Office: Clark Hall 419

Telephone: 408-924-4463

Professors

Christian Jochim
Shannon Rose Riley, Chair
Jennifer Rycenga
Susan Verducci-Sandford

Associate Professors

J. Todd Ormsbee
Cynthia Rostankowski

Assistant Professors

Tova Cooper
Meghan Gorman-DaRif
Funie Hsu
Chanh Cong Phan
Daniel Lanza Rivers
Jose Juan Villagrana

Overview

Welcome to the Humanities Department: The home of Creative and Transdisciplinary Studies!

In the twenty-first century, we find ourselves awash in accessible information - but most of us have never learned how to swim in this sea of ideas, histories, and creative works. The Humanities Department is the place where the skills of integration are taught within creative and transdisciplinary paradigms. Whether studying multiple art forms and creativity in the Creative Arts BA, combining subject matter in the Liberal Studies Teacher Prep BA in order to prepare to become a teacher, or integrating perspectives from various academic disciplines in one of the three concentrations in the Humanities BA (American Studies, Religious Studies, or Liberal Arts), our students find in the Humanities Department the place where they can think broadly and imaginatively. With a BA from Humanities, our students acquire the ability to dive deeply into the welter of wonders and ideas in the contemporary world, through comparative, historical, and innovative approaches.

Courses in the Humanities Department typically integrate history, literature, education, philosophy, religion, politics, and the arts. Most importantly, Humanities students develop analytical and expressive skills as well as an ability to read, write, and think clearly, especially about their roles in shaping various societies. Our students win writing awards and our graduates pursue careers in a variety of fields, including arts administration, education, law, journalism, library science, public service, art therapy, occupational therapy, social work, community development, and public relations. We are home to the renowned GE programs in Humanities Honors and American Civilization as well as to the popular Liberal Studies Teacher Prep BA, one of the largest teacher preparation majors on campus.

Students pursuing the Liberal Studies Teacher Prep BA are interested in teaching in elementary or middle school. The program is approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) for subject matter preparation.

Students pursuing the Humanities BA explore a wide array of human experience in diverse locations, in various media, art, and literature, and in significant cultural forms such as religion and other cultural traditions. The BA has three concentrations to select from: American Studies, Comparative Religious Studies, and Liberal Arts.

Students pursuing the interdisciplinary Creative Arts BA explore creativity across the human lifespan and in different cultural contexts and conduct a sustained inquiry into their own creative process. Students take classes in more than one arts area and investigate different purposes of the arts and creativity in different cultural contexts. The Creative Arts Program, established in 1956, is the only interdisciplinary arts and creativity studies BA program in the CSU!

The Humanities Department also offers several minor programs, including American Studies, Area Studies, Asian Studies, Creative Arts, Comparative Religious Studies, Middle East Studies, and Humanities.

Advisors: Christian Jochim, Amy Li, J. Todd Ormsbee, Cynthia Rostankowski, Shannon Rose Riley, Jennifer Rycenga, Susan Verducci

American Cultures GE Curriculum

The American Cultures curriculum is a two-semester, twelve-unit sequence which satisfies over one-fourth of all lower division general education requirements. Together, AMS 1A  and AMS 1B  provide six units of general education credit in arts and letters (Area C), six units in comparative systems and social issues (Area D), and satisfy the California Education Code American Institutions requirements in U.S. History, U.S. Constitution and California Government (Areas US1, US2, US3). The courses provide the opportunity to study America’s development and current conditions through themes such as the American dream, environmental issues, and ethnic and women’s studies.

Humanities Honors GE Curriculum

The Humanities Honors Program offers a four-semester survey course in World Cultures and Societies, Honors (HUM 1A /HUM 1B ) and Modern World Cultures, Honors (HUM 2A /HUM 2B ), which provides students with 24 units of core General Education in a format that emphasizes the interrelationship of art, literature, philosophy and social institutions. Core General Education requirements satisfied are: Oral Communication (3 units), Written Communication 1A (3 units), Critical Thinking and Writing (3 units), Arts & Letters (9 units), Comparative Systems (3 units), Social Issues (3 units), and American Institutions (AI) all areas US 1, 2, and 3. The course is interdisciplinary, globally focused, and team-taught, and is organized chronologically from the Ancient World through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Early Modern and Contemporary periods. Entering students with a high school GPA of 3.0 and a verbal SAT score of 550 or above are automatically eligible.

