Department of Humanities, 2006-2007 Cycle
College of Humanities and the Arts
Program Planning Committee Report to the Provost
June 2, 2010
The Department of Humanities offers the following programs:
B.A. in Humanities
B.A. in Humanities Teacher Preparation
B.A. in Creative Arts
B.A. in Creative Arts Teacher Preparation
B.A. in Liberal Studies
B.A. in Liberal Studies Teacher Preparation
B.A. in Religious Studies
Minors in American Studies, Asian Studies, European Studies, Middle East Studies, Creative
Arts, Religious Studies
The Program Planning Committee commends the Department of Humanities on for its valuable
function in the College of Humanities and the Arts and the University. The Department
submitted a comprehensive program plan that highlights the diversity of the programs that
they run and their positive response to previous program reviews. The Department has a
strong commitment to the University’s GE program and contributes interdisciplinary and
integrated courses.
The major problems facing the Department involve enrollment management and coordination
of the diversity of programs within the Department.
Congratulations on winning the Provost’s Assessment Award for the college this academic year!
The Program Planning Committee commends the department on bringing together diverse
programs to engage in department level assessment. The department has taken to heart the
recommendation of the external reviewer and the Director of Assessment to simplify and
improve assessment procedures for the department. In academic years 2008-9 and 2009-10 all
programs in the department jointly assessed argumentation writing. While the relevant student
learning objectives are not identical across programs, this seems a logical first step. Since
evidence of initial student performance was anecdotal, there can be only anecdotal evidence of
improvement. However, data was collected in fall 2009 which can serve as a benchmark for
future assessment. The department plans to collect more detailed statistics in the future to
determine with which aspects of writing students are struggling more than others. The
committee encourages this as providing better direction for pedagogical changes. However, we
also need to remind faculty members that all student learning objectives need to be
benchmarked in time for the next program plan.
The final step in the program planning process is a meeting with Provost Selter (or his
designee), AVP of Undergraduate Studies Jaehne, AVP of Graduate Studies and Research Stacks,
Dean Toepfer, and Department Chair Jochim. The Chair may invite directors of programs within
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the department. The department should contact the Office of Undergraduate Studies to
schedule the final meeting. The following topics for discussion are summarized from the
reports:

Develop an integrated marketing plan and a targeted recruitment and retention plan to
enhance student awareness of and demand for its programs. This should include a
concrete plan for recruitment of students into its majors, particularly Comparative
Religious Studies and Humanities.

Coordinate General Education courses, both within the Department and within the
College, to avoid competition for a finite number of students.

Explore the possibility of a “blended program” for students interested in the multiple
subjects teaching credential with Liberal Studies Teacher Preparation Program.

Consider some curricular changes to unify department curricula and programs and
evaluate the number of emphases in the B.A. Humanities.

Develop external funding/alumni fund-raising/endowment development to take
advantage of your unique programs offered in the service area.
If the Department wants to propose other issues for the meeting, please discuss the
appropriateness of the topics with Dean Toepfer.
The Program Planning Committee recommends acceptance of the Program Plan. The Program
Plan provided a good examination of the issues and explanation of plans for subsequent
reviewers. The next program review for all programs in the Department of Humanities is
scheduled for 2013. The Program Plan will be due to Dean Toepfer in spring 2013.
Spring 2010 members:
Mary Calegari, Chair
Charles Whitcomb
Dennis Jaehne
Pam Stacks
Sutee Sujitparapitaya
Jackie Snell
Ashwini Wagle
CC:
Susan McNiesh
Shailaja Venkatsubramanyan
Chunlei Wang
Lisa Oliver
Xiaolu Hu
Gary Stebbins
M. E. Fayad
Beverly Grindstaff
Debra Caires
Elaine Collins
Robert Cooper
Annabel Prins
Quynh Lu
Carolus Boekema
Chris Jochim, Chair, Department of Humanities
Charles Whitcomb, Vice Provost for Academic Administration & Personnel
Karl Toepfer, Dean, College of Humanities and the Arts
Elna Green, Associate Dean, College of Humanities and the Arts
Malu Roldan, Chair, Curriculum and Research
Dennis Jaehne, AVP Undergraduate Studies
Pam Stacks, AVP Graduate Studies and Research
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Appendix
Summary of Program Plan, AY 2006
Overview
The Humanities Department includes programs in American Studies, Asian Studies,
Comparative Religious Studies, Creative Arts, Humanities, Liberal Studies and Middle East
Studies. The department grew out of the Humanities Honors Program that began in the mid1950s. Over the years, the additional small departments and programs were added to the
department. Each program is interdisciplinary, and the department is constantly working to
develop common interests within the diversity of the programs. The department has an
extensive commitment to General Education (GE). The department offers two core GE
programs, Humanities Honors (HUM 1AB, 2AB) and American Civilization (AMS 1AB), other
lower division GE courses and some SJSU studies courses in area Z and S.
