Introduction to Humanities I
Vernon Minor, Alexandra Eddy
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HUMN 1010-010
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Six meetings a week (three discussion classes and three lecture-demonstrations in art and music). Provides an analytical and comparative study of works in literature, music, and visual arts from Aegean to Baroque eras. Emphasizes structure, content, and style in specific examples.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context or literature and the arts.
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Topics in Humanities: Methods and Approaches to the Humanities
Paul Gordon
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HUMN 2000-001
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Humanities 2000 will be team-taught by various members of the Comparative Literature and Humanities Department faculty who will each offer a seperate "mini-course" on one of the essential issues or methodological concerns which students can expect to encounter in their future coursework for the Humanities major. Although the subject of each mini-course may be expected to vary from year to year, topics proposed by faculty in the past include: word/image studies; rhetoric; translation; the canon; gender studies; cultural studies; literature and the other arts; literary theory; philosophy and literature; etc.
Prereq., HUMN 1010 or 1020.
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Topics in Humanities: Tragedy
Paul Gordon
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HUMN 3093-001
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Course description is not available.
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Topics in Humanities: Imagining Meaning
Scot Douglass
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HUMN 3550-730
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Explores the role of imagination in constructing narratives of meaning through close readings of various genres (fiction, poetry, manifesto, essay), various modes of artistic expression (art, film, photography, documentary), and essays of critical theory. Prereq., HUMN 2000 or junior standing.
For more information contact Farrand Residential Academic Program, 303- 492- 8848.
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Humanities Internship: Literature and Social Violence Honors
Cathy Comstock
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HUMN 3935-880
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Provides a theoretical understanding of heightened awareness arising from literary and sociological investigations of contemporary sources of social violence (gang culture, racism, domestic violence), combined with the concrete knowledge offered by an internship in a social service agency. Optional internship credit is available.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: contemporary societies.
Contact the Honors department for more information, 303- 492- 6617.
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Film Theory
James C. Farmer
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HUMN 4004-801
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This course is designed as an introduction to the major positions and concepts in film theory. As one of the key phenomena of the twentieth century, film has attracted a large number of philosophically-minded observers who have sought to understand its power and potential. We tend to take cinema in its present form for granted, and thus it can be an exciting process of defamiliarization to ask ourselves deceptively childlike questions such as, "What is cinema?" or "Why do people go to the movies?" The tradition of film theory allows us to think in new ways about many aspects of the medium--its raw materials, its technical means, its stylistic choices, its social implications, and its meaning for audiences. The goals of this course are first, to give you entrance into an on-going dialogue about cinema that has stretched over decades, and second, to improve your own skills in analytical and conceptual thinking.
*This is a controlled enrollment course, contact Shirley.Carnahan@Colorado.edu for registration information regarding this course.
Prereq., FILM 3051, and FILM or FMST major with senior standing. Same as FILM 4004.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: critical thinking.
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Studies: Modernity/Postmodernity - Honors
David Ferris
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HUMN 4093-880
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Why is it that we conceive of our contemporaneity in terms of a
"post-"? Poststructuralism, postcolonial, posthuman, postmodern,
etc. What does it mean to live in an era defined only by the
rejection of what went before? What does this mean for our position
in history? The course will examine these questions and their
consequences by examining the rise of modernity in enlightenment
thought, the effect of modernity on our concepts of art (in
particular the effect of photography on art), as well as why
modernity never seems to be quite modern enough to secure our place
in history. The extent to which postmodernity is able to articulate
a position over and against modernity will be a central question for
the seminar. Authors to be studied include, Winckelmann, Diderot,
Kant, Adorno and Horkheimer, Foucault, Baudelaire, Benjamin,
Habermas, Jameson, Vattimo, Lyotard, Nancy; photographs by Eugene
Atget and Thomas Struth as well as writings by Calvino, Blanchot and
schedule permitting a film by Lars von Trier.
For more information contact the Honors department, 303- 492- 6617.
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Greek and Roman Tragedy
Susan McMorris
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HUMN 4120-001
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This is a reading course which carries upper-division credit in the Core Curriculum in the content area of Literature and the Arts. There is no formal prerequisite, but experience writing and talking about literature will be helpful. We will be reading a selection of the surviving works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides (all works written at Athens in the 5th c. BCE) and Seneca (whose 1st c. CE tragedies represent the sole examples of the genre at Rome surviving in non-fragmentary form). There will also be substantial secondary or background reading to guide the development of an understanding of the religious and moral dimensions of tragic drama in context. In this course, the aim will be to develop skills and habits of close observation, analysis and argument, as well as respect for ideas, nuances and differences. As we read, we will attend to the importance of the texts in the literary historical tradition and their role in shaping cultural norms, habits of thought and the imaginative landscape of western civilization. We will also consider what they tell us of what it is to be human in a complex and ever-changing world.
