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 languages. The final capstone project will be developed over the semester and may be presented in a variety of ways, e.g. short film, portfolio, thesis paper, dialogue, literature review, musical composition, or monologue.

Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will 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.

F/S (C,N)