Faculty Syllabus

The Course Syllabus: Humanities 1302

Weekly Schedule

Part I: The Early Modern World

Week 1: Introduction & The Transition to Modernity

• Review of Medieval foundations.
• Chapter 7: Rebirth (The Age of the Renaissance).
• Key Topics: Transition from Medieval to Renaissance; Humanism in Italy.

Week 2: The Italian Renaissance

• Chapter 7 (continued).
• Landmarks: Brunelleschi’s Dome, Donatello, and the "Big Three" (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael).

Week 3: The Reformation and the North

• Chapter 8: Reform (The Northern Renaissance and the Reformation).
• Key Topics: Martin Luther’s challenge; the printing press.
• Landmarks: Dürer’s engravings, Erasmus, and Northern Realism.

Week 4: Global Expansion

• Chapter 9: Encounter (European Outreach and Expansion).
• Key Topics: The "Age of Discovery"; Cross-cultural encounters in Africa and the Americas.

Week 5: Mid-Term Project/Exam 1

• Focus on Chapters 7–9.

Part II: Reason, Passion, and Revolution

Week 6: The Baroque Era

• Chapter 10: Baroque (Piety and Extravagance).
• Key Topics: The Counter-Reformation; the birth of Opera.
• Landmarks: Bernini’s sculptures, Caravaggio, and Versailles.

Week 7: The Scientific Revolution & The Enlightenment

• Chapter 11: Enlightenment (Science and the New Learning).
• Key Topics: The Scientific Method; Rationalism vs. Empiricism (Newton, Locke, Voltaire).

Week 8: Art and Music of Reason

• Chapter 11 (continued).
• Landmarks: Neoclassical architecture; the music of Bach and Mozart.

Week 9: The Romantic Rebellion

• Chapter 12: Romanticism (Nature, Passion, and the Sublime).
• Key Topics: Reaction against the Enlightenment; the cult of the individual.
• Landmarks: Wordsworth, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Beethoven.

Week 10: Romanticism in the Visual Arts

• Chapter 12 (continued).
• Landmarks: Goya, Turner, and Delacroix; the American Romantic landscape.

Part III: The Industrial Era to the Digital Age

Week 11: The Materialist World

• Chapter 13: Materialism (The Industrial Era and the Urban Scene).
• Key Topics: The Industrial Revolution; Marx and Darwin.

Week 12: Realism and Impressionism

• Chapter 13 (continued).
• Landmarks: Literary Realism (Dickens); Impressionism (Monet, Renoir) and Post-Impressionism (Van Gogh).

Week 13: The Modernist Assault

• Chapter 14: Modernism (The Assault on Tradition).
• Key Topics: The impact of World War I; Freud’s psychology.

Week 14: The Great Moderns

• Chapter 14 (continued).
• Landmarks: Picasso (Cubism), T.S. Eliot (The Waste Land), and the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Week 15: The Global Age

• Chapter 15: Globalism (Information, Communication, and the Digital Revolution).
• Key Topics: The Civil Rights movement; Feminism; the Digital Revolution.
• Landmarks: Pop Art, Postmodern architecture, and Contemporary World Music.

Week 16: Final Review & Final Examination

• Comprehensive review of Chapters 7–15.
• Final Exam.

Evaluation Methods

1. Reading Quizzes: Weekly checks on chapter terminology and "Landmark" identification.
2. Comparison Essay: Compare a Renaissance landmark (Ch. 7) with a Modernist landmark (Ch. 14).
3. Global Encounter Report: Analysis of the cultural exchanges discussed in Chapter 9.
4. Exams: Mid-term (Ch. 7–10) and Final (Ch. 11–15).

**** Please note that schedule changes may occur during the semester.  Any changes will be announced in class and posted as a Blackboard Announcement.

Required Course Materials

https://prod.reader-ui.prod.mheducation.com/epub/sn_8a860/data-uuid-702e068472a14b158a1cbbfff7bcbeeb

All supplemental reading will be provided by the instructor.

Course Description

• Credit hours: 3
• Classroom Contact Hours Per Week: 3

This course explores the major milestones of human expression from the 14th century to the 21st century. We will examine how historical shifts, such as the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution, shaped the arts and humanities, leading to the globalized, digital world of today. Also, we will engage in the study of representative samples of literature, art, and music of various periods and cultures from Renaissance to Modern day. The study of the interrelationships of the arts and their philosophies emphasizes an understanding of human nature and the values of human life.

eBook: https://prod.reader-ui.prod.mheducation.com/epub/sn_8a860/data-uuid-702e068472a14b158a1cbbfff7bcbeeb

Student Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this Humanities 1301 course, a student should be able to:

• Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities.
• Articulate how these works express the values of the individual and society within an historical and social context.
• Articulate an informed personal response and critically analyze works in the arts and humanities.
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the influence of literature, philosophy, and the arts on cultural
• experiences.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the creative process and why humans create.

General Education Competencies

• Communication Skills: Develop, interpret, and express ideas and information through written, oral and visual communication that is adapted to purpose, structure, audience, and medium.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Gather, analyze, synthesize, evaluate and apply information for the purposes of innovation, inquiry, and creative thinking.
• Personal Responsibility: Identify and apply ethical principles and practices to decision-making by connecting choices, actions and consequences
• Social Responsibility (Civic and Cultural Awareness): Analyze differences and commonalities among peoples, ideas, aesthetic traditions, and cultural practices to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.