*Contact the Classics Department for registration information.
Same as CLAS 4120.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.
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Decameron: Age of Realism
Valerio Ferme
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HUMN 4150-001
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Analyzes the rise of realism in 13th and 14th century Italian literature and parallel manifestations in the visual arts. Focuses on Boccaccio's Decameron and contemporary realistic prose and poetry with emphasis on gender issues and medieval cultural diversity. Taught in English. Prereq., junior standing or instructor consent. Same as ITAL 4150.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts, or cultural and gender diversity.
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Philosophy, Art and the Sublime
Paul Gordon
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HUMN 4155-001
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"Perhaps the most sublime utterance is that inscribed on the temple of Isis: "I am all that is, that was, and that will ever be; no mortal has lifted my veil." (Kant)
In this course we will examine theories of the sublime and apply those same theories to various works of art. Beginning with Longinus, we will then move to the beginning of modern discussions of the sublime in Burke and Kant before proceeding to the "golden age" of sublimity, 18-19th century German and English romanticism. After a study of sublimity in Goethe’s Faust we will then turn our attention to the writings of the English romantic poets (Shelley, Wordsworth, Coleridge), as well to the early 19th-century novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. After an examination of the sublime paintings of Turner (and his predecessors) we will move, in the final section of the course, to an examination of the survival of the sublime in the 20th century paintings and films of Barnett Newman, Georgia O’Keefe, Werner Herzog, and John Carpenter.
Prereq., HUMN 2000 or junior/senior standing.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: critical thinking or ideals and values.
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Goethe's Faust
Thomas Hollweck
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HUMN 4504-001
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We emphasize Goethe's Faust parts I and II, but the course begins with Marlowe's reworking of the original Faust material, includes Byron's Manfred and selections from Dostoevsky and Nietzsche, before concluding with Thomas Mann's novel Doctor Faustus. The Faust theme has intrigued students of literature and thought for many centuries, and it serves as a metaphor for the modern condition. How does one assign a value to the human soul, if Christianity is not accepted as the supreme authority? What happens to notions of the good life in the age of Enlightenment? How are human beings disposed to conceive of their essence "after the death of God?" How does evil manifest itself in the twentieth century? How does the dualism of the here and now versus the here-after influence humanity's habitation of the Earth? Requirements include short papers on the the three main readings, midterm, and final or research paper.
*Contact the Germanic and Slavic Languages/Literatures Department for registration information.
Same as GRMN 4504.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.
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Literature and Social Violence Honors/SOC VIOLENCE
Cathy Comstock
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HUMN 4835-881
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Provides a theoretical understanding of heightened awareness arising from literary and sociological investigations of contemporary sources of social violence (gang culture, racism, domestic violence), combined with the concrete knowledge offered by an internship in a social service agency. Optional internship credit is available.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: contemporary societies.
For more information contact the Honors department, 303- 492- 6617.
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Introduction to Humanities II
Vernon Minor, Alexandra Eddy
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HUMN 1020-010
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Examines from Baroque to contemporary styles in literature, music, and visual arts. Emphasizes the cultural context in which art was created.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context or literature and the arts.
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African America in the Arts
Stewart Lawler
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HUMN 2145-750
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Introduces interrelationships in the arts of African Americans and the African American contribution to American culture as a whole.
Similar to HUMN 3145.
Contact Libby Residential Academic Program for registration information, 303- 735- 4211.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: cultural and gender diversity or United States context.
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African America in the Arts
Stewart Lawler
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HUMN 2145-790
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Introduces interrelationships in the arts of African Americans and the African American contribution to American culture as a whole.
Similar to HUMN 3145.
Contact Williams Village Residential Academic Program for registration information, 303- 735- 1987.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: cultural and gender diversity or United States context.
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Topics: The Craft of Mystery
Shirley Carnahan
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HUMN 3093-001
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This course is an interdisciplinary one, intended to explore several examples of and theories about the formation and growth of the genre of detective fiction, especially in the pre-WWII era. In addition, we will be examining several examples from other time periods and genres to see how they compare to the "classic" examples. Likely authors include Poe, Doyle, Chesterton, Christie, Sayers, Carr, Hammett, and Chandler.
