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Many of our graduate humanities classes are small, intimate seminars.
Students enrolled in the Graduate Humanities Program explore broad interdisciplinary issues through a diverse array of course offerings. Each semester, our seminars engage the intersection of the arts, literature, culture and history within an open, exploratory, and experimental educational environment. 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.
Upcoming Seminar Schedules (below) – Summer & Fall 2012
Click on the links for registration information for individual seminars.
General registration information is here.
For previous seminar schedules, see here.
Summer 2013
This interdisciplinary course orients students to the significant issues and research in Appalachian studies. Important political, social, and cultural issues will be considered. Research areas are introduced. (This core course in the Graduate Certificate in Appalachian Studies may be taken by degree students in Humanities.)
This course is offered on-line with live meetings on T, May 21, 6-9 p.m.; T, June 18, 6-9 p.m.; T, July 23, 6-9 p.m.
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. Open to non-degree students.
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
A pro-seminar required of all Humanities degree students who are beginning the thesis or final project. Arranged with the Program Director.
Fall 2013
CULS 540 – World Religions (Luke Eric Lassiter), T, 4:30 – 6:50 p.m.
Study of several religions as they developed within their individual times and cultures.
Dr. Lassiter, director of the Graduate Humanities Program and professor of humanities and anthropology, has written extensively in several books and essays on the relationship of encounter, experience and story, especially as they relate to issues of belief and worldview, language and culture, memory and identity.
SEMINAR PARTICIPANT LIMIT: 3. “Directed Readings” is a new kind of seminar for Fall 2013. These seminars will be limited to 3 students who will read 3–5 books over the course of the given semester along with a faculty expert in a particular area. Faculty and students will arrange times to discuss the books
This seminar will draw from literary works including memoir, ethnography, and autobiography to explore the connections between language and identity. Working from a social science perspective, we will investigate how language in different cultural and historical contexts helps to construct a variety of identities in the U.S. and abroad.
Robin Conley is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Marshall University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research and teaching focus on legal, linguistic, and cultural anthropology; gender and language; and violence and empathy in democratic institutions.
HIST 585 – Coal Mine Life, Work & Culture (Michael Workman), Th, 7 – 9:50 p.m.
This course provides students with a better understanding of the continuing economic, political, environmental and cultural impact which the extraction of coal has had on West Virginia.
Michael Workman worked in the underground coal mines of southern West Virginia before earning degrees in political science and his doctorate in history at WVU. He has written and published on coal and labor history, and currently is Assistant Professor of History at WVSU.
HUMN 601 – Literary Theory & Criticism (Ann McConnell), M, 7 – 9:50 p.m.
Core course introduces modern critical approaches, concepts and methods of research and scholarship in the broad field of literature. Open to non-
degree students.
Dr. Anne McConnell teaches world literature, critical theory, and writing in the English Department at West Virginia State University. She recently published Approaching Disappearance at Dalkey Archive Press; the book explores the work of Maurice Blanchot, Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka, and Nathalie Sarraute.
HUMN 604 – Expository Writing for Research (Cat Pleska), T, 7 – 9:50 p.m.
This core writing course develops proficiency in writing for research. Open to non-degree students.
Cat Pleska teaches writing at West Virginia State University, where she is also the Director of the WVSU Writing Center. She earned her MFA in creative nonfiction writing at Goucher College in Baltimore and is an essayist for West Virginia Public Radio.
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 (Luke Eric Lassiter), Arranged
A pro-seminar required of all Humanities degree students who are beginning the thesis or final project. Arranged with the Program Director.
