Contemporary Humanities - HUM 260
https://courses.vccs.edu./courses/HUM260-ContemporaryHumanities
Effective: 2021-08-01
Course Description
Examines selected values and expressions of ideas of western and non-western cultures throughout the twentieth century and beyond, integrating the visual arts, literature, performing arts, religion, and philosophy within the context of history. The assignments in this course require college-level reading, analysis of scholarly studies, and coherent communication through properly cited and formatted written reports
Lecture 3 hours. Total 3 hours per week.
3 credits
The course outline below was developed as part of a statewide standardization process.
General Course Purpose
HUM 260 will broaden understanding and awareness of people and cultures specifically within the cultural and historical contexts of social groups throughout the world which may draw upon such fields as art, literature, religion, philosophy, social sciences, and music.
Course Objectives
- Communication
- Formulate through written, visual and/or oral presentations, responses to themes from the twentieth century in western and non-western cultures.
- Critical Thinking
- Analyze, discuss, and research topics in western and non-western cultures linking overarching questions through examining the humanities.
- Cultural and Social Understanding
- Demonstrate understanding of cultural encounters, interactions, and negotiations between different societies.
- Visual Arts
- Identify and classify various art forms and their stylistic relationships to the cultures from which they come, as well as their development throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with an emphasis on architecture, sculpture, painting, photography and the decorative arts.
- Literature
- Recognize and critique key works of literature and their cultural importance, both to their original time and to their historical influence.
- Religion and Philosophy
- Summarize and explain the central beliefs, positions, and practices of the most prominent religious and philosophical systems and their impact and development with their respective originating cultures and the world at large in the twentieth century.
- Performing Arts
- Identify and classify the various forms of music, theater, cinema, and dance of the twentieth century and their stylistic relationships to the cultures from which they originated.
- History
- Discuss and describe the ways in which historical events of the twentieth and twenty-first century shaped the cultural developments of the period.
Major Topics to be Included
- Visual Arts
- Literature
- Religion and Philosophy
- Performing Arts
- History