HUMANITIES
A COURSE OUTLINE FOR STUDENTS AT WOODLAND HILLS HIGH SCHOOL
By
Matt Rodrigues
Adopted from work by
Jay L. Bush
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The Humanities is the study of the achievements of human beings from the very beginnings of
agrarian society to the present. The course analyzes art, architecture, music, history, religion
government, culture and religion and demonstrates how each culture influences their succeeding
culture. Students are expected to demonstrate a knowledge of basic chronology and major
cultural movements that have occurred in western society from the ancient Sumerians to the
present. This course is a strong supplement to AP European History and it prepares students for
college core requirement courses. This is a weighted course.
COURSE GOALS AND STUDENT EXPECTATIONS:
 Master some of the principal themes of Western Humanity
 Demonstrate an understanding of historical chronology
 Differentiate between different schools of historical and philosophical thought
 Interpret and apply historical data from original documents.
 Effectively use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect, compare and contrast
 Express understanding persuasively and narratively at a college-level
 Prepare for college core course requirements
BASIC TEXT:
Witt, Mary Ann Frese: Brown, Charlotte Vestal; Dunbar, Roberta Ann; Tirro, Frank; Witt,
Ronald G.; and McNair, Bruce. The Humanities : Volumes I & II, Fourth ed. D.C. Heath &
Company: Lexington, Mass. 1993
COURSE OVERVIEW:
UNIT I. EARLIEST CIZILIZATIONS
Part I. Mesopotamia
Part II. Egypt and Kush
UNIT II. THE GRECO ROMAN AND JUDEO-CHRISTIAN ROOTS
Part I. Greece
Part II. Rome
Part III. Judaism
UNIT IV. EARLY CHRISTIANITY
UNIT V. MEDIEVAL CULTURES
UNIT VI. RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION: FUSION AND THE ROOTS
Part I. Humanism
Part II. Florentine Art
Part III. The masters
UNIT VI. SCIENCE AND SPLENDOR: THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Part I. Modernity
Part II. Baroque
Part III. Baroque Music
Part IV. The Protestant Reformation
Part V. The court of Louis XIV
UNIT VII. REASON, REVOLUTION, AND ROMANTICISM: THE EIGHTEENTH AND
EARLY NINTEENTH CENTURIES
Part I. The Enlightenment
Part II. Romanticism, Revolution, Individualism, Nature, and Love
UNIT VIII. INDUSTRIANLISM AND THE HUMANITIES
Part I. The Industrial Revolution
Part II. Realism
UNIT IX: DISCONTINUITIES: THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY
Part I. A Culture in Self-Doubt
Part II. Modernism in Art
Part III. Modernism in Music and Literature
UNIT X. CULTURAL PLURALITY: THE MIDDEL AND LATE TWENTIETH
CENTURY
Part I. Absurdity and alienation: The Post WWII Period
Part II. US culture in the modern world
STUDENT REQUIREMENTS:
Notebook
GRADING:
Essay Exams
Reading Quizzes
Class Participation
Alternative assessment Projects