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Go to: Program Requirements
1. Six courses in a major field (concentration) or in closely integrated
subject areas in more than one field.
2. Four courses in a supporting field or in closely integrated subject areas in
more than one field.
3. Three courses in a minor field or combination of fields.
4. A sequence or group of two courses that emphasizes intellectual approaches,
or scholarly and critical methods, germane to a student's particular
interdisciplinary course program.
5. One course devoted to the preparation of the bachelor's thesis or project
(General Studies in the Humanities 280). The development of the thesis or
project is closely supervised by a faculty member of the student's choice (who
need not be a member of the General Studies faculty and who serves as the
second reader for the completed work) and by a first reader assigned by the
committee whose responsibility is to provide guidance in matters pertaining to
organization and exposition of the work.
It should also be noted that any one of the fields listed under 1, 2,
and 3 above may be drawn from outside the Humanities in formulating a proposed
General Studies program. However, the sequence or group of courses described in
4 must, in keeping with the humanistic basis and orientation of General
Studies, be offerings from the Humanities Collegiate Division. Commonly, this
sequence consists of General Studies in the Humanities 240-241, Criticism: Its
Philosophic Bases and Practice.
The rationale for the proportional distribution of courses specified in the
guidelines is twofold: (1) to ensure that students are given substantial
exposure to more than one aspect of humanistically centered inquiry, and (2) to
cultivate a level of sufficient competence in at least one field so that this
field, alone or in combination with material learned in other fields, can serve
as the basis for the B.A. paper or project.
Since the B.A. program in General Studies is not a specialized concentration in
a single department, students need to use some courses normally reserved as
free electives in order to complete the specified extension of study in at
least three fields. However, as the above guidelines show, the B.A. in General
Studies is an intensely "elective" program overall, affording broad scope to
informed and intelligent individual choice. In itself the program involves
proportional distribution of course work over at least three fields.
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Summary of Requirements
1. Study in philosophy and literature (as six- and four-course fields
with either literature or philosophy emphasized) to investigate differences in
handling concepts and language in philosophy and literature and/or mutual
influence between the two fields.
2. Study in verbal and nonverbal art forms and expressions (art
and literature, music and literature) leading to consideration of the
implications of the verbal/nonverbal distinction for interpretation and
criticism.
3. Study in the history, philosophy, language, religious expression, and
literary and artistic productions of a given culture or of a given historical
period within one or more cultures--for example, American Studies, the
Renaissance, or Greece (and the Mediterranean) in the preclassical and
classical ages.
4. Study in humanistic fields (e.g., literature and philosophy)
and in a social science field (e.g., sociology, psychology,
anthropology, and political science). This option is particularly adapted to a
focus on women's studies, insofar as Collegiate course offerings make this
possible to implement.
5. Study in languages working toward and combined with study in
comparative literature, usually literature in English and in one other
language.
6. Study of modern culture in its various aspects of popular and elite forms
of cultural expression.
7. Study of traditional and newer art forms--for example, literature and
film, fine arts and photography.
8. Study combining critical and creative endeavor as aspects of the same
humanistic field--for example, literature and creative (or expository)
writing, drama and work in theater, art history and studio art, languages and
original compositions (or translations). General Studies in the Humanities
recently developed a formal theater/drama option involving course work in the
history of drama, practical aspects of theater, and dramatic criticism. Courses
offered on a regular basis include Playwriting, Lighting Design for Stage and
Film, Introductory and Advanced Directing, Acting Fundamentals, and Shakespeare
in Performance (See Drama section or call Curt Columbus or Bill Michel at
702-3414 for more information).
9. Study in humanistic approaches to biological or physical
science. This option is particularly adapted to interest in problems or
aspects of intellectual and cultural history (e.g., the impact of Newtonian
physics on eighteenth-century European thought) or to study of modern society
and science's role within it (medical ethics being one possible focus among
many).
