Introduction to the interdisciplinary study of the humanities. Taking as its entry point a significant work, the course is organized by topics related to that work, selected and arranged to invoke lively intellectual debate among faculty and students alike. Group lectures by the three core humanities faculty members. The instructors teaching the course will provide material for smaller weekly discussion sections led by each of those faculty members. Requirements include lively discussions, papers, and examinations.

Introduction to the humanities and Western culture through literature, history, philosophy, music, art, and architecture. Examination of selected historical periods from the Enlightenment to the present through the use of readings, films, slides, and field trips.

This course provides an introduction to religion, exploring the various ways that this phenomenon has been understood, approached, practiced, and studied across human history. The course will examine the different ways that religion can be defined, drawing from a variety of humanities and other disciplines. Foundational theories explaining the origins, persistence, and continued relevance of religion will be compared and applied to different traditions. Topics include concepts of divinity, rituals, myth, mysticism and spirituality, pilgrimage, death and the afterlife, and ultimate reality.

The world we know took shape since the 1600s as European empires conquered much of the world; industrialization and capitalism expanded and redistributed power and wealth; and science opened new ways of viewing and changing the world. Humans forged new ideas to justify or challenge these changes. This co-taught course explores the art, philosophy, history, and cultures of the modern world to understand how it came to be.