Centrality to the Mission of San Jose State University
Departmental programs are central to mission of the University. The degree programs acquaint
students with in-depth knowledge of a major field of study, broad understanding of the
sciences, social sciences and the arts. Students gain knowledge in how other human cultures
have dealt with problems inherent in human condition and to understand how other cultures
have dealt with social issues involving ethnic diversity, relations between the sexes, economic,
religious and political differences. Problems are explored from an interdisciplinary standpoint,
utilizing visual arts, literature, philosophy, and historical documents. Students also learn skills
in communication and in critical inquiry.
Quality of Instructional Program
The Department currently has undergraduate degree programs, but is currently exploring the
feasibility of offering a Master of Arts in Humanities. The audience may be older people who
wish to increase their understanding of humanities through a focused curriculum.
Development of this program would require additional resources.
The development of an interdisciplinary method and theory course for all B.A. majors is being
considered. The course would raise student awareness of the nature of interdisciplinary studies
and of theories in interdisciplinary culture studies. Several new program-specific courses are
being considered for American Studies, Comparative Religious Studies Program, Humanities and
Liberal Studies.
B.A. in Humanities: Emphases in American Studies, East Asian Studies, or European Studies.
Major requires 39 units, 24 units from core humanities curriculum and 15 units in related
disciplines. Core includes Hum 160 (Contemporary Issues), Hum 190 (Senior Seminar) and Hum
100W.
B.A. in Creative Arts: Major requires 45 units, 6 units are in Studio/Performing Arts, 9 units in
History/Theory, 15 units from two or more arts disciplines and 15 Creative Arts Core Classes.
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B.A. in Creative Arts, Teacher Preparation: Major consists of 93-102 units to prepare students
interested in obtaining a Multiple Subjects teaching credential.
B.A. in Liberal Studies: Major consists of 79 units distributed across humanities, literature,
history and social science, the arts, science, liberal studies and mathematics.
B.A. in Liberal Studies, Teacher Preparation: One of six undergraduate multiple subjects
academic majors for students teaching in K-8 schools. Consists of 105-108 units and satisfies all
GE and state requirements.
B.A. in Religious Studies: Major requires 39 units, 15 units of core course, and 24 units of
supporting courses in four areas. Curriculum includes 5 lower division course and 24 upper
division courses. Seven of the courses focus specifically on western religious traditions, 5 focus
on eastern religious traditions and 17 address all traditions in a variety of ways. The capstone
course is a Senior Seminar
GE Curricula: Humanities Honors Program, American Civilization, several other GE and SJSU
studies courses.
Development of Assessment Plans
The department has well-developed assessment plans for its GE courses. Since the previous
self-study (2001), departmental goals for all programs were developed as a basis for programspecific student learning objectives (SLOs). Recently faculty members agreed on SLOs and are
preparing assessment plans for all BA programs. The department hired a special consultant,
Donna Winston from Stanford University, to help improve assessment plans. The consultant
gave valuable feed-back that will take some time for the department to work through.
Both Liberal studies and Creative Arts have four program learning objectives with an additional
objective for Teacher Preparation Majors. Humanities has eight program learning objectives
and Religious Studies has seven learning objectives. According to the BA program assessment
timeline, data for two semesters has been collected and analyzed. The department has
continued to identify programmatic shortcomings and devise remedies outside of the formal
assessment process.
Student Demand
Departmental FTES was at its highest point of 442 in 2002/2003, was at its low of 398 in
2004/2005, and was up to 416 for fall 2006. The number of B.A. degrees awarded during the
period 2001-2006 fell from 127 to 116. The number of majors during the period 2001-2009 fell
from 459 t0 434. The student/faculty ratios during the review period fell from 22.19 to 20.46.
This is higher than the total for the college of 17.45 to 19.11 and for the university of 17.81 to
19.54.
