Humanities

In addition to departmental majors, the Division offers an interdisciplinary major in the Humanities and Fine Arts. A student interested in pursuing a self-designed Humanities major should consult with the Division II Chair no later than his sophomore year.

Each student doing a Humanities major will work with a committee appointed by the Division II Chair, taking into consideration the student's suggestions for membership and the nature of the anticipated project. This committee will help the student select his course of study, will advise and evaluate the capstone project, and will create a comprehensive examination suited to the student's curriculum.

In the first semester of his junior year, the student must submit to his committee a written proposal for a project in the Humanities and Fine Arts, which will be completed, along with his course of study, by the end of the first semester of the senior year. In every case, the committee will be looking for a creative approach to a subject matter of the student’s own choice.

Requirements for the Major

  1. A written proposal for the student’s project accepted by his committee by the end of the first semester of the junior year.
  2. Completion of a course of study across a number of the departments of the College which is accepted as a meaningful combination by the committee.
  3. Completion of comprehensive examinations devised and read by the same committee.
  4. Completion of an independent capstone project (HUM-400, 1 credit) by the end of the first semester of the senior year.

The project might be any one of a wide range of possibilities. For many students, the most obvious project would be a thesis of some scope ranging over the fields of his interest. A student who wrote a play on a historical topic might defend his treatment of the period or character; he might then go on to produce the play and show how this aspect of the work furthers his arts. A student interested in the philosophy of language might pursue this study through the structure of a language and its literature. He might wish to study the social and intellectual context of an author’s work.

Committee by appointment, with leadership from the Division II Chair.