Humanities @ Berkeley City College
Expanded Course Descriptions
Spring 2016
NOTE: This is an informational document only. More details as well as textbooks
and requirements can be found on the first day of the new semester on the course
syllabus distributed by the instructor. For information regarding how each course
can be used for transfer please see the BCC Catalogue.
Humanities 1 (3 units) “Introduction to Humanities”
• Online 8 week, second half; Dr. Dylan Eret ~ # 20286
The "Humanities" is a Renaissance invention. It refers to the ways humans represent
their experiences through artistic expression. Rather than paying for expensive
textbooks or Western anthologies, this course will include a collection of engaging
exercises and texts that take you outside your comfort zone and into your local
communities. You will learn to examine art as a form of "deep play" and "cultural
performance," as a way of representing and mapping the everyday world(s) you live
in. Thematically, you will explore oral, literary, musical, and dramatic forms of
expressive culture from multiple points of view. Case studies: Play, games, and
humor (Brian Sutton-Smith and Elliott Oring); Murals, graffiti, and street art (Susan
Stewart); Mapping Chinatown and the Mission (Rebecca Solnit); Poetics and
narrative (Claudia Rankine).
• Mon 7-9:50pm; Dr. Elizabeth Wing-Brook~ # 20294
This section of Introduction to Humanities will introduce students to the various
fields of arts and ideas that make up the humanities, such as mythology, literature,
visual arts, theater, cinema, and philosophy (topics such as happiness, love, life and
death, and freedom). We explore the historical and cultural foundations and
developments of each of these creative disciplines (from antiquity to the present),
using an interdisciplinary and multicultural framework. Both online and in-class
instruction includes lectures, discussion, audio-visual examples, as well as a
museum visit and creative projects. We will practice critical thinking and writing
about the arts in context: history, politics, and morality. Our textbook will be The Art
of Being Human, 10th edition. One other literary text and two films will serve as
additional primary texts.
• Online; Dr. Elizabeth Wing-Brook ~ # 20753
This section of Introduction to Humanities will introduce students to the various
fields of arts and ideas that make up the humanities, such as mythology, literature,
visual arts, theater, cinema, and philosophy (topics such as happiness, love, life and
death, and freedom). We explore the historical and cultural foundations and
developments of each of these creative disciplines (from antiquity to the present),
using an interdisciplinary and multicultural framework. Both online and in-class
instruction includes lectures, discussion, audio-visual examples, as well as a
museum visit and creative projects. We will practice critical thinking and writing
about the arts in context: history, politics, and morality. Our textbook will be The Art
of Being Human, 10th edition. One other literary text and two films will serve as
additional primary texts.
• Fri. 9:30-10:45 + online, Dr. Dylan Eret and Dr. Laura Ruberto ~ # 20295
This section’s focus is on California culture and space. It is a hybrid (50% face-toface, 50% online/field work), co-taught course. There will be three required field
trips outside of class time. Students are encouraged (but not required) to enroll also
in HUMAN 30B, #20289.
Humanities 5 (3 units) “Storytelling in American Culture”
• Mon/Wed 11-12:15pm, Dr. Dylan Eret ~ #20296
We all tell stories. As products of our imagination, stories allow us to play with new
worlds and possibilities in a "safe" manner. Yet they also deceive us with their
pretty universes. They conjure up alluring illusions of coherence populated by
compelling characters and plots. In this course, we will learn about the power and
magic of stories in an interdisciplinary manner. We will examine our own stories,
and the people around us through collection and field projects. Thematically, we will
examine the fuzzy fringes between fairytales and science fiction, trauma and
memory, slavery and freedom, humor and horror. Case studies include: the Brothers
Grimm, Marina Warner, Octavia Butler, and Aziz Ansari.
Humanities 21 (3 units) “Film: Art and Communication”
• Mon. 9:30-12:20pm; Dr. Laura Ruberto ~ # 20287
Humanities 21 takes a critical approach to film history; it examines various styles,
genres, and movements (from the late-nineteenth century to the present). Students
will study films from diverse times and places, and should come away from the class
with a broad understanding of how to analyze or “read” a film according to the
technical language of film studies. Students will also be exposed to a variety of films
of historical and international importance, and learn the fundamentals of film
theory. Students are encouraged to discuss films they are interested in (but that we
do not study together) in some of their out-of-class assignments.
• Thurs. 6:30-9:20pm; Dr. Joanne Taylor ~ #20818
Humanities 21 takes a critical approach to film history; it examines various styles,
genres, and movements (from the late-nineteenth century to the present). Students
will study films from diverse times and places, and should come away from the class
with a broad understanding of how to analyze or “read” a film according to the
technical language of film studies. Students will also be exposed to a variety of films
of historical and international importance, and learn the fundamentals of film
theory. Students are encouraged to discuss films they are interested in (but that we
do not study together) in some of their out-of-class assignments.
