WCSU Undergraduate Catalog 2023-2024 : Macricostas School of Arts & Sciences

Humanistic Studies

HUM 105 FY for the Humanities 1 SH
In this class students will be introduced to the ideals and applications of the humanities. Representatives from all departments in the humanities will visit the class to provide an overview of their disciplines and the programs they offer. As a FY class the course will also introduce the principles and practices of university education so that students can begin their college careers empowered to succeed. This class will meet once a week for 50 minutes. Restrictions: First Year students only. Competency: First Year Navigation (FY).

HUM 110 Moral Issues in Modern Society 3 SH
A critical introduction to some of the major moral issues facing us in modern society. Problems concerning the rights of the individual vs. the limits and obligations of government, sexual morality, and violence and war will be analyzed. Competency: Critical Thinking (CT), Oral Communication (OC).

HUM 114 The Greek Experience 3 SH
A course designed to provide the student with a broad survey of ancient Greek culture through an introductory examination of its mythology, art, drama and philosophy. Competency: First Year Navigation (FY).

HUM 151 Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies 3 SH
This course focuses on a variety of different questions, problems or themes that are conducive to an interdisciplinary approach. Students will study various interdisciplinary theories and
strategies and then apply them to various topics chosen for each class. Every semester. Competency: Creative Process (CP), Oral Communication (OC).

HUM 154 Interdisciplinary Problems 3 SH
This interdisciplinary course introduces both majors and non-majors to interdisciplinary studies research and aims to develop interdisciplinary thinking and problem-solving skills which are essential in the 21st century. Each semester the course will examine different topics well-suited to interdisciplinary exploration. Students will learn how to conduct interdisciplinary research and to present that research to their peers. Competencies: Information Literacy (IL), Oral Competency (OC).

HUM 190 Social Issues in Film 3 SH
Using an interdisciplinary approach, this course explores significant social issues (e.g., the HIV/AIDS Epidemic, race, gender, mental health, the food industry) as represented in films. Competency: Creative Process (CP), Critical Thinking (CT).

HUM 213 Artificial Intelligence: Minds and Machines 3 SH
This course brings together computer science, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science to address conceptual issues surrounding artificial intelligence. The course will include topics such as: the nature of the mind, including theories of functionalism, dualism, and physicalism; proposed criteria for AI, including the Turing test; problems specific to research programs associated with AI, including the problem of intentionality and the frame problem. Prerequisite: WRT 101/101P or appropriate placement. Competency: Information Literacy (IL), and Writing Intensive Tier 2 (W2).

HUM 222 Sustainability: Economics, Ecology, Ethics 3 SH
This interdisciplinary course will study sustainable living from the perspectives of economics (business), ecology (science), and ethics (philosophy). Particular attention will be focused on understanding how our personal decisions can impact sustainability on local and even global levels. Competency: Health & Wellness (HW), Information Literacy (IL).

HUM 223 Immigration: Rights and Wrongs 3 SH
This course will study some of the ethical implications of immigration both in the United States and globally. We will also consider what this means for governments around the world in regard to their level of political responsibility in both preventing immigration, such as in instances of violent conflict and war or climate change, but also to how immigration should be managed. Competency: Intercultural (IC), Writing Intensive Tier 2 (W2).

HUM 224 Thinking about Race 3 SH
The aim of this course is to offer students a critical insight into thinking about race from the perspectives of philosophy, sociology and history. We begin with a historical context of race, and progress through the ages, in an attempt to understand the ideologies that have perpetuated certain falsehoods. Competency: Intercultural (IC), Oral Communication (OC).

HUM/HPX 246 Approaches to Well-Being in Indo-Tibetan Philosophy 3 SH
India’s Vedic, Samkhya-Yoga, Buddhist and Tantric philosophies offer insightful analyses of the mind and body and the art of living. Their approaches include introspective practices for developing clearer awareness of one’s own mind and health in a way that increases one’s awareness of other minds and lives. Elements of these philosophies and practices are being incorporated into western medicine, psychology and healing arts. This course will focus on the classical texts and their contemporary applications. Competency: Health & Wellness (HW), Intercultural (IC).

HUM 247 Indigenous Spirituality & Environmental Activism 3 SH
This course looks at indigenous cultures of the Americas, Central Asia, Africa and Australia. With a focus on their vital and spiritual relationship to their distinctive environments, it examines the challenges they face from the forces of colonization and globalization, their environment actions, and the views and actions opposing them. Competency: Intercultural (IC), Information Literacy (IL).

HUM 250 Art and Death 3 SH
This class will explore a number of philosophical questions about the nature of death and dying through the lens of art, such as: What is death? Can one outlive one’s death? Would immortality be a good thing? Through painting, film and literature we will examine how fundamental questions concerning mortality have been expressed in art through the ages. We will consider how artistic representation can help us get a grip on theoretical questions about the nature of death, and also how art can help to challenge our unexamined assumptions about mortality. Competency: Creative Process (CP), Oral Communication (OC).

HUM 262 The Family and the State 3 SH
This class will look at various manifestations of the family in relation to society and the state. We will explore this topic through history, literature, art, philosophy, politics and theology.

HUM 263 Love in Western Civilization 3 SH
A critical examination of major ideas and ideals of love as they have developed throughout Western history. Competency: Critical Thinking (CT), Oral Communication (OC).

