Humanities 1
680:021. Humanities I: The Ancient, Classical, and Medieval Worlds--3 credits.
Literature, philosophy, religion, and the fine arts, integrated with the history of Western Civilization to 1300 (offered Fall, Spring, and Summer).
Books Approved for Use in Humanities 1
History Texts
Instructors may use any standard "Western Civ." textbook from a major publisher, such as:
Greer, Lewis, Brief History of the Western World
(One Volume Edition)
Kagan, Paul, et al., The Western Heritage (Vol. I)
Kishlansky, et al., Civilization in the West
Lerner, Meacham, Burns, Western Civilizations (Vol. I)
McKay, et al., A History of Western Society
Perry, Western Civilization
[the Concise or the Longer Version]
Spielvogel, Western Civilization (Vol. I, Vol. A)
Recommendations of the Humanities Text Working Group
1. That in each of the three Humanities courses, faculty be encouraged to assign a minimum of four complete works, assuming those works to be of moderate length; faculty are encouraged to assign more works, if shorter works are used.
2. That the use of literary anthologies be approved, when those anthologies include complete shorter works or when they are used in conjunction with complete works, the total assigned readings to be equivalent to the use of four or more complete texts. We recommend the use of an anthology similar to the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces (2 vols.). Documents collections can be very useful as adjuncts to such literary anthologies, and complete texts.
3. That the use of a main Western civilization text be continued, and that the breadth of choice that currently prevails in selecting such texts continue to accommodate varying pedagogical approaches to the teaching of the courses. Some faculty have also found volumes such as art history texts valuable in supplementing their use of Western civilization texts. An inexpensive example of such a text is Cole and Gelt's Art of the Western World.
Primary Sources:
I. The Ancient Near East
Mesopotamia and Egypt:
Gilgamesh
Poems of Heaven and Hell from Ancient Mesopotamia
Egyptian Book of the Dead
Jewish Scriptures/Old Testament:
Genesis
Exodus
Jewish Law Codes
Exodus (selection)
Leviticus
Deuteronomy
Job
II Samuel 9-20 [Court History of King David]
II. Greece
Poetry and Epic:
Iliad
Odyssey
Sappho
Drama:
any fifth-century tragedy or tragic cycle
any comedy
Philosophy and Religion:
any Platonic dialogue
any work by Aristotle
Hesoid, Theogony or Works and Days
III. Rome
Poetry and Epic:
Vergil, Aeneid
Catullus
Ovid, any work
Drama:
Plautus, any work
Terence, any work
Seneca, any work
Philosophy and Religion:
Cicero, any work
Lucretius, On the Nature of Things
Epictetus Enchiridion
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Plotinus Enneads
History and Biography:
Caesarm Concerning the Gallic War
Livy, The Early History of Rome
Tacitus, Germania or Agricola
Suetonius, selections from the Twelve Caesars
Plutarch, selections from the Lives
Other Literature:
Petronius, Satyricon
Aupleius, Metamorphoses (or The Golden Ass)
IV. The Early Church
Christian Scriptures/New Testament:
any of the four gospels, or combination thereof
Paul's Letters:
Romans
I Corinthians
Galatians
Romans
Extracanonical Texts:
the Gospel of Thomas
selections from the Gnostic scriptures
selections from the Dead Sea Scrolls
Christian Thought and Discipline:
Augustine, Confessions
Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy
The Rule of St. Benedict
V. The Middle Ages
Poetry and Epic:
the Nibelungenlied (the Song of the Nibelungs)
any Norse saga
Beowulf
The Song of Roland
Gottfried von Strasburg
Marie de France
Arthurian Tales:
Chretien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival
Malory, The Death of Arthur
Philosophy and Religion:
The Qur'an
Anselm of Canterbury, any work
Aquinas, any work
Bonaventure
Francis of Assi
Maimonides
Hildegard of Bingen
Christiane de Pisan, Book of the City of Ladies
History and Biography:
Anna Comnena, The Alexiad
Bede, History of the English Church
Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks
Abelard, History of My Troubles
Einhard, Life of Charlemagne
Procopius, Secret History
Other Literature:
Chaucer, Canterbury Tales
Dante, any of the three parts of the Divine Comedy
Hrotsuit of Gandersheim, any play
Date This Page was Last Edited: 11/04/06