The study of the humanities is indeed a study of our “humanity,” past, present, and future, in all its extraordinary and varied forms. The humanities remain at the core of a liberal education and are key to developing both insight and perception. As such, courses fulfilling the General Education Humanities requirement must:
- Deepen aesthetic judgment, understand critical perspectives, and develop cultural sensitivity and an appreciation for human diversity
- Recognize, evaluate, and make connections between philosophical theories that explain human thought, action, and experience
- Analyze the various forms of human achievement and aesthetic expression
- Identify methods for qualitative analysis of the human condition and require study to produce such analysis, e.g. race, gender, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation
- Illustrate ethical concepts, including virtue and integrity
- Provide opportunities for students to think critically
- Correlate aesthetic, philosophical, and historical periods
- Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between current issues and those of other times, places, and cultures