Department of Humanities

Humanities Major

The Humanities degree is offered cooperatively by three separate programs or disciplines: Classics, Philosophy and Religious Studies. Our major is unique in two ways: students may choose course work equivalent to a major in a single discipline or create a broader curriculum of their choice from various humanities courses; and our degree also has a strong interdisciplinary side. The final degree certificate shows both the Humanities major and the particular discipline the student concentrated in.

The goal of the program is to help us deepen our understanding of ourselves and our culture, by exploring the ways human beings find meaning in their experience. We explore these ways by studying both our own individual insights and the artistic, philosophical and religious works that have expressed and shaped human experience.

Each student selects three introductory (200-level) courses, from Classics, Religious Studies, and Philosophy, five upper-level courses offered by the Humanities department that reflects their interests, and three required team-taught interdisciplinary courses. Students may substitute one of the five upper-level courses with a class offered outside of the department with permission of the chair.

Three courses introducing the specific goals and methods of the three disciplines (9 hours). These courses place special emphasis on the particular discipline’s approaches to knowledge, critical thought, skills of expression, and human development. Students must choose from those listed below, one for each discipline:

  • Classics: any 200-level CL course; students who choose a Classical Culture or Classical Languages Area of Emphasis may substitute a 200-level language course (LAT 201, 202, 203, 204; GRK 201, 202).
  • Philosophy: any 200- or 300-level course.
  • Religious Studies: any 200- or 300-level course.

Three interdisciplinary, team-taught courses (9 hours). These may be taken in any combination of levels but must include at least one 400 level course as the senior capstone experience. These courses make use of the combined resources of any two of our disciplines to gain insight into a wide variety of topics, depending on the current interests of students and faculty. The capstone course also aims to reflect on skills and themes the students have explored in their progress through the program. We offer:

  • CL/PHL/RST 250 (Humanities and Film)
  • CL/PHL/RST 490, 491, 492, 493, 494

Five upper-level courses offered by the department (15 hours). For the general Humanities Major, students may choose a combination of courses offered by the department in Classics (CL), Philosophy (PHL), Religious Studies (RST), Latin (LAT), or Ancient Greek (GRK) at the 300 or 400 level.
Students may choose an Area of Emphasis in Philosophy, Religious Studies, Classical Culture, or Classical Languages. Their five upper-level courses should be in their area of emphasis.

  • Students who choose an Area of Emphasis in Religious Studies may substitute 3 Credit Hours with a related class with permission of the chair. Examples of this include, but are not limited to ART 404, SOC 450, SOC 452, SOC 460, PHL 455, CL 319
  • Students who choose an Area of Emphasis in Classical Culture may substitute 3 Credit Hours with a related class with permission of the chair. Examples of this include, but are not limited to: ANT 322, ANT 326, ART 408, ART 411; PHL 301, PHL 400, PSC 425, RST 305.

The Three Programs

Classics: the study of the languages, history, culture, art, and societies of the Ancient Mediterranean with a special focus on the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

Philosophy: investigates the nature of thinking and the ultimate nature of reality and uses the history of human thought to help us figure out what we need to think about and how to think about it.

Religious Studies: examines beliefs about the nature of human beings and our place in the universe, beliefs belonging to our culture and to other cultures, now and in the past.

The Faculty

Classics

  • E. Del Chrol (Chair), Ph.D. (University of Southern California)
  • Christina Franzen, Ph.D. (Washington)
  • Sydnor Roy, Ph.D. (UNC- Chapel Hill)
  • Charles Lloyd, Ph.D. (Indiana). Professor Emeritus
  • Caroline Perkins, PhD. (Ohio State). Professor Emerita

Philosophy

  • Jeremy Barris, Ph.D. (SUNY-Stony Brook)
  • Jeffrey Powell, Ph.D. (DePaul)
  • Justin Simpson, Ph.D. (University of Georgia)
  • Gayle Ormiston, Ph.D. (Purdue). Professor Emeritus
  • John Vielkind, Ph.D. (Duquesne). Professor Emeritus

Religious Studies

  • Jeffrey Ruff, Ph.D. (UC-Santa Barbara)

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