HUM 270 Introduction to Cultural Studies 3 SH
This course is intended to introduce students to the field or discipline of Cultural Studies. Students will be introduced to the organization, ideological underpinnings, history, and future trajectory of the study of how and why human beings, in the contemporary moment or in what is often referred to as, “post-modernity” create the reality or what is called or known as “culture.” Prerequisite: WRT 101/101P or appropriate placement. Competency: Information Literacy (IL), Writing Intensive Tier 2 (W2).

HUM 290 Science and Technology in Film 3 SH
This interdisciplinary course focuses on films that explore our complex relationship with science and technology. We will investigate how science fiction films have represented science and technology, whether these representations have accurately predicted future technology and its potential pitfalls, or whether they have merely produced unwarranted cultural angst about science and technology. Competency: Critical Thinking (CT).

HUM 291 Utopia and Dystopia 3 SH
Using an interdisciplinary approach, this course examines utopias and dystopias (political, feminist, technological and environmental) in films, TV shows and fiction. Competency: Creative Process (CP), Critical Thinking (CT).

HUM 292 Science and Society 3 SH
This interdisciplinary course explores the social, economic, ethical and political implications of some of the significant scientific research on climate change, genetics, neuroscience, AI and robotics. Competency: Information Literacy (IL), Oral Communication (OC).

HUM/CHE 293 Science and Culture of the Atomic Bomb 3 SH
See CHE/HUM 293  Competency: Critical Thinking (CT), Information Literacy (IL).

HUM 298 Faculty Developed Study 1-6 SH
HUM 299 Student Developed Study 1–6 SH

HUM 312 Knowledge and Power 3 SH
Through the study of institutions, language, and theories about power and its relationship to knowledge, students will consider the ways in which what we know or call “knowledge” is intimately linked to what Foucault and other critical theorists have termed “systems of power” and “power relations.” Prerequisite: Any previous HUM, PHI or social science class or permission of the instructor. Competency: Culminating Experience (CE), Writing Intensive Tier 3 (W3).

HUM 315 Conspiracy, Truth and Lies 3 SH
This interdisciplinary humanistic studies course sets out to define and trace the cultural history of conspiracy, truth, truth-telling, lies, and lying as cultural, philosophical, and phenomenological subjects in the West and the prominent roles they play particularly in the United States. Prerequisite: an upper level social science, natural science or humanities course or instructor permission.  Competency: Creative Process (CP), Information Literacy (IL).

HUM 317 Discipline and Punishment 3 SH
This interdisciplinary course draws from cultural studies, critical rhetoric, semiotics, and moral philosophy to identify, analyze, and critique the myriad forms of discipline and punishment in western cultural formations such as the United States and identify their ideological and philosophical premises. The subjects of discipline and punishment play integral roles in every facet of cultural formations. Broadly, this course identifies, explains, analyzes, and critiques the various forms of discipline and punishment that human beings impose on other human beings to create and maintain a particular way of life and uphold a particular value system or moral order. This course also examines the ways in which human beings-subjects-individuals accept, normalize, reinforce and maintain, obey, reject, question and/or critique particular types and forms of punishment and discipline in a particular social order within a particular cultural context and within a particular historical period. Prerequisites: Any HUM course or permission of the instructor and all prior Culminating Experience (CE) prerequisites. Competencies: Culminating Experience (CE) and Critical Thinking (CT).

HUM 346 /HPX 346 Tibetan Buddhist Art, Philosophy and Culture 4 SH
In the context of the class’s experiential setting in the Tibetan exile community in India, students will examine Tibetan Buddhism’s Indian roots and distinctive cultural features. Visits to local institutions and people will engage students with Tibetans’ activism and struggles for cultural survival. In coordination with morning studio arts classes, students will explore Buddhist symbolism and contemplative culture in Tibetan artistic practices. In readings, class discussions and individual reflections, students will examine Tibetan Buddhism’s practical application to perennial and personal questions of identity, moral choice and human purpose, as well as to current ethical, social and psychological issues such as environment and mental health. Students will examine psychological and neurologic studies of Tibetan meditation practices, and non-Buddhist applications of these practices.

HUM 390 Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Moving Image 3 SH
This interdisciplinary course provides in-depth study of a topic specified in the focus of the title. The course may be repeated for credit, provided that the subject matter is different. Prerequisite: Any HUM course or permission from instructor. Competency: Critical Thinking (CT), Oral Communication (OC).

HUM 391 Big Data and Society 3 SH
New types of smart devices and sensors are insinuating themselves into every facet of human life, leading to an ever-expanding torrent of data that clever people are learning to tap into and exploit. This “big data,” as it is called, is now being deployed everywhere from meteorology to medicine, but it is also being used to inform, predict and alter human behavior. It is being wielded in an effort to identify future criminals, monitor communications, identify falsehoods and promote social conformity. In this interdisciplinary course, we will consider both the benefits and the practical and ethical risks that arise through these many new uses of big human data and attempt to discern what sort of future these uses may ultimately bring about. Prerequisites: Any HUM course or instructor permission. Competencies: Critical Thinking (CT), Information Literacy (IL).

HUM 451 Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies 3 SH
In this course, students will first review the guiding principles of interdisciplinary studies. They will then choose a research project, learn how to conduct interdisciplinary research and produce a senior capstone project that successfully integrates their two concentrations. Prerequisite: HUM 151; Senior standing; and at least 75% of the coursework in each of the two IDS concentrations. Every semester. Competency: Culminating Experience (CE), Writing Intensive Tier 3 (W3).