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Major
Humanities
Creative Arts
Liberal Studies
Religious Studies
Total
Majors
Fall 2001
22
67
349
21
459
Majors
Spring 2006
24
60
336
14
434
B.A.degrees awarded
2001-2002
4
34
82
7
127
B.A.degrees awarded
2005-2006
14
20
77
5
116
Faculty members in all programs are concerned about maintaining strong enrollments in GE
courses and in B.A. programs. Each program evaluates and makes B.A. degrees more relevant
for current students. Most programs have strengthened recruitment and advising efforts to
attract students and retain majors.
Societal Need
BA programs provide students with skills and knowledge that help them participate in society in
multiple roles throughout their lives.
Financial Resources
In AY 2006, the Department consisted of 13 tenured/tenure track faculty: 6 males; 7 females; 2
Pacific Islanders, remainder white. Two of the faculty are in FERP. (One scheduled to retire in
2007, the other in 2010). Two additional faculty members are needed, one for American
Studies and one as a faculty coordinator for Creative Arts Program.
Additional resources are needed for equipment and travel.
Interdependence of Programs
The Department is continually working to improve inter-program cooperation for curriculum
development, faculty hiring and other areas. The Department also works hard to maintain
good relations with faculty from other departments that teach in the interdisciplinary curricula.
Capacity to Contribute to an Academic Field
Faculty members actively participate in national and regional conferences, and in authoring
books, peer-reviewed articles, and essays. They are involved in various scholarly organizations.
They participate in academic outreach activities by giving guest lectures on campus and in the
community.
Availability of Alternatives
American Studies 1A/1B is an unique option for the region in integrative learning. The B.A.
degree program in Religious studies is the only one offered at a public University in the area.
The Creative Arts B.A. program is the only one in the CSU and there are no bay area
alternatives. The Liberal Studies Teacher Preparation B.A. is one of six Teacher Credentialing-
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approved programs for future K-8 teachers at SJSU. The Humanities Honors Program is unique
to the CSU.
External Reviewer’s Report, March 2007
Rennie B. Schoepflin from the Department of History at California State University, Los Angeles,
visited in March 12-13, 2007. Her overall impression is that the Department is very talented,
dedicated and collegial. It ranks with the very best and the only significant problems are in
areas of planning, program integration, and student recruitment.
Centrality to the Mission of San Jose State University:
Strengths: SJSU headquarters for integrated liberal arts education
Interdisciplinary, multicultural curricula
Key to enhancing understanding of diversity and importance of crossing boundaries in
local, regional, national, and international relationships.
Weaknesses: Inadequate definition and focus on what it means to be a department of
interdisciplinary studies.
Opportunities: create a focused department balance with a variety of perspectives.
Quality of Instructional Program
Strengths: High-quality faculty that is excellent in teaching, scholarship and commitment to
students.
Humanities Honors Program: Well-designed Religious Studies B.A. Wide-ranging
linguistic abilities of faculty. Student learning outcomes established for all
programs.
Weaknesses: Absence of shared core educational outcome expectations for all students’ majors
and minors in the department.
Absence of required methods class for all majors and minors.
Weak or absent intellectual community among students and among students and
faculty.
No common content to RELS 101 when taught by different professors.
Administrators above department level still think the curriculum is western-civilization
based even though it has been revised for some time.
Student Demand.
Strengths: Students have very positive view of department and faculty
Offers course crucial to GE curriculum of SJSU
Weaknesses: Student frustration with scheduling conflicts and classes dropped without
notification
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Societal need:
Strengths: Faculty active in local community organizations related to disciplinary expertise
All programs make a major contribution to society’s need for cultural awareness and
sensitivity and teach importance of crossing boundaries and remaining inclusive
Liberal studies and creative arts majors prepare many teachers
Strong in developing skills of critical inquiry and communication and enhancing wellrounded understanding of human knowledge, necessary for citizenship in 21 st
century
Weaknesses: Creative Arts doesn’t have all equipment, studio space, software that it needs,
must borrow from Arts Department.
Poor distribution of assigned time to program coordinators (assigned time not equal to
work load)
Not enough departmental faculty meetings to discuss issues, develop community, and
plan for the future
Poor follow-up on decisions reached by departmental faculty
Student outcomes assessment becomes so onerous that it fails to achieve its goal of
improving academic quality
Apparent lack of university-wide process for regularly updating/refreshing faculty and
staff office computer equipment and software.