The Department also offers an upper division GE sequence in Advanced Honors in Integrated Science, Social Science, and Humanities (HUM 177A /HUM 177B ), which covers SJSU Studies areas R, S. and V.

American Studies Program

Office: CLARK HALL 419

Telephone: 408-924-1366

Professors

Shannon Rose Riley

Associate Professors

J. Todd Ormsbee

Assistant Professors

Tova Cooper
Funie Hsu

Overview

The American Studies Program provides useful preparation for graduate study, for elementary or secondary teaching, or for careers in law, public service or government. In addition to the minor in American Studies, a student can receive a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities with a concentration in American Studies through the Humanities Department. All American Studies courses, whether for a major, minor, or for general education, enhance our understanding of how our nation developed in the past, what it has become, and how these changes affect us today. Courses focus on subjects such as the American dream, interracial relations, environmental issues, popular culture and women’s concerns.

Programs

• American Studies Minor
• Area Studies Minor
• Asian Studies Minor
• Creative Arts Minor
• Creative Arts, BA
• Humanities Minor
• Humanities, American Studies Concentration, BA
• Humanities, Liberal Arts Concentration, BA
• Humanities, Religious Studies Concentration, BA
• Liberal Studies, Cross-Cultural Studies in Mexican and American Education Concentration, BA (Not Accepting Students)
• Liberal Studies, Integrated Teacher Education Program Spanish Bilingual, BA
• Liberal Studies, Integrated Teacher Education Program, BA
• Liberal Studies, Preparation for Teaching, BA
• Middle East Studies Minor
• Religious Studies Minor

Courses

• MDES 144 - Middle Eastern Politics
• MDES 145 - Middle Eastern Traditions
• MDES 156 - Islam, Politics and the West
• MDES 180 - Individual Studies
• MDES 183A - Art of Egypt and Mesopotamia
• MDES 183B - Art of Islam-Early Islam to the Seljuks
• MDES 183C - Art of Islam 13th-19th Century
• MDES 184 - Directed Reading
• MDES 189 - Islamic Perspectives on Gender
• MDES 192 - Int’l Program Studies

• RELS 10A - Elementary Hebrew
• RELS 10B - Elementary Hebrew
• RELS 15A - Intermediate Hebrew
• RELS 15B - Intermediate Hebrew
• RELS 70 - Gods, Guns, Gurus, Grails-World Religion
• RELS 90 - Bible History and Literature
• RELS 92 - Int’l Program Studies
• RELS 99 - Death, Dying and Religions
• RELS 100W - Writing in the Humanities & Interdisciplinary Arts
• RELS 102A - Advanced Hebrew
• RELS 102B - Advanced Hebrew
• RELS 104 - Asian Philosophy
• RELS 105A - Classical and Koine Greek
• RELS 105B - Classical and Koine Greek
• RELS 109 - Philosophy of Religion
• RELS 111 - Special Topics in Jewish Studies
• RELS 114 - Legacy of Asia
• RELS 120 - Censors and Icons: Arts and Religion
• RELS 122 - Magic, Science and Religion
• RELS 124 - Literature and Religious Experience
• RELS 131 - Gender, Sexuality, and Religion
• RELS 134 - Religion Film & Media
• RELS 137 - Religion in the Black Community
• RELS 142 - Contemporary Buddhism and its Roots
• RELS 144 - Chinese Traditions
• RELS 145 - Middle Eastern Traditions
• RELS 148 - Religion and Anthropology
• RELS 155 - Pagan Traditions
• RELS 156 - Islam, Politics and the West
• RELS 161 - Varieties of Spiritual Experience
• RELS 162 - Religion and Political Controversy in the US
• RELS 180 - Individual Studies
• RELS 184 - Directed Reading
• RELS 190 - Senior Seminar in Humanities
• RELS 191 - Religion in America
• RELS 192 - Int’l Program Studies