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University of Northern Iowa
Home Faculty Philosophy Goals Committee Humanities 1 Humanities 2 Humanities 3 Schedule |
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The Philosophy of the Humanities Program Humanities 1, Humanities 2, and Humanities 3 are the central components of the Liberal Arts Core. These courses examine the development of Western civilization and culture from its beginnings to the present. They combine an historical examination of key events, figures, ideas, and institutions with an examination of primary texts in the fields of literature, religion, and philosophy.The purpose and value of the humanities is ultimately to help us discover who we are. They help to form our intellectual, emotional, aesthetic, and spiritual capacities. They help us develop principles by which we make choices in our lives. The study of the humanities also seeks to uncover humankind’s continuing experience by engaging in a critical inquiry about events that have occurred, are occurring in the present, and are likely to occur in the future. Because the methods that we use to comprehend the past are similar to the skills we use to understand the present, the study of the humanities help us to recognize those elements of the past that continue to shape our present and future society. The achievements of humanity in pursuit of these ends can most readily be examined in the philosophical doctrines that civilizations have entertained, in the scientific theories they have devised, in the faiths they have held, in the institutions they have constructed, in the goods they have produced, in the art they have created, in the texts they have inscribed, and in the personalities they have developed. The Humanities courses are intended to help the student become more familiar with these attainments, and to examine them in the historical contexts from which they emerged. It is hoped that students will share in a common experience that stimulates discussion amongst themselves outside as well as inside class. Over many years of faculty discussion, a set of guidelines has been developed on the basis of which faculty construct their syllabi. With the exception of individual faculty members who may be departing from this common reading list on an experimental basis, all sections of Humanities conform to these guidelines, which both promote the common goals of the course and allow instructors to employ their individual methods for reaching these goals. Some may stress literature, others history, arts, philosophy, and/or religion. You may link to the common Humanities 1, Humanities 2, and Humanities 3 reading lists here, and to specific course syllabi at individual faculty sites.
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