humanities @ case

<p>how are the humanities at case? i am particularly interested in history, english, languages, and music.</p>

<p>Fortunately we have a couple of current students here who can hopefully comment. </p>

<p>I'd recommend you get a copy of the Course Catalog and also poke around the Case web sites. In the course catalog you will see the depth of classes available (such as PhD programs in music, minors in Italian, Japanese, Russian, etc.). On the web site you'll find there is a summer program in Germany run by the German Dept., etc. Look at the faculty of the departments you're interested in; they are likely to have PhDs from the best known universities.</p>

<p>Also, there is some useful information in the handbook:</p>

<p><a href="https://studentaffairs.case.edu/office/pdf/handbook0405.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://studentaffairs.case.edu/office/pdf/handbook0405.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>such as any student can get music lessons w/ CIM faculty (not just music majors - thats what it says*) and the many musical ensembles available. *It seems there are not many barriers put up by this school in general.</p>

<p>Some books I've read (P r o w l e r Guide and Barron's Guide) say that the humanities side is just as good academically as the engineering/science side and the humanities students are pretty happy w/ Case (small classes, lots of faculty interaction) .</p>

<p>Take these professor ratings with multiple grains of salt:</p>

<p><a href="http://ratemyprofessor.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=186&orderby=TDept%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ratemyprofessor.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=186&orderby=TDept&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Case told me when I visited that they do not send out course catalogs to students. They don't offer them at Case either. However, if you go to <a href="http://www.case.edu/bulletin%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.case.edu/bulletin&lt;/a> , you'll see all the departments in all the schools with all the majors and all the classes offered during the period 2004-2006. It also explains things like the Sages program and core requirements for each school. So it's like an online course-catalog.</p>

<p>Edit: Just check the navbar on the side for the 2004-2006 edition.</p>

<p>Somehow my D came away with one from Admissions when she visited in February. It's the 2002-2004 book which apparently is the same as the HTML link given on the page you posted. Very useful.</p>

<p>are the programs strong?</p>

<p>Hello,
First, I have to tell you that I have just completed my freshman year at Case. I am a Biology/German and Pre-Med student. My minor is Russian. So, I can tell you a little bit about the language department, as well as the humanities.</p>

<p>Okay. Don't go to Case if you want a liberal/humanity-friendly university. True story. The german department here, while small, is lacking in a variety of courses. However, that's not to say that the department is bad. It's spectacular, but the courses are very, very linear. There are rarely any literature courses aside from a general one. There are no courses focusing on German authors, poetry, or much of any history. Nor are there any courses in terms of translation techniques in none of the languages.</p>

<p>The French department is better than the German. I speak French fluently, and was actually amazed by how much more courses that were literature-orientated offered in the French department versus the German.</p>

<p>The Russian department only offers a minor, and it is good.</p>

<p>I should also note, that all the teachers here, language-wise, are native-speakers of the language they are teaching. Most of them also are from Ivy-league schools.</p>

<p>I actually tried to transfer to University of Chicago this spring because they had much better courses that were orientated towards a liberal feel that Case didn’t offer in German and Russian. The point being, Case is definitely not a liberal arts school. It is solely a school for engineers and pre-medicine majors. Needless to say, I will be staying at Case Western Reserve University for pre-medicine, not German.</p>

<p>Case has problems with their enrollment in terms of humanities. I can attest because I work in admissions, and a day doesn’t go by when I open a letter that reads along the lines something like this: “I will not be attending your school, but will be attending [insert an Ivy League liberal school here] to pursue a career in History/English/etc.”</p>

<p>Also, Case does produce some top-notch pre-law people too. The history department is known for that. However, the Law school here needs some work.</p>

<p>I hope you do not think that I am putting down Case Western Reserve University in any way because it is not a liberal-arts school by any means. I know many other students who are as frustrated as I am, but want to stay at Case Western Reserve University to keep the name instead of try to transfer to a lesser-known liberal arts school.</p>

<p>If you have any questions, please do email me at <a href="mailto:btc8@case.edu">btc8@case.edu</a> and I will be happy to answer any questions you have. Again, I am not taking a personal shot at Case. It is a great school, but think before you invest your money and end up trying to get out like I am.</p>

<p>Brad</p>

<p>Thank you, that was very informative. I'm interested in getting a second major in history. If I feel that I'm not getting the best education, I'll look into transfering. But I'll have to see. I hear that the school is changing for the better (not just socially).</p>