Humanities

The Humanities major at AUW aims to produce graduates with a broad understanding of the world in which they live and of different modes of knowledge, an appreciation of their own and others’ cultures and beliefs, a willingness to engage with points of view with which they may profoundly disagree and a passionate desire to achieve peace and social justice. Graduates will see the world from global, regional, local on-ground perspectives as well as from different theoretical understandings. They will be creative both individually and collectively. They will see the natural and social sciences as allies in the search to understand the world in its different dimensions and to find solutions to humanity’s urgent and existential problems.

Learning outcomes

Graduates from the Humanities major will :

• Have an understanding of the scope of the humanities
• Be able to understand the different methodologies that are appropriate to studying the humanities
• Recognize the importance of disciplinary perspectives from the humanities for real world/life interactions
• Understand the historical role of the humanities in cultural and historical development
• Understand the significance of and relationships between different forms of knowledge
• Appreciate the importance of interdisciplinarity
• Be aware of current political and academic debates around the status of the humanities, e.g. post-colonial and postmodernist perspectives
• Have a detailed knowledge of one or more subfield within the humanities, for example history, literature and religious studies
• Students must complete the following to fulfill the requirements of a major in Humanities:
• Major Required Courses (16 credits):

• HUM1081 Introduction to the Humanities: A Users’ Guide (4 credits) (Formerly ‘Methods and Narratives’)
• HUM2001 Culture and Conflict (4 credits)
• HUM4001 Senior Thesis (8 credits). Should be taken in UG3 year.
• Major Elective Courses (44 credits)

Literature:

• HUM2001 Women Poets

• HUM2002 South Asian Literature

• HUM3002 The Art of Saying No: Literature and Global Protest

History:

• HUM2101 A History of the World in 50 Objects

• HUM2102 History of Bengal

Philosophy:

• HUM2201 Moral Philosophy –

• HUM3201 Political Philosophy

• HUM3202 Ancient Philosophy

• PPE2204 Philosophy of Science

Religious Studies:

• HUM2301 South Asian Religions