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Topics: Renaissance Art Out of the Canon
Claire Farago
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HUMN 3093-002
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This course examines the dissemination of Renaissance art from Italy to other parts of Europe and the colonial world, primarily Latin America. It focuses on the process of cultural interaction that visual culture documents. The course is organized thematically and provides an introduction to recent scholarship addressed to race/ethnicity, gender, and class concerns. Critical thinking is incorporated through frequent group discussion, collaborative projects, oral reports, and short individual papers.
Images, like languages, are never neutral. The Italianate "Renaissance style" with its scientifically-based naturalism, self-conscious emulation of ancient Greek and Roman models, and powerful patronage was exported around the globe. At the same time, artifacts from many other cultures entered Italy and other parts of Europe. And, in the colonial world, artists who imitated Renaissance models produced new hybrids of many previously unrelated cultures. The main question we will address throughout the course is, what did the unprecedented visual material culture produced during this first period of global contact communicate to its varied audiences? Beyond this, how does this period of cultural interaction inform contemporary understanding of art? And does contemporary understanding of art also inform our understanding of these historical artifacts and the events surrounding them?
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The Enlightenment - Honors
Ann Schmiesing
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HUMN 3505-880
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Examines the Enlightenment belief in reason and the common humanity of all individuals and cultures. Emphasizing arguments for and against freedom of religion, abolition of slavery, and emancipation of women in 18th-century European and American literature and thought. Same as GRMN 3505.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: ideals and values.
Contact the Honors department for registration information, 303- 492- 6617.
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Film Theory
James C. Farmer
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HUMN 4004-801
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Offers a philosophical attempt to define the nature of cinema. An intensive seminar, the course involves a great deal of reading in classic and contemporary film theory, and requires a working knowledge of silent film history. Prereq., FILM 3051, and FILM or FMST major with senior standing. Same as FILM 4004.
*This is a controlled enrollment course, contact Shirley.Carnahan@Colorado.edu for registration information regarding this course.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: critical thinking.
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19th Century Art and Literature
Jillian Heydt-Stevenson
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HUMN 4082-001
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Interdisciplinary study of English fiction and poetry together with related movements in visual arts.
Prereq., HUMN 2000 or junior/senior standing.
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The Art of Travel
Shirley Carnahan
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HUMN 4093-002
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This course is an interdisciplinary one intended to examine the art of travel: not where to go and what to do, but rather philosophical concepts about why people travel. Likely areas of discussion will include Exploration, Discovery, Escape, Pilgrimage, the Grand Tour, Expatriotism, Exile, Nomadism, Armchair Travel, and the Sense of Home. Materials will include books by travel writers, novels, films, essays, short stories, art, music, and historical documents.
Prerequisite: HUMN 2000 or junior/senior standing.
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Art and Psychoanalysis
Paul Gordon
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HUMN 4135-001
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Explores psychoanalytic theory as it relates to our understanding of literature, film, and other arts. After becoming familiar with some essential Freudian notions (repression, narcissism, ego/libido, dream work, etc), students apply these ideas to works by several artists(e.g., Flaubert, James, Kafka, Hoffmann, and Hitchcock).
Prerequisite: HUMN 2000 or junior/senior standing.
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Nietzsche: Literature and Values
Adrian Del Caro
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HUMN 4502-001
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Emphasis is place on Nietzsche's major writings spanning the years 1872-1888, with particular attention to the critique of Western values. A systematic exploration of doctrines, concepts, and ideas leading to the values of creativity.
Same as GRMN 4502.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: ideals and values.
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Arts of Interpretation
Paul Gordon
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HUMN 4555-001
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Introduces various hermeneutical methodologies (literary/philosophical criticism, biblical exegesis, art history, etc.) with which to examine the question of interpretation. Methodologies are studied in close conjunction with particular works of art.
Prerequiste: HUMN 2000 or junior/senior standing.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: critical thinking.
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20th Century Russian Literature and Arts
Rimgaila Salya
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HUMN 4821-001
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Interdisciplinary course emphasizing the influence of art in 20th century Russian literature. Follows the changing cultural landscape from the time when Russia was in the vanguard of modern European literature to the gradual cultural relaxation that culminated in perestroika and glasnost.
Same as RUSS 4821.
Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.
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Fall '08 Courses