• Wed/Fri 1:30-4:20, 8 week, second half ; Dr. Shawn Doubiago ~ # 20292
Humanities 21 takes a critical approach to film history; it examines various styles,
genres, and movements (from the late-nineteenth century to the present). Students
will study films from diverse times and places, and should come away from the class
with a broad understanding of how to analyze or “read” a film according to the
technical language of film studies. Students will also be exposed to a variety of films
of historical and international importance, and learn the fundamentals of film
theory. Students are encouraged to discuss films they are interested in (but that we
do not study together) in some of their out-of-class assignments.
Humanities 26 (4 units) “Global Cinema”
• Mon. 6:30-9:20 (screening lab)/Thurs 1:30-4:20pm (lecture), Dr. Laura
Ruberto ~#20290-20291
Hum 26 takes on the study of cinema in an international, cross-cultural, and
historical perspective. We study possible ways of answering these and other
questions: Is there such a thing as world cinema? What is the relationship between
“world cinema” and “national cinemas”? What is “national” about national cinemas?
What has been the role historically between the U.S. film market and other national
film markets? This course will attempt to answer these and other questions by
introducing students to theoretical debates about the categorization and global
circulation of films, film style, authorship, and audiences. Along the way, we will
focus on a number of specific films that are representative of different national film
traditions.
Humanities 30B (3 units) “Human Values: Aesthetics”
• Fri 11-12:15 + online, Dr. Dylan Eret & Dr. Laura Ruberto ~ # 20289
This semester Hum 30B has a focus on California culture and aesthetics. It is a
hybrid (50% face-to-face, 50% online/field work), co-taught course. There will be
three required field trips outside of class time. Students are encouraged (but not
required) to enroll also in HUMAN 1, #20295
Humanities 40 “Religions of the World”
• Mon/Wed 9:30-10:45am, Dr. Dylan Eret ~ # 20288
Religion is much more complex and diverse than old men wearing large hats or
massive groups of devotees praying in unison. It is alive, dynamic, and changing. In
this course section, we will explore religion "as it is lived: as human beings
encounter, understand, interpret it" (Primiano). This means we will attempt to
discover "everyday religion" in our own homes, on our own bodies, and through our
personal stories. Taking a folklore or vernacular approach, we will collect and
interpret how people "actually" practice religion, which may or may not align with
what religious officials expect followers to do. Our case studies will range from the
Walbiri to Santería, Taqwacore to Oprah, Scientology to ISIS. Critiquing textbook
notions of "world religion," we will center our attention around the dizzying ways
religious (and non-religious) communities practice their emergent traditions today
through sharing stories, participating in fun group activities, and going on several
local fieldtrips to sacred sites.
• Tues 1:30-3:20pm, Dr. Dylan Eret ~ # 20819
Religion is much more complex and diverse than old men wearing large hats or
massive groups of devotees praying in unison. It is alive, dynamic, and changing. In
this course section, we will explore religion "as it is lived: as human beings
encounter, understand, interpret it" (Primiano). This means we will attempt to
discover "everyday religion" in our own homes, on our own bodies, and through our
personal stories. Taking a folklore or vernacular approach, we will collect and
interpret how people "actually" practice religion, which may or may not align with
what religious officials expect followers to do. Our case studies will range from the
Walbiri to Santería, Taqwacore to Oprah, Scientology to ISIS. Critiquing textbook
notions of "world religion," we will center our attention around the dizzying ways
religious (and non-religious) communities practice their emergent traditions today
through sharing stories, participating in fun group activities, and going on several
local fieldtrips to sacred sites.
• Tues 6:30-9:20pm, Michelle Mueller ~ # 20820
This section of Humanities 40 pays close attention to religion and politics, social
justice, and race and gender studies. Textbook is a course reader available at BCC
Bookstore. The reader contains readings specially picked for this course. For
updates, view Prof. Mueller's faculty webpage:
http://www.berkeleycitycollege.edu/wp/mmueller/
Humanities 53 (4 units) “Comparative Film Genres”
• Wed. 6-9:50pm; Dr. Joanne Taylor ~ # 24111
Humanities 53 takes a critical approach to film genre. This course introduces
students to genre as a classificatory system as it applies to film. Students will
explore the reaches and limits of genre classification by studying, in detail, two
classic American genres: the zombie film and the musical. Throughout the semester
we will use two analytical lenses to shape our deeper inquiries: critical race studies
and queer studies. Our examination of zombie cinema will necessarily begin with its
folkloric roots in Haitian Voodoo belief systems, issues of colonialism and slavery,
and how these beginnings transformed into the modern zombie film we know and
love today thanks to George A. Romero and his biting social critiques. As we move to
the Musical we will continue our inquiries into racial representations in American
performance traditions, which are rooted in blackface minstrelsy, as we move to
employing the theoretical notions of queerness to better understand the ways in
which the Musical, as a genre, has offered an outlet for explorations of fantasy and
for pushing social norms.