A total of 60 credit hours is required for the major.
A. 12 hours: Introduction to Humanities (Humanities 1010-1020)
Humanities 1010 and 1020 provide approximately 425 students each semester with a chronological but concentrated and integrated study of art, music, and literature in western culture. The course is a combination of lectures (3 hours/week) and small discussion sections (3 hours/week). Humanities 1010 begins with the Greeks, proceeds through the Middle ages, and ends with the Renaissance. Humanities 1020 begins with the 17th century and ends with the modern period. Humanities 1010, offered in the fall, and Humanities 1020, offered in the spring, both carry six credits. These courses, which can be taken in either order, fulfill the core curriculum requirements in Literature and the Arts or Historical Context. Humanities majors must take both 1010 and 1020.
B. 3 hours HUMN 2000: Methods and Approaches to the Humanities
Humanities 2000 will be team-taught by various members of the Comparative Literature and Humanities Program faculty who will each offer a separate “mini-course” on one of the essential issues or methodological concerns which students can expect to encounter in their future coursework for the Humanities major. Although the subject of each mini-course may be expected to vary from year to year, topics proposed by faculty in the past include: word/image studies; rhetoric; translation; the canon; gender studies; cultural studies; literature and other arts; literary theory; philosophy and literature; etc.
C. 15 hours Upper-division courses in Humanities
D. 18 hours to be chosen from one of the following disciplines (see your advisor for possible additional disciplines). 12 of the 18 hours must be upper-division.
- English literature
- A foreign language/literature (First year courses in a foreign language can not be counted.)
- Art History/Fine Arts
- Music
- Philosophy
- Film Studies
- History
- Classics
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Cultural Anthropology
- Women’s Studies
- Ethnic Studies
- Asian Studies
- Religious Studies
- Political Science
- Linguistics
E. 12 hours to be chosen from one of the following disciplines (see your advisor for possible additional disciplines):
- English literature
- A foreign language/literature (First year courses in a foreign language can not be counted.)
- Art History/Fine Arts
- Music
- Philosophy
- Film Studies
- History
- Classics
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Cultural Anthropology
- Women’s Studies
- Ethnic Studies
- Asian Studies
- Religious Studies
- Political Science
- Linguistics
- Creative Writing
- Theatre/Dance
- Communication
- Jewish Studies
There is also a language track option.
Honors
Students who wish to receive honors can elect to write an honors thesis through The Humanities Program or through the Honors Department. More information is posted under the Honors program tab. The Humanities Department Honors Representative is Professor Paul Gordon, paul.gordon@Colorado.edu.
Course Choice Guidelines
Although the Humanities major allows a breadth of choice, there are a few restrictions on which courses may count for the major. In addition, there are some cross-listed courses that may count although they have been taken in another department. These restrictions and possibilities are in part based on the areas of emphasis a student chooses. Therefore, frequent consultation with the departmental advisor is required to clarify which courses apply to an individual student’s major plan.
Some of the restrictions are as follows:
- Up to 9 hours of lower-division AP and/or IB credits may be applied towards the primary and secondary areas of the Humanities major; however, no more than 6 credits may be used in any one area of emphasis.
- No more than six hours of studio classes may be applied to an area of emphasis (applicable to areas such as Art, Music, Film, and Theatre).
- Writing courses are not applicable to an area of emphasis (e.g., FINE 3007, JOUR 1002).
- Science-based courses are not applicable to an area of emphasis (e.g., PSYC 3101, Statistics, PSYC 2012, and 2022, Biopsychology).
- Internships may not count as upper-division HUMN but may count in either area of emphasis if appropriate to that area.
- No more than three hours of Independent Study may count as upper-division HUMN.
To clarify which courses count and which do not, see the program advisor.
