Degree Offered: B.A.
Program Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree (Total Units Required For Degree: 120)
The B.A. program in the humanities offers students the opportunity to study diverse strands of human thought and culture. In devising their own plan of study, humanities majors, working in close consultation with faculty advisors, can prepare for graduate studies in the humanities, in specific disciplines of the humanities, or in cultural studies, train for a career where a broad humanistic understanding is appropriate, and/or desirable, or acquire self-cultivation through interdisciplinary study.
In the first semester of the student's junior year, she or he will draw up a proposed course of study. This document, prepared in consultation with an advisor and kept on file in the program office, will describe the student's goals in the program and planned avenues for achieving them. This document will also represent the initial step toward the generation of a senior thesis proposal or senior project, which will be required during the first semester of the senior year. All humanities majors must write an interdisciplinary thesis or senior project as part of their course of study, usually in their final semester before graduation.
Model Sequences of Courses for the Humanities Interdisciplinary Major:
Humanities Major (45 Units)
Lower Division Required Courses (15 units):
- HUM 101 - Forms & Ideas in Humanities.............3 units
- HUM 105/106 - Cultural Eras in Humanities.........6 units
- MUS 105 - Music Appreciation...........................3 units
- ART 112 - Survey of Non-Western Arts...............3 units
Upper Division Required Courses (9 units):
- HUM 391 - Junior Seminar in Humanities............3 units
- HUM 491 - Senior Seminar in Humanities............3 units
- HUM 497 - Thesis or Senior Project....................3 units
History, Theory, & Methodology Courses (6 units)
Select two courses from the following:
- ART 315 - Perspectives in Art History
- CHS 351 - Survey of Mexican Philosophical Thought
- ENGL 436 - Major Critical Theories
- ENGL 438 - Critical Approaches to Literature
- HIST 303 - Themes in Western Civilization Before 1500
- HIST 304 - Themes in Western Civilization After 1500
- JS 300 - Humanities in Jewish Society
- MUS 307 - Music from a Global Perspective
- MUS 310 - Understanding World Cultures Through Music
- PAS 386 - African-American Philosophical Thought
- PHIL 301 - Moral Problems in Contemporary Society
- PHIL 343 - Indian Philosophy
- PHIL 344 - Chinese Philosophy
- PHIL 345 - Social Philosophy
- RS 356 - Contemporary Religious Thought
- SPAN 307 - Introduction to the Analysis of Hispanic Literature
- COMS 301 - Performance, Language, and Cultural Studies
- COMS 356 - Intercultural Communication
- COMS 360 - Communication and the Sexes
- WS 301 - Feminist Theories and Methods
Individual Course of Study (15 units):
In fulfilling their proposed course of study and in consultation with an advisor, students must complete fifteen upper division units, drawn from at least three of the following departments (at least one of which must be AAS, AIS, CAS, CHS, or PAS): American Indian Studies, Art, Asian American Studies, Central American Studies, Chicano/a Studies, English, Foreign Languages, History, Jewish Studies, Linguistics, Music, Pan African Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, RTVF, Speech Communication, Theatre, and Women's Studies; up to six units of credit may be earned through independent study. HUM 391 and 491 may be repeated once each for credit. Only one upper-division course used in fulfilling any aspect of the major may be double-counted for GE credit.
General Education (46-49 units)
HUM 101, 105, and 106 will constitute 3 units of credit in Section C. In addition, one GE-approved upper division course may constitute another 3 units of overlap.
Title 5 (6 Units)
Additional Units (20-23 Units)
(Depending upon GE Overlap) Students majoring in the Humanities program are encouraged to take a foreign language as part of their college program.
Minor in Humanities (24 Total Units)
Lower Division Required Courses (9 units):
- HUM 101 - Forms & Ideas in Humanities..........3 units
- HUM 105/106 - Cultural Eras in Humanities......6 units
Upper Division Required Courses (6 units):
- HUM 391 - Junior Seminar in Humanities..........3 units
- HUM 491 - Senior Seminar in Humanities..........3 units
Upper Division Electives (9 units):
- One intellectual history, theory, and methodologies Course from the list above.
- Two other courses from the departments on the list above. HUM 391 and 491 may also be repeated once each for credit.