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.
(SP25) Topic: The Price is Right
also ENGL 2950
T/R 10:10 - 11:25am
Kyhl Stephen
Prices are ubiquitous. They confront us everywhere, from banal daily occurrences like paying for lunch or checking our bank accounts, to major life events like new jobs, marriage, and the deaths of loved ones. But what kinds of meaning do these prices actually hold? What happens when our lives are reflected back at us quantified in terms of money? We will attempt to answer these questions by constructing cultural and intellectual histories of money, pricing, and inflation. Assessing a wide range of sources, from popular and literary texts, to staples of consumer culture, to the theoretical work of early twentieth century economists, we will study what key writers and thinkers understood to be the nature of money and what money could (or couldn’t!) stand for. We will try to understand key controversies in the history of money politics, as well as what it might mean when—as we have seen in recent inflation—the specific meaning of money changes.
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(SP25) Topic: After Images: From Photography to AI
also ARTH 2750, COML 2750, ROMS 2750, VISST 2750
T/R 11:40am - 12:55pm
Paulo Lorca Fuentealba
This course will explore the heterogeneous field of visual studies through the lens of technical images, chiefly analog photography, digital images, and AI-generated images. We will trace the development of mechanical and electronic media, its increasing dematerialization, and its impact on the art world and visual cultures. Through a combination of theoretical readings, visual analysis, and hands-on object study, students will engage with how images—in relationship with text and technology—reflect and/or construct realities. Case studies will include artists from a global context, with a particular emphasis on Latin America.
This interdisciplinary course invites students from diverse backgrounds to investigate the power of images across media, offering a platform for critical discussion and creative exploration.
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
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.
(FA24) Two sections offered:
T 10:10 - 11:00am (Kyhl Stephen)
R 11:15am - 12:05pm (Paulo Lorca)
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.