400-449, except 425		6

American Culture Studies

 
Six units selected from the following, or other appropriate courses on advisement:
HUM 365 	(American and Latin American great figures); 375 (American and Latin 
		American cities); 376 (San Francisco); courses 450-495		6

Asian Culture Studies

 
Six units selected from the following, or other appropriate courses on advisement:
HUM 365 	(Asian great figures); 375 (Asian cities); 
		courses numbered 500-549					6

Additional Courses

 
Units selected from one of the above culture
study areas, or other appropriate courses on advisement				6

Total units for the major							42
NOTE: Up to three appropriate courses (nine units) in related departments or programs may be substituted for departmental course work in the culture-study areas.

MINOR IN HUMANITIES

										Units
HUM 301		Style and Expressive Forms					3
HUM 302		Theories and Methods in the Humanities				3
HUM 303		Cultural Periods and Styles					3
HUM 425		Thought and Image						3

Three courses chosen on advisement in one 
or more of the culture study areas of the 
major. One of these (up to three units)
may be taken outside the department						9

Total units in the minor							21

MASTER OF ARTS IN HUMANITIES

Admission to the Program

 Admission to classified standing in the program is given on evaluation of several factors in an applicant's education and experience. Of considerable importance are the subjects and range of undergraduate study; emphasis is given to courses in literature, history, philosophy, the arts, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary humanities, but studies in the sciences or social sciences may also be valuable. Other factors bearing on admission may include work experience, personal interests, and proficiency in one of the arts.

Written English Proficiency Requirement

Level One: satisfactory score on Graduate Essay Test. Level Two: satisfactory completion of master's thesis or written comprehensive or final research paper.

Approval of Student Program

In consultation with the graduate coordinator or other members of the department's graduate faculty, each student should prepare a plan for completion of degree work by the beginning of his/her second semester. It will outline all M.A. course work, and describe the culminating experience and special skill to be carried out for the degree. This plan will be the basis of the Graduate Approved Program submitted to the Graduate Division on the student's behalf, with the approval of the graduate adviser and coordinator.

Advancement to Candidacy

Besides meeting general requirements of the program, students must maintain a 3.0 grade point average in order to qualify for advancement to candidacy for the master's degree. Official advancement to candidacy comes about with acceptance of a Graduate Approved Program by the Graduate Division.

Courses for this discipline are listed in alphabetical sequence (consult Index for page reference). With the graduate adviser's approval, most upper division Humanities Department courses may be used to satisfy a portion of the Master of Arts requirements.

Core Requirements

									Units
HUM 700		Introduction to Integrative Study			3
HUM 721		Culture and Style					3

Units selected from the following in the inte-
grative study of cultural expression, on 
advisement (one course must be non-
Western)								6

HUM 710		Seminar in European Forms and Culture
HUM 711		Seminar in American Forms and Culture
HUM 712		Seminar in African Forms and Culture
HUM 713		Seminar in Asian Forms and Culture

Disciplines of the Humanities

 
Units selected under advisement from the following:			6
HUM 701		Fine Arts in the Humanities
HUM 702		Literature in the Humanities
HUM 703		History in the Humanities
HUM 704		Philosophy in the Humanities

Issues in the Humanities

 
Units selected on advisement						3-6
HUM 720		Humanistic Themes
HUM 722		New Models in Humanistic Studies
HUM 723		Contemporary Humanistic Scholarship

Electives

 
Units selected on advisement with the
graduate coordinator and adviser					3-6

Culminating Experience

 
One of the following:							3
HUM 895		Field Project and Oral Defense
HUM 896		Directed Study in Selected Humanistic Works and 
		Comprehensive Written and Oral Examinations
HUM 898		Master's Thesis and Oral Defense

Minimum total								30
Culminating Experience. The chosen culminating experience (895, 896, or 898) should be integral with the candidate's larger M.A. plan and with his/her longer career objective. It will be carried out in the final semester of work for the degree, with the aid of a graduate faculty member acting as sponsor and tutor; at least two other faculty members will serve with the sponsor on the student's M.A. committee and will join in evaluation of the culminating experience. The candidate must present a proposal for his/her culminating project in writing to a sponsor/tutor to initiate it.

Foreign Language. Reading proficiency in a foreign language is required. Under exceptional circumstances a candidate may petition to substitute demonstrable proficiency in an auxiliary skill that has a clear relationship to his/her M.A. program.