Each semester, the Graduate Humanities Program engages the intersection of the arts, literature, culture, and history within an open, exploratory, and experimental educational environment.
Students enrolled in the Graduate Humanities Program explore broad interdisciplinary issues through a diverse array of course offerings. Most of these are offered in a seminar format: discussion-based graduate-level courses focused on reading, open and regular dialogue, collaborative and interactive interpretation, research and writing.
While several seminars are discipline-specific (our core curriculum, for example), most are designed to go beyond individual disciplines and enlist students in the cross-disciplinary study of the humanities.
Our course formats include those in-person, virtual, and hybrid. Contact the Director for various options for both the MA and Certificate programs.
Click on the links below for registration information for individual seminars. You can find general registration information on the MU Registrar website.
For previous seminar schedules, see our “Previous GHP Seminar Schedules” site.
Summer 2024
All courses are in Summer B (May 6 – July 26)
CULS 600: Selected Topics – Appalachian Studies Research, Arranged (VIRTUAL) (contact Director)
For students enrolled in the Appalachian Studies Certificate who are working on research projects in the Appalachian region. Registration by permission only. Contact the Director.
CULS 612: Time & Place in Appalachia, Thursdays, 7 – 9:50 PM (VIRTUAL) (Lassiter)
This interdisciplinary course orients students to the importance of geography, topography, and geology to the history and development of the Appalachian region.
- Luke Eric Lassiter is director of the Graduate Humanities Program and professor of humanities and anthropology.
HUMN 600: Introduction to Graduate Study in the Humanities, Mondays, 7 – 9:50 PM (VIRTUAL) (Lassiter)
Interdisciplinary core course addresses questions/concepts central to the humanities. Texts from philosophy, history, literature, the arts and the sciences provide insights into selected historical periods.
HUMN 650 – Special Topics – Independent Studies arranged between instructor and student (contact Director to arrange course)
For students who need to conduct independent research and/or reading in a specific topic in the humanities, the Program will offer independent studies in those topics as funds allow. Contact the Director for more information. Examples of Special Topics might include:
- Museum Studies
- Film Criticism
- Studies in Appalachian Music
- Studies in Poetry
- Language and Communication
HUMN 680 – Independent Research Symposium, Arranged (contact Director)
A pro-seminar required of all Humanities degree students who are beginning the thesis or final project. Arranged with the Program Director.
Fall 2024
CULS 600: Selected Topics – Appalachian Studies Research, Arranged (VIRTUAL) (contact Director)
For students enrolled in the Appalachian Studies Certificate who are working on research projects in the Appalachian region. Registration by permission only. Contact the Director.
HUMN 604: Expository Writing for Research (VIRTUAL) (Hatfield), Thursdays, 7 – 9:50 PM
- This core writing course develops proficiency in writing for research.
- Trish Hatfield is the Assistant Director of the Graduate Humanities Program. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from West Virginia Wesleyan College. She is the editor of Graduate Humanities, our Program newsletter in its 46th year of publication; a co-author of the award-winning I’m Afraid of that Water: A Collaborative Ethnography of a West Virginia Water Crisis, and editor of the recently published Octopus, Elephant, Beehive: An Appreciative Inquiry into a Thriving Step By Step, among other works.
HUMN 605: Western Traditions and Contemporary Cultures (VIRTUAL) (Lassiter), Thursdays, 7 – 9:50 PM
Using primary materials from different cultural periods, as well as contemporary critical analyses, this core course explores epistemological questions that underlie conflicts between cultures.
- Luke Eric Lassiter is director of the Graduate Humanities Program and professor of humanities and anthropology.
HUMN 650 – Special Topics – Independent Studies arranged between instructor and student (contact Director to arrange course)
For students who need to conduct independent research and/or reading in a specific topic in the humanities, the Program will offer independent studies in those topics as funds allow. Contact the Director for more information. Examples of Special Topics might include:
- Museum Studies
- Film Criticism
- Studies in Appalachian Music
- Studies in Poetry
- Language and Communication
HUMN 680 – Independent Research Symposium, Arranged (contact Director)
A pro-seminar required of all Humanities degree students who are beginning the thesis or final project. Arranged with the Program Director.
LITS 600: SelTp: Creative Writing in Appalachia (VIRTUAL) (Pleska), Mondays, 7 – 9:50 PM
In this course, students will study creative writers in Appalachia with the goal of creating their own creative pieces. We’ll study poetry, fiction, and Creative Nonfiction, as well as a survey of drama and films depicting our beloved region for study and inspiration. Instruction on craft and skill techniques to write creatively will be included.
- Cat Pleska holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from Goucher College. She is a 7th generation West Virginian and her memoir, Riding on Comets, was published in 2015 by WVU Press. She is a former book reviewer and radio essayist, and is currently working on a collection of travel/personal essays, The I’s Have It: Travels in Ireland and Iceland.