Interdependency of Programs:
Strengths: Collaborative/ cooperative working atmosphere among faculty, staff, chair and
program coordinators
Curricular interrelationships between Religious Studies and Creative Arts and other
programs and departments
Provider of many GE courses
Liberal Studies almost entirely dependent on other departments for its courses
Weaknesses: Need more collaboration and cooperation on curricular issues among programs
within department.
Capacity to Contribute to an Academic Field
Strengths: High quality faculty
Sponsor lectures and symposia for university community
Leadership positions in local, regional, national levels of several professional
organizations
Weaknesses: Weak, informal mentoring of junior faculty.
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Availability of alternatives
Strengths: Only public university in religious studies major in service area
Only Creative Arts Program in CSU
Unique Humanities Honors Program in CSU
American Studies 1A/1B lower division, team taught, interdisciplinary course is unique
Most extensive integrative learning program at SJSU
Recipient of American Studies Association International Partnership Initiative grant in
2004.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Department needs to develop a 5-7 year strategic plan that defines department’s mission
and goals, clearly defines its objectives and establishes tactics for achieving them.
2. Unify department curricula and programs: consider an interdisciplinary methods and theory
course(s) required for all departmental majors. Enhance incorporation of technologies into
learning experience. Create master syllabi for core courses to ensure that subsequent courses
build on knowledge and skills developed in previous classes. Clarify and focus department
programs so students can rationally choose among majors.
3. Consider integrating Humanities B.A. and Liberal Studies B.A. (not teacher prep) into a single
major. Create a “blended program” for Liberal Studies. Hire faculty to create and administer
the “blended program” in Liberal Studies.
4. Keep assessment simple: consider acquisition and implementation of comprehensive
electronic assessment and portfolio suite such as TaskStream.
5. Develop a faculty recruitment and retention plan that includes at least the following
elements: A formal mentoring process for new faculty
Start-up money for new faculty
Insure faculty workloads are more equitably distributed.
6. Explore ways to insure collaboration with colleagues and programs within and without the
department. Consider expanding number of cross-listed courses within and without the
department.
7. Develop an integrated marketing plan and a student recruitment and retention plan to
enhance student awareness of and demand for its programs. Integrate minors into
department’s strategic plan and use minor to recruit students into major. Enhance a program of
undergraduate research/scholarship. Mentor and subsidize student participation in National
Collegiate Honors Council and Western Regional Honors Council.
8. Develop extramural funding/alumni fund-raising/endowment development to take
advantage of unique programs offered in service area. Follow up on American Studies
Association International Partnership Initiative grant of 2004. Market enhanced ways
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highlighting involvement in CSU study abroad program. Vigorously market unique
aspects/advantages of your projected “blended program” for Liberal Studies.
9. College needs to provide additional human and financial resources to facilitate additional
time and materials necessary to carry out essential marketing, recruitment and retention plans.
Insure physical resources/facilities to enhance ability to create, deliver, and sustain department
programs.
Summary of College Committee Report, Spring 2008
Centrality to Mission:
Both the external evaluator and the college committee thought that the Humanities
Department was “SJSU’s headquarters for integrated, liberal arts education.” The department
embodies the mission goals of SJSU with its focus on cultural understanding and
interdisciplinary collaboration. All of the programs make major contributions to the GE
program with courses that broaden the perspective of students pursuing single-discipline
degrees.
Quality of Instructional Program:
All six major programs within the department are commended for recruiting highly-qualified
faculty that are effective in teaching, scholarship and service to SJSU and its students. The
programs in Humanities Honors, Comparative Religious Studies, and Teacher Preparation
(Liberal Studies) are particularly coherent and effective and consistently obtain positive student
feedback as noted by the external reviewer. In general, the department has done a thorough
and searching review of the quality of its instructional programs.
Student Demand:
During the review period the number of student graduates decreased from 127 to 116. The
number of freshmen students at SJSU increased over the review period which increased
enrollment in the core GE programs, American Studies 1A/1B and Humanities Honors. The
Department is considering offering a M.A. in Humanities.
