Course Descriptions 2008-2009 Catalog

Humanities

HUM 103 Introduction to Film Art
3 Credits
Studies the relationships among film's stylistic systems, narrative systems and audience reception. Students view, discuss and critically analyze a variety of films which represent key historical and aesthetic periods as well as a variety of genres and themes. The course incorporates the vocabulary stylistic systems (for instance, cinematography, editing and art direction) and narrative systems (for instance, story structure and character motivation) as both relate to the kinds of meanings a film conveys.

HUM 115 World Mythology
3 Credits
Introduces students to the mythologies of various cultures through reading, discussion, and writing. The students critically examine important themes of Egyptian, Judeo-Christian, Greek, Roman, Norse, North American and Oriental myths as they are represented in literature and art. Students learn to analyze, synthesize, draw inferences, propose new ideas, support theses, and reach logical conclusions concerning the cultures the mythologies represent.

HUM 118 Religion in American Culture
3 Credits
Investigates the various ways in which religion and American culture interact. It begins with the religion of Native Americans, which existed in a pre-modern society where religion went unchallenged as the preeminent organizing principle, to our post-modern era, where religion competes with a multiplicity of other belief systems in a complex societal matrix. This course pays close attention to the sundry ways in which religion and American culture interface.

HUM 121 Early Civilizations
3 Credits
Introduces students to the history of ideas that have defined cultures through a study of the visual arts, literature, drama, music, and philosophy. It emphasizes connections among the arts, values, and diverse cultures, including European and non-European, from the Ancient world to 1000 C.E.
This course is one of the Statewide Guaranteed Transfer courses. GT-AH2.

HUM 122 From Medieval to Modern
3 Credits
Examines written texts, visual arts and musical compositions to analyze and reflect the evolution and confluence of cultures in Europe, Asia and the Americas from 800 C.E. to 1750 C.E. Any two of the three Survey of Humanities courses equal a sequence.
This course is one of the Statewide Guaranteed Transfer courses. GT-AH2.

HUM 123 The Modern World
3 Credits
Examines the cultures of the 17th through the 20th centuries by focusing on the interrelationships of the arts, ideas, and history. Considers the influences of industrialism, scientific development and non-European peoples.
This course is one of the Statewide Guaranteed Transfer courses. GT-AH2.

HUM 164 American Cinema
3 Credits
Introduces film studies and surveys the American film industry as an art form, as an industry, and as a system of representation and communication. This course explores how Hollywood films work technically, aesthetically, and culturally to re-enforce and challenge America's national self image.

HUM 201 Twentieth Century American Art
3 Credits
Focuses on elements common to the arts of film, painting, architecture, literature and music of 20th century United States. Students study the effects of the economy, business and industry and traditional North American values and dreams on the arts.

HUM 220 The Cultural History of Rock and Roll
3 Credits
Teaches students to read about, write about, and discuss the social history of that very broad term, "rock and roll." We explore important themes in American (and British) social and cultural history through the study of popular music, as well as to examine how popular and critical tastes are reflections of artistic, cultural, sexual, economic and ideological sensibilities at the time of its production. In order to fully understand what the culture of "rock" is all about, we critically analyze the influence of technology, ideology, class, gender, and race on various genres of music - jazz, country, rhythm and blues, techno, heavy metal, and hip hop. We also examine how rock and roll influenced (and is influenced by) other arts, particularly literature and film. Emphasis is placed on understanding the social and cultural contexts of the various music forms rather than on a rigorous understanding of the musical forms themselves.

HUM 275 Special Topics
1-6 Variable Credits
Provides students with a vehicle to pursue in-depth exploration of special topics of interest. Special topics courses have included The Beat Generation, the Art of Propaganda, and Religion in Popular Culture.

HUM 285 Independent Study
1-6 Variable Credits
Meets the individual needs of students. Students engage in intensive study or research under the direction of a qualified Instructor.
PREREQUISITE: Instructor's permission

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