Search (Interdisciplinary Humanities)

Staff:

Geoffrey Bakewell, Department of Ancient Mediterranean Studies
Gordon Bigelow, Department of English
Miriam G. Clinton, Department of Art and Art History
Daniel E. Cullen, Department of Philosophy
Sarah Ifft Decker, Department of History
Erin Dolgoy, Department of Philosophy and Department of Politics and Law
Stephanie Elsky, Department of English
Patrick Gray, Department of Religious Studies
Judith P. Haas, Department of English
Stephen R. Haynes, Department of Religious Studies
Joseph Jansen, Department of Ancient Mediterranean Studies
Joseph Kelly, Department of Educational Studies
Ariel Lopez, Department of Ancient Mediterranean Studies
David Mason, Media Studies Program
Kenneth S. Morrell, Department of Ancient Mediterranean Studies
Vanessa Rogers, Department of Music
Sarah Rollens, Department of Religious Studies
Susan Satterfield, Department of Ancient Mediterranean Studies
Casey Shin, Department of Politics and Law
David H. Sick, Department of Ancient Mediterranean Studies
Rebecca Tuvel, Department of Philosophy
Stephen H. Wirls, Department of Philosophy

Humanities 101-102-201. Search.

Fall-Spring-Fall. Credits: 4-4-4.

Degree Requirements: F1.

Search is a three-semester sequence of interdisciplinary humanities courses that examine the origins of our modern cultural landscape. In small, seminar settings, Search students and faculty engage in a sustained examination of vital questions arising from an individual’s relationships to the natural world, human society, and the products of human cultures. We approach these questions by interrogating foundational texts within, and written in contestation of, intellectual traditions arising from societies in ancient Mesopotamia, areas around the Mediterranean and Red Sea, in northern Africa, the Nile Valley and Europe, including the Jewish, Chrsitian, and Islamic religious movements. The texts we study over the course of our three semesters speak directly to each other, often radically critiquing the traditions from which they emerge. Search critically examines the assumptions that emerge from these disputed traditions, assumptions that underlie cultures and institutions in the modern world. A major emphasis of Search is the development of skills that are central to the whole curriculum (careful reading, analytical writing, critical thinking and discussion), equipping students for a lively and lifelong conversation of ideas.

HUM 101 and 102

The first semester of Search focuses on the ancient world and follows primarily the history and literature of the Israelites and ancient Greeks. Texts include the ancient Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hebrew Bible, and the works of Homer, Athenian playwrights and historians, Plato, and Aristotle. The second semester of Search covers literature from the Hellenistic period to the Middle Ages. Texts include Virgil’s Aeneid, On the Nature of Things by Lucretius, the New Testament, Qur’an, and Dante’s Divine Comedy. During the first year of the course, all Search colloquia follow a common syllabus; every 2-3 weeks, all Search students meet for a plenary lecture delivered by one of the Search faculty.

HUM 201

The third semester of Search pursues the questions raised in the first year as they play out in the modern world. Students trace the evolution of the intellectual legacy from antiquity and the medieval period as it shaped the values, character, and institutions of European cultures and their understanding of self and the world. Different sections follow different themes and disciplinary focuses determined by the instructor.

Prerequisites: Humanities 101 is a prerequisite for Humanities 102. Humanities 102 is a prerequisite for Humanities 201. These prerequisites may be satisfied alternatively by the permission of the instructor.