Application to the Program. Students who are interested in a General
Studies course program should make application to the Committee as soon as
possible upon completion of Common Core requirements (normally by the end of
the second College year). Transfer students in particular are urged to apply at
the earliest point that they can, given the large number of courses in the
General Studies B.A. program. An application is initiated by securing an
interview with the chairman or an appropriate Committee adviser, including the
General Studies Collegiate adviser, to consult about the feasibility of shaping
and implementing a given set of interdisciplinary concerns into a course of
study for the B.A. After consultation, students who wish to pursue an
application to the Committee must submit a two-part written proposal. The first
part consists of a personal reflective statement of about one thousand words in
length, explaining the character of their interdisciplinary interests and
stating as thoughtfully as possible how they propose to channel and expand them
within course offerings currently available. Some consideration of prospects
and possibilities for a B.A. paper or project is a desirable part of these
statements, if it can be provided. The second part of the application consists
of a proposed list of courses to fill the headings given in the above set of
guidelines. A General Studies faculty committee then considers applications. In
addition to considering the substance and workability of a proposed program,
the Committee generally requires a B average in preceding course
work.
Special Honors. To be eligible for special honors a student must have
achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher. These honors are
reserved for the student whose B.A. paper or project shows exceptional
intellectual and/or creative merit in the judgment of the first and second
readers (see number 5 under the Program Requirements section above), the
chairman of the Committee, and the Master of the Humanities Collegiate
Division.
Advising. Clarity as well as flexibility in shaping an interdisciplinary
plan of course work is emphasized from start to finish in General Studies.
Accordingly, discussion is encouraged in the early stages of a student's
thinking. Continuing discussion is provided for after admission to General
Studies by assignment to a faculty adviser who specifically stands ready to
help the student bring his or her individual program to a rewarding completion.
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TED COHEN, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committees on Art & Design
and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College; Director of
Undergraduate Studies, Department of Philosophy
ARNOLD I. DAVIDSON, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committees on
Conceptual Foundations of Science and General Studies in the Humanities, and
the College
PHILIP GOSSETT, Robert W. Reneker Distinguished Service Professor, Department
of Music, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College;
Dean, Division of the Humanities
NEIL HARRIS, Professor, Department of History, Committees on General Studies in
the Humanities and Geographical Studies, and the College
ELIZABETH HELSINGER, Professor, Department of English Language &
Literature, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
BERNARD MCGINN, Professor, the Divinity School and Committees on General
Studies in the Humanities and Medieval Studies; Program Coordinator, Institute
for the Advanced Study of Religion
W. J. T. MITCHELL, Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor,
Departments of English Language & Literature and Art, Committees on Art
& Design and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
ROBERT J. MORRISSEY, Associate Professor, Department of Romance Languages &
Literatures, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College;
Director, ARTFL Project and the Center for Information & Language Studies
D. NICHOLAS RUDALL, Associate Professor, Department of Classical Languages
& Literatures, Committees on the Ancient Mediterranean World and General
Studies in the Humanities, and the College; Founding Director, Court Theatre
LISA RUDDICK, Associate Professor, Department of English Language &
Literature, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
LINDA SEIDEL, Professor, Department of Art, Committee on General Studies in the
Humanities, and the College
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Go to: Summary of Requirements
Go to: Faculty
General Studies
Chairman and Director of Undergraduate Studies: Herman L. Sinaiko, G-B 505, 702-7987
in the Humanities
General Studies Collegiate Adviser: Lewis Fortner, HM 286, 702-8613
Committee Office and Secretary: JoAnn Baum, G-B 309, 702-7092
Program of Study
The Bachelor of Arts degree program in the Committee on General Studies in the
Humanities offers qualified undergraduates the opportunity to shape an
interdisciplinary plan of course work centered in--but not necessarily
restricted to--study in the Humanities. The initial formulation of such a plan
of study is contained in the written proposal for admission to the B.A. program
that every applicant must submit.
Program Requirements
Potential applicants to General Studies should reflect on the set of guidelines
that govern the overall form of individual B.A. programs and also consult with
the director of undergraduate studies and the General Studies Collegiate
adviser about their plans and the curricular resources involved. Because the
Humanities encompass widely varying endeavors and approaches, the B.A. program
guidelines in General Studies aim at helping students define a balanced and
coherent interdisciplinary plan of course work. Accordingly, the guidelines
specify
Go to bottom of document 6 major field courses
Fields of Concentration. While the potential for developing individual B.A.
programs in General Studies is as great as the combined ingenuity, imagination,
and interest of each student in consultation with both advisers, there are
identifiable patterns in the choices of fields and lines of inquiry currently
being implemented in the committee. The most prominent of these include
4 supporting field courses
3 minor field courses
2 critical/intellectual methods courses
1 GS Hum 280 (B.A. paper or project)
16 (total)
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Faculty
JAMES K. CHANDLER, Professor, Department of English Language & Literature,
Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College