SHUM 2750 Introduction to Humanities
SHUM 2750 Introduction to Humanities (rotating topics)
Fall, Spring. 3 credits. Limited to 15 students.
These seminars offer an introduction to the humanities through the exploration of various historical, cultural, social and political topics. Students will engage with a range of texts and media drawn from the arts, humanities, and/or humanistic social sciences. Guest speakers, including Cornell faculty and Society for the Humanities Fellows, will present from different disciplines and points of view. Students will consider local sites including Cornell special collections and archives. Students enrolled in these seminars will have the opportunity to participate in additional programming related to the Society’s theme and the Humanities Scholars Program for undergraduate humanities research.
This course is open to anyone interested in a major of minor in the humanities. You do not need to apply to the Honors Program in order to sign up for this course. If you are considering the Humanities Scholars Program and are also hoping to go abroad for your junior year, then we encourage you to take this course as a sophomore.
(FA25) Topic: 9/11 and Its Afterlives
also HIST 2050
T/R 8:40 - 9:55am
Durba Ghosh
September 11, 2001 was a global and historical event that changed how we understand security, democracy, and terrorism. Through a careful reading of accounts from a variety of perspectives, students will be asked to evaluate how the course of history changed for the United States as well as nations in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. We will be reading a range of texts such as Mohsin Hamid's Reluctant Fundamentalist, as well as texts such as the 9-11 commission report. The writing assignments experiment with different genres of writing, while drawing from different kinds of historical evidence and research. Drawing from a diverse range of perspectives, we will consider ways to narrate and explain this enormously complex event.
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(FA25) Topic: The Aesthetics of Scale
also ARKEO 2750, ARTH 2750, CLASS 2750, VISST 2750
T/R 10:10 - 11:25am
Verity Platt
This version of SHUM 2750 is designed to complement the Society for the Humanities' 25/26 annual theme of "Scale." From the object (noun) by which we measure to the process of scaling (verb), scale is a question with which we are constantly confronted. Thinking about scale through humanistic inquiry raises questions about the cultural, social, moral, aesthetic, and political implications of quantification. In this course, we will focus on how questions of scale pertain to visual and literary media, from the miniature to the colossal. What does it mean for a work of art to be "life-size?" What do tiny things, from gems to epigrams, tell us about art's capacity to enchant, absorb, or grant a sense of power and control? When and why are cultures preoccupied by the gigantic, the monstrous, or the sublime? Throughout the course, we will explore collections of artifacts at Cornell, looking across cultures and periods, but with a particular focus on classical antiquity and its later receptions. Students will be encouraged to attend events at the Society for the Humanities and to engage with the work of its scholars in residence.
SHUM 3750 Humanities Scholars Research Methods
SHUM 3750 Humanities Scholars Research Methods
Spring. 4 credits. Limited to 20 students.
Also ANTHR 3950, ARTH 3755, ASIAN 3375, NES 3750
T/R 2:55pm - 4:10pm
Durba Ghosh
This course is a seminar studying the practice, theory, and methodology of humanities research, critical analysis, and communication through writing and oral presentation. The goal of the seminar is to teach and refine research methods (library research, note taking, organizing material, bibliographies, citation methods, proposals, outlines, etc.) as well as to guide students through the initial stages of a research project of your own design.
We will be studying the work and impact of humanists, who we define very broadly as scholars of literature, history, theory, art, visual studies, film, anthropology, gender and sexuality studies, who are posing big questions about the human condition. By reading and analyzing the scholarship of humanists – critiquing them, engaging their ideas, and perhaps even being inspired by them – we will try to imagine how we might craft our own method and voice as we pose big questions for the humanities. We hope that you see this course as a journey that helps you to consider how you might do a research project.
This course is open to all students interested in writing a longer research paper, whether for a semester or academic year, and to anyone interested in a major or minor in the humanities. Enrollment preference will be given to students in the Humanities Scholars Program. You do not need to apply to the program in order to sign up for this course, and taking this course does not represent a commitment to write a thesis. If you are considering the Humanities Scholars Program and are also hoping to go abroad for your junior year, then we encourage you to take this course as a sophomore.
SHUM 4750 Senior Capstone Seminar
SHUM 4750 Senior Capstone Seminar
Fall, Spring. 1 credit. Limited to 10 students per section.
(FA25) Two sections offered [TBA]
This 1-credit course is designed to support seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program. Seniors will meet for one hour per week with HSP mentors to work on their capstone projects. The course has three learning goals: creating a cohort of humanities researchers, sharing work in progress, and working collaboratively and in groups.
HSP Elective Courses
Explore the slate of courses (using the SHUM prefix) that are cross-listed with the Humanities Scholars Program. Humanities Scholars must complete two electives before graduation. This list will be updated continually.