Mar 29, 2024  
2022-2023 Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

PY 288 - The Art of Being Human


Credit Hours: 3

The Humanities are a set of disciplines that address human life.  This Humanities capstone course will center around the fundamental questions- what does it mean to be a person and what is the meaning of life? The course will consider how the different disciplines of the Humanities approach these questions. With a philosophical foundation the course will address a collection of responses. The readings will cover some traditional philosophical texts, as well as fiction, music, art, drama/theatre, and the languages.  The final capstone project will be developed over the course of the semester and may be presented in a variety of ways, e.g. short film, portfolio, thesis paper, dialogue, literature review, musical composition, monologue.

Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:

  • identify a criteria-based approach to questions about personhood and the meaning of life;
  • analyze the methodological structure of the Humanities as it exists in a variety of disciplines;
  • describe different academic approaches to questions about personhood and the meaning of life;  
  • demonstrate how humankind’s search for meaning is addressed by the Humanities disciplines, Philosophy, Music, Art, Drama/Theatre, and Languages;
  • recognize what philosophy, music, art, drama/theatre and the languages have in common; and  
  • utilize a specific academic approach to demonstrate responses to the course’s two fundamental questions in the final capstone project.