Heartland Community College
Master Course Syllabus
Division name: Humanities and Fine Arts
COURSE PREFIX & NUMBER: HUMA 201
COURSE TITLE: Western Humanities I
DATE PREPARED: September 21, 1993
DATE REVISED: March, 2004
PCS/CIP/ID NO: 11 300401 01
IAI NO. (if available): HF 902
EFFECTIVE DATE OF FIRST CLASS: August 23, 1994
CREDIT HOURS:
CONTACT HOURS:
LECTURE HOURS: 3
LABORATORY HOURS: 0
CATALOG DESCRIPTION (Include specific prerequisites):
Prerequisite: ENGL 101 or equivalent with a grade of “C” or better. Discussion and analysis
of major cultural achievements of the Western tradition, as expressed in philosophy, religion,
art, music, and literature, from earliest times to the renaissance. Broadly interdisciplinary in
approach, this course emphasizes not only the connections between those artistic and literary
expressions that Western society has traditionally regarded as significant and the sociopolitical, economic, and historical conditions that in part gave rise to them, but also the
continuing role for the idea of tradition itself as a factor in the intellectual heritage of the
West.
TEXTBOOKS:
Cunningham and Reich. Culture and Values. Vol 1. 4th ed. Orlando, FL:
Harcourt Brace, 1998.
RELATIONSHIP TO ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND
TRANSFERABILITY:
HUMA 201 fulfills 3 of the 9 semester hours of credit in Humanities/Fine Arts required for
the A.A. or A.S. degree. It may be used to satisfy either the Humanities or Fine Arts
component of this requirement. HUMA 201 transfers to most Illinois colleges and
universities as part of the General Education Core Curriculum [IAI course no. HF 902]
described in the Illinois Articulation Initiative. For information regarding particular
institutions, students should consult an academic adivisor or refer to the IAI web page at
www.itransfer.org. HUMA 201 fulfills the SOAR graduation requirement at Heartland
Community College.
COURSE OBJECTIVES (Learning Outcomes)
Students in this course will be able to:
LO
Assessment
Identify the principal historical, intellectual, and artistic
movements that have taken place in the Western World
up to the renaissance.
Recognize some of the major works of painting,
architecture, literature, music, and philosophy from
earliest times to the renaissance that have contributed to
the culture and civilization of the Western World.
Articulate and communicate the major ideas from
earliest times to the renaissance that have informed the
Western World's principal intellectual and æsthetic
movements.
Identify the principal artists, writers, statesmen,
philosophers, scientists, and others from earliest times to
the renaissance who have made major contributions to
the Western intellectual heritage.
Relate the art and thought of classical antiquity to the art
and thought of the medieval period and the renaissance
and see the continuity between the past and subsequent
times.
Recognize and define such terms as monotheism,
idealism, syllogism, tragedy, comedy, epic, sonnet,
chiaroscuro, dome, flying butress, fresco, etc.
Identify appropriate topics for scholarly research in the
humanities and fine arts, utilize standard bibliographic
and other research tools, select suitable sources and
methodology, and write papers presenting the results of
their research while observing the conventions of
scholarly discourse.
C7
required test items,
papers
C7
required test items,
papers, oral
presentations
D3
oral presentations, inclass writings, extended
formal writing
D3
required test items, oral
presentations
D5
informal and extended
formal writing
C2
test items, writing to
learn activities
C6
formal research paper
COURSE/LAB OUTLINE:
1. Prehistory and Near Eastern Civilizations
2. Aegean Civilization
3. Classical Greek Civilization
4. Roman Civilization
5. Judaism and the Rise of Christianity
6. Late Roman Civilization
7. The Successors of Rome
8. The High Middle Ages
9. The Late Middle Ages
10. The Early Renaissance
11. The High Renaissance and Early Mannerism
METHOD OF EVALUATION (Tests/Exams, Grading System):
Student Assessment will be based on the following factors:
4 Quizzes (each worth 15%)
1 Final Exam
1-3 Out-of-class Paper(s)
In-class writing & discussion
60%
20%
15%
5%
Final grades will be determined according to the following scale:
92 to 100% = A
83 to 91% = B
74 to 82% = C
65 to 73% = D
Below 65% = F
REQUIRED WRITING AND READING:
HUMA 201 requires students to complete 1 long paper (12-15 pages) or 3 short
papers (5 pages each) presenting the results of their independent library research.
Students will read texts that are significant to the development of the Western canon.
Reading assignments will be drawn from the anthology and from handouts distributed
in class. These assignments will be substantial (to permit in-depth study) and will
include not only examples of the traditional belletristic genres (poetry, fiction, and
drama), but also such non-fiction forms as essays, tracts, public documents, and
personal letters and autobiographical writings. Representative texts will be assigned
for each of the historical periods covered in the course, and some readings will
include complete texts rather than excerpts or condensed versions.