<p>I need a little help with picking a HUM sequence for this year. I never actually gave this much thought at all - I skimmed through the course offerings for the HUM core and simply took for granted the fact that I would take the "Philosophical Perspectives on the Humanities" course (Philosophy is one of my primary academic interests).</p>
<p>Anyway, I was just going through the course catalog today and realized that it might not be such a good idea for me to take the "Philosophical Perspectives" course because as a student of Philosophy I will anyway take the year long History of Philosophy sequence in my 2nd or 3rd year so I might as well make use of this opportunity to do something slightly different. Or maybe I should just stick to what I'm interested in?</p>
<p>The "Introduction to Humanities" sequence seems very interesting but I'm afraid it seems a little too intensive for me. Being extremely one-sided academically (so far I've been a total Math and Science person) I'll need some time to adjust to the writing assignments. Would you say that the "Intro.." course would not be a good idea for me in this situation?</p>
<p>I've eliminated a few courses and my options now are:
1. Philosophical Perspectives...
2. Intro to the Humanities...
3. Readings in World Lit.
4. Human Being and Citizen</p>
<p>I always thought (and still do think) that Philosophical Perspectives would be the perfect course for me to do since it matches my interests perfectly and I like the structure of the sequence but I can't help feeling that it will be redundant for me to take the sequence. Please do let me know what you think, any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>Take Human Being and Citizen. It's got a little bit of everything, and the reading list is oh-so delicious. The other classes are not as carefully monitored by the old fogeys, so I think the reading lists tend to vary from prof to prof. A typical HBC reading list includes..</p>
<p>FALL:
The Iliad
Plato's Apology
Genesis</p>
<p>WINTER:
Nichomachean Ethics
Confessions of St. Augustine
The Inferno</p>
<p>SPRING:
Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare)
Kant's "Groundwork for the Metaphyiscs of Morals"
Hadji Murad (Tolstoy) or Invisible Man (Ellison)...?</p>
<p>Pagewise, the course is not that much reading, but we go incredibly, incredibly in-depth on what is read.... depending on your professor, you may or may not have other texts thrown in... just thinking about these books is making me miss HBC :-P</p>
<p>I'm an HBC fan. I think World Lit is a pretty good one, too. Phil Perspectives is a lot of philosophy. Media gets mixed reviews: some really like it, and some really don't. Almost everyone seems to like HBC pretty well.</p>
<p>Add Euthyphro (fall) and a section on American documents (Spring) onto Unalove's list for HBC.</p>
<p>Badman, I can't think of anybody who took that hum. There must be people I know who took it, but I can't think of anyone.</p>
<p>Anyway, you guys will get guidance on this once you start school.</p>
<p>I had a long conversation about Hum with an assistant prof in the German department who taught a section of Human Being and Citizen, and what he said was "Some of the classic sequences just work better. Those sequences have been evolving for decades. It takes a long time to find a syllabus that works across a wide range of teachers and students." That sounds like good insight to me.</p>
<p>I think he meant Human Being and Citizen, and maybe Philosophical Perspectives. I don't know how long Greek Thought has been around, but I'm sure that's fine, too.</p>
<p>I'm really liking the look of Language and the Human, but I see that it is ownly two quarters. Three quarters of HUM is suggested for med school entry, so is it possible to take the two quarter sequence of Language and the Human and then one quarter of something else?
I'd go with a different three quarter sequence alotgether if that's not possible, but I really think that the description of Language and the Human looks so interesting that I'd be sad if I had to pass it up...</p>
<p>I was a GTL girl all the way my first year. I must say I really enjoyed the sequence and am glad I went with it. For my 2nd year I did the Sosc: Power sequence, and in my third year I took Civ in Paris in the study abroad program. I liked what I did because I got a great selection of reading with those three courses - highly different topics... and since GTL is so classically focused, you don't really run into most of those texts in sosc and civ sequences.</p>
<p>Intro to Humanities is rarely offered; I think there's just one section this year. I've heard bad things about Readings in World Lit., but I think it might be better to just see what interests you, and when you meet with your adviser see what's open, what's not, how it fits into your schedule, and if a good professor is teaching or not.</p>
<p>Readings in World Literature gets a lot of bad press. I think in part it has to do with the fact that a lot of people who sign up for it are econ / science majors looking for an “easy” humanities core. There is a perception that the more modern sequences, which are taught by generally younger professors, are more liberal on grading and lax on reading compared to the tenure heavy classics oriented fields like Greek Though and Literature and Human Being and Citizen. Students in turn seem to get upset when they find out that the standards are pretty solid across the board, and that instructors are not afraid to give out poor grades to those who don’t put in the requisite effort. You will see this in other areas too. More dedicated students tend to sort towards “Classics of Social and Political Thought,” whereas “Self, Culture and Society” is considered somewhat looser. For civ, the sequences that are tied to area studies majors are more aggressive than those that are for core credit only, since the former have comprehensive examinations in addition to papers, which requires a lot of factual memorization oftentimes in an area that is entirely new to the student.</p>
<p>Are you serious? I thought that Self, Culture and Society was the heavyweight champion of the SOSC core sequences. Being the most "traditional" of the SOSC core sequences I wouldn't have guessed that anyone would consider it an easy option.</p>
<p>If you are interested in Readings in World Literature by all means take it. My point was that if you are taking it as an "out" then you are likely to be disappointed. </p>
<p>I took Self, Culture, and Society, and while my professors were great the students were definitely on the weaker end of the Chicago scale. It is also much easier to write a paper about Weber or Freud than it is to write one about St. Augustine or Rousseau.</p>