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General Studies
in the Humanities
Chairman and Director of Undergraduate Studies: Herman L. Sinaiko, G-B
505, 702-7987
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
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.
Summary of Requirements
Concentration 6 major field courses
4 supporting field courses
3 minor field courses
2 critical/intellectual methods courses
1 GS Hum 280 (B.A. paper or project)
16
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
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. (For more information, consult the Drama
section of this catalog or call Curt Columbus at 702-3414.)
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.
Faculty
ELIZABETH ALEXANDER, Assistant Professor, Department of English Language
& Literature, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the
College
RALPH A. AUSTEN, Professor, Department of History, Committee on General
Studies in the Humanities, and the College; Cochairman, Committee on African
and African-American Studies
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
BERTRAM COHLER, William Rainey Harper Professor, the College; Professor,
Departments of Psychology (Human Development), Education, and Psychiatry
and the Divinity School; Committee on General Studies in the Humanities
CHRISTOPHER A. FARAONE, Associate Professor, Department of Classical Languages
& Literatures, Committees on the Ancient Mediterranean World and General
Studies in the Humanities, and the College
CLAUDINE FRANK, Assistant Professor, Department of Romance Languages &
Literatures, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities and the College
MIRIAM HANSEN, Ferdinand Schevill Distinguished Service Professor in the
Humanities, Department of English Language & Literature, Committee on
Art & Design, and the College
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
JOSHUA SCODEL, Associate Professor, Department of English Language &
Literature, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
MARK SIEGLER, Professor, Department of Medicine and Committee on General
Studies in the Humanities; Director, Maclean Center for Clinical Medical
Ethics
MICHAEL SILVERSTEIN, Samuel N. Harper Professor, Departments of Anthropology,
Linguistics, and Psychology (Cognition & Communication) and Committees
on Analysis of Ideas & Study of Methods and General Studies in the Humanities
HERMAN L. SINAIKO, Professor, Division of the Humanities and the College;
Chairman, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities
JOEL M. SNYDER, Professor, Department of Art, Committees on Art & Design
and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
KATIE TRUMPENER, Associate Professor, Departments
of Germanic Studies, Comparative Literature, Committee on General Studies
in the Humanities, and the College; Chairman, Germanic Studies
CANDACE VOGLER, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committee
on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
KENNETH W. WARREN, Associate Professor, Department of English Language &
Literature, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
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