Humanities and Fine Arts course offerings

HUMA 100 Introduction to the Humanities through the Fine Arts – GS 5
This course aims to help students understand ways in which literature and the fine arts can deepen their sense of what it means to be human. The course gives students practice in appreciating masterpieces of painting, sculpture, architecture, music, poetry, prose narrative, theater, dance and film. Required course for all Humanities majors but open to all interested students. Fall and Spring semester.

HUMA 110 / WMGS 110 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies
This introduction to the discipline of Women’s and Gender Studies will focus on one central question: What difference does gender make? By examining a variety of texts (articles, novels, films, popular culture), we will learn not only how to analyze issues of power, gender and identity, but we will also relate those issues to the wider world around us. Specific thematic units include socialization, violence, work, the female body, language, sexuality, motherhood and the family, race, globalization and voices from the third wave of feminism.

HUMA 205 German Literature and German Destiny – GS 7
This course is designed to introduce students to major dramatic and prose works of Germany and Austria written during the 19th and 20th centuries. The first weeks of the course will deal with 19th century authors and cultural traditions. German literary modes will also be discussed. The second portion will deal with novels and plays that describe 20th century experiences. This portion of the course will focus on how characters deal with modernity in their lives and how they preserve cultural traditions passed on by their 19th century predecessors. Writers whose works may be discussed include Goethe, Kleist, Buchner, Fontane, Nietsche, Mann, Frisch, Durrenmatt, Remarque, Junger, Kafka, Brecht, Borchert, Boll, Lenz and Grass.

HUMA 222 The Continental Novel – GS 7
This course includes some of the major works of the late 19th and 20th centuries, such as those by Flaubert, Kafka, Silone, Hesse, Kazantzakis and Solzhenitsyn. Although attention is given to historical context, the approach is primarily critical.

HUMA 240 Great American Novels – GS 6
This course is designed for the general student to provide her/him with in-depth knowledge of some of the great novels that make up the American literary tradition.  Seven or eight novels are selected each time it is offered from a list that might include such works as Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter,” Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” James’ “The American,” Crane’s “The Red Badge of Courage,” Wharton’s “The Age of Innocence,” Cather’s “My Antonia,” Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying,” Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Silko’s “Ceremony,” and Guterson’s “Snow Falling On Cedars.” Such works help the student understand the distinctive American culture and how it developed in all its diversity.

HUMA 261 / AMER 261 Introduction to American Studies – GS 6
This course explores what it means to define oneself as an American – historically, socially, spiritually and aesthetically. Readings are arranged both chronologically and topically and range from Puritan history and poetry to contemporary politics, art and philosophy. Topics include American work, play, religion, education, gender, race and ethnicity and media. Spring semester.

HUMA 262 / PEAC 262 War and Peace in the American Literary Tradition – GS 5 or GS 6
This course is an examination of major voices in American war experience in the modern and contemporary eras. Texts include poems, memoirs, stories, novels and films; some of the authors examined are Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passes, Edith Wharton, e.e. cummings, Ezra Pound, Joseph Heller, Randall Jarrell, Richard Eberhart, John Hersey, Tim O’Brien, W. D.  Ehrhart and Bobbie Ann Mason. Students trace changing characterizations in art of the American war veteran from Hemingway’s Fredric Henry through the war in the Persian Gulf. Alternate years.

HUMA 280 Japanese Culture and Society – GS 7
This interdisciplinary course provides students with a framework for understanding contemporary Japan.  Students will examine a wide range of topics such as education, business, mass media, sports, family life, art, language and literature in relation to such major themes as hierarchical structure, group consciousness, emphasis on form and persistence of tradition in modern society.  Lectures, discussion, audiovisual aids and readings in various disciplines will be part of the class.

HUMA 335 Popular Aesthetics
An investigation of popular taste as exemplified in various forms of expression and mediums. Spring semester.

HUMA 337 Norbertine Origins and Christian Culture – GS 10
This interdisciplinary course draws upon history, religion, philosophy, music and art history. It traces the life of Norbert of Xanten, the founder of the Premonstratensian Order, from his youth, days at court and early clerical career, through his “conversion” to a life of prayer and asceticism, the founding of Premontre and finally his eventful years as Archbishop of Magdeburg. The trajectory of Norbert’s life and the development of a unique Norbertine vision will be examined in relation to many of the developments of St. Norbert’s time: tensions between church and state, feudalism, currents of church reform, changes in spirituality, the growth of towns and cities, the rise of scholasticism and cathedral schools, the Crusades, developments in music and art, including the transition from Romanesque to Gothic architecture. The course will conclude with a reflection on the arrival and ongoing mission of the Norbertines in Wisconsin.  May not be used by majors in History or Religious Studies to fulfill the requirements of GS 10.

HUMA 389 Special Topics
This course concentrates on a topic pertinent to the current needs and interests of students. Primarily the focus will be placed on topics which cross disciplinary lines and involve two or more Humanities disciplines. Topics will vary and will be announced in the course listings.

HUMA 490 Independent Study
A course allowing instructors and students to explore together topics of special interest.

HUMA 494 Internship
This internship experience allows students to apply their studies in a supervised work situation. Students benefit from an inside look at different kinds of organizations, a chance to work in their field of study and from experience with state-of-the-art equipment and practices. Prerequisite: junior/senior standing.