HUM 124: The Ancient World is the introduction to the Humanities sequence. Comparative exploration of central humanistic themes as reflected in diverse ancient oral traditions, texts and artifacts from peoples of Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Levant and Mediterranean regions. Emphasis is placed on analysis of primary sources in their cultural and historical context and critical engagement with multiple ancient perspectives in relation to contemporary questions. Classes usually include different forms of learning, including close reading, lectures, performances, discussion, writing, and project-based activities. Fall and Spring.
Pre- or corequisite: LANG 120
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students begin to practice the art of asking and evaluating questions, developing the habit of attending to ancient and present ways of knowing and being, including those that have been traditionally excluded by dominant hierarchies.
- Students begin to develop the ability to approach texts, artifacts and materials through multiple perspectives and encounter a diversity of worldviews, both familiar and unfamiliar.
- Through interdisciplinary encounters, students begin to recognize the connections between the study of the ancient world and their lives as learners, their relationships with each other, and their own humanness.
- Students begin to develop the ability to inhabit the spaces created for discussion of issues and ideas that matter to them, in order to engage in crucial conversations and produce knowledge, confidently, critically and reflectively.