HUM101: Learning Objectives and Expected Outcomes
In this course, we investigate the social, historical, ethical, and aesthetic meanings of cultural artifacts and
texts. We study diverse visual, literary, performance, and philosophical works from different historical
periods and cultural contexts, to increase our critical understanding, to learn how to better interpret various
texts and works of art by contextualizing them, how to better formulate questions, construct arguments, and
how to communicate ideas more effectively, thus becoming better critical thinkers, speakers, and writers.
What are the humanities?
The humanities are academic disciplines that
study how people process and document the
human experience. The humanities study how we
use philosophy, literature, religion, art, music,
history, and language to understand and record our
world.
Why study the humanities?
Studying the humanities helps us to understand
who we are as human beings. It gives us a sense
of connection, to each other and to those who came
before us. Stephen Shoemaker, religious studies
professor at the University of Oregon, affirms the
value of studying the humanities this way: "The
stories we discover give us a way to comprehend our
lives and shape our values. History enables us to
remember who we've been so we can make sense of
the problems and the traditions we now share. It's
essential that we understand the past to understand
where we are now."
- Do you agree? Why?
- Do you disagree? Why?
Culture and Cultural Values
The term "culture" refers to the ideas, customs, and
behaviors of a society. It also refers to the
manifestations of those ideas, customs, and
behaviors in the arts.
The term "cultural values" refers to the
predominating principles and standards of a society:
ideas about what is acceptable, important, and just.
Values are learned and differ across cultures
and time. They are represented in our language,
literature, music, architecture, films, paintings,
sculptures, advertisements, etc.
Consider how some of us choose pronouns in
American English to be gender neutral and inclusive
in our speaking and writing. This is an example of
how language can represent cultural values.
[More on gender neutral American English here.]
Figure 1: L'AMOMALI
by JR - Artist