Well, some say that Mosaic law is partly derived from Mesopotamian law although this is controversial). But Mesopotamian law was the first to allow for presumption of innocence, and the first to allow women to initiate divorce proceedings. So good stuff if someone is into law history.
@TiglathPilaser , might you have decreed certain bits of that Mesopotamian Law? The Prof should bring you in as a Special Guest Lecturer.
@Tiglathpileser probably got it from the Code of Hammurabi stele in the Oriental Institute Museum. You need to know Akkadian to discipher it but what the hey.
I had read that the Mesopotamian connection to Mosaic law comes from none other than Father Abraham himself.
https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/humanities-signature-courses
Are Signature Courses only in the Humanities curriculum?
@uocparent - Humanities and disciplines like History (which at UChicago is currently considered a social science while obviously having a rich tradition - there and elsewhere - in the humanities). In addition, some courses of study are interdisciplinary as designed (LLSO, for example) and will include signature courses as approved curricula.
I am told that Chicago used to have a humanities history track and a social science history track.
The diversity (or division, perhaps?) exists even today. My daughter’s history courses, so far, have been taught by members of the History department (currently in Social Sciences) as well as instructors from various humanities disciplines. Some are historians by training, others have delved into historical events from the perspective of their own academic specialty. “History” is a widely-defined discipline, regardless of which division currently houses the department. Not sure it can easily be placed into a neat and tidy category.
My daughter is taking her finals this week. She is a Neuroscience Major and is taking a Chemistry course that includes Quantum Chemistry. She said it is the hardest course she has ever taken. To help her she sought tutors from various places and These Tutors had PhDs in Chemistry from other Universities including one from Johns Hopkins. She tried three different Tutors and no one could help her as they could not understand the subject. She eventually had to rely on friends, who graduated from UChicago last year and on track for Med School, to prepare her. They were the only ones who understood the subject matter.
Its a running joke in UChicago that an A from Harvard is a B- in UChicago.
I’ll reemphasize that it is entirely dependent upon your major (like it is at most schools) DD is a 2nd year and has carries 2 4.0 quarters and her roommate is carrying an overall 4.0 GPA. Both work hard but some classes are definitely easier then others.
As a current student, I would say yes in general the courses are more rigorous than at other schools, but if you work hard, they should still be manageable. But it is true that there are some courses at UChicago that working hard can only guarantee you a B+ or at best A-. These are generally honors level courses in STEM. For example, the honors level math and CS theory courses have a substantial amount of students who had background in competitive math or programming as early as in middle school, or just had known all of the course material very well before the first day of class. Besides the honors level courses, some advanced undergraduates take PhD-level courses. These courses are probably the hardest ones that you can take in the US or maybe in the world. While many PhD courses are not graded as strictly as undergraduate ones, the course content is definitely much more challenging.
"But it is true that there are some courses at UChicago that working hard can only guarantee you a B+ or at best A-. These are generally honors level courses in STEM. "
A lot might depend on the subject and the instructor, but my kid has encountered some pretty tough grading in some hum/sosc/civ courses as well.