Societal Need:
Faculty members are active in local community organizations. The department programs
contribute to intercultural and interdisciplinary awareness, sensitivity, tolerance and global
understanding. Their courses help students develop critical thinking and communication skills
useful in all disciplines and career paths so that SJSU graduates will be knowledgeable,
responsible and humane citizens prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Financial Resources Effectiveness, Viability and Efficiency:
The department is effective and efficient in leveraging limited resources to create successful
programs. Many of the programs have majors that rely on courses taught by other
departments or with faculty from other departments. The department has one of the highest
student/faculty ratios in the College. The college committee concurs that the Department is
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justified in its request for two additional tenure-track faculty. The requested hire for Creative
Arts was completed in 2008.
The number of Humanities majors is up slightly, the number of majors in Creative Arts, Liberal
Studies and Religious Studies fell. Graduations from the department as a whole decreased by
8.7% over the review period. In overall FTES, Humanities was the only department in the
College of Humanities and Arts with this downward trend between 2001/2002 to 2005/2006.
Interdependence of Program:
The committee commends the Department on its efforts to integrate the curriculum and
resources of its various programs within the department to provide support for students across
the university.
Major requirements of the programs within the department are satisfied by courses in other
departmental programs and across the University.
Liberal Studies is totally dependent on faculty and courses from other programs and
departments.
Many American Studies courses are cross-listed with Humanities
Religious Studies majors take courses in Humanities,
Creative Arts majors take courses from other departments in the college.
Humanities Honors students are encouraged to complete a minor in Humanities
Serving other departments:
Creative Arts, Humanities, Religious Studies, American Studies offer diverse GE and SJSU
studies courses
Religious Studies courses satisfy major requirements in Anthropology, Political Science,
Philosophy, History and minor requirements in Asian Studies, Jewish Studies, Gerontology,
Women’s Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, and Area Studies
Collaboration with other departments in curriculum development
Connecting with the community, especially Creative Arts program that incorporates in
curriculum artistic productions, SJ Museum of Art, SJ Rep, other community projects
Capacity to Contribute to an Academic Field:
The talented and professionally active department faculty are involved in a variety of scholarly
organizations, regularly attend national and regional conferences, and have numerous
publications resulting from scholarly research. The Department also sponsors various lectures
and symposia for the university community.
Availability of Instructional Alternatives:
The Humanities programs are valuable to the region. No other area universities offer a course
similar to the team-taught interdisciplinary American Studies 1A/1B. The B.A. degree in
Religious Studies is the only degree offered at an area public university. The Creative Arts B.A.
program is unique to the CSU and is the only arts-oriented multiple subject teacher preparation
in the state. The Humanities Honors program is distinct from programs at SFSU and CSU
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Sacramento. The Liberal Studies program has strong ties to local community college counselors
and offers affordability and access compared to similar programs at private institutions in the
region.
The College Committee praises the department for its unique contributions to educational
opportunities in the region. The department also actively promotes integrated learning
experiences and multi-cultural and multi-ethnic awareness and education. Additionally, the
department makes important contributions to teacher education in the arts and at the K-8
level.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The department faces several challenges that include:
1. Flat or moderate growth in a number of majors
2. Creating more coherent coordination for GE
3. Need for master-syllabi for certain courses
4. Continue efforts to provide more cohesion among programs perhaps by providing a
common structure and set of common requirements such as writing requirement of
HUM 100W.
5. Need to create more vibrant intellectual community among faculty and students
through activities such as workshops, brown-bags, and invited lectures.
6. Need for a “blended” program in Liberal Studies for students pursuing a multiple-subject
teaching credential. The outside reviewer suggested a third hire in Liberal Studies to
develop a “blended” program for students pursuing a multiple-subject credential. SJSU
is the only campus in the CSU system without this type of program.
Dean’s Report, May 3, 2007
The Dean appreciates the dedication of the Department in preparing the Program Plan. The
Department has done a good job of providing a rich and appealing array of curricular options
for undergraduates at SJSU. He does have some specific areas for consideration:
Department as a whole has only experienced a moderate growth in the numbers of majors
since fall 2001. Department needs to develop a concrete plan for recruitment of students
into its majors, particularly Comparative Religious Studies and Humanities.
Department should explore possibility of a “blended program” for students interested in the
multiple subjects teaching credential with Creative Arts Teacher Preparation Program.
Department needs to better coordinate its General Education courses, both within the
Department and within the College, to avoid competition for a finite number of students.
Department should consider some curricular changes. Some possibilities:
1. Interdisciplinary methods and theory course
2. Master syllabi for courses, such as Comparative Religious Studies 101
3. More concerted effort to incorporate emerging technologies into curriculum
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