HUEN 3100: Humanities for Engineers 1

This course hopes to inspire you with the same love of the humanities that I feel, deepen your critical thinking and writing skills, and instill in you the desire to make the humanities integral to the rest of your lives (whatever profession you pursue).

The humanities can be enjoyed in virtually infinite ways. The approach of HUEN 3100 is to view the humanities through literature (both fiction and non-fiction), film, and other fine arts that all share two essential qualities. Namely, they all cut to the chase of what it means to be human and, in the process, ask questions fundamental to pursuing a life worth living. It is my hope that, in the process of formulating your own answers to these fundamental questions, as well as reproducing art work, composing poetry, and performing drama, you will apprehend more fully (than you perhaps already do) the excitement of applying the humanities to your own lives.

All discussions will draw on a variety of material in addition to the assigned readings and films, ranging from ancient art works (viewed through digital slides) to modern works of art and literature. Rather than a chronologically sequential study of the humanities that considers vestiges of the past in the modern era, this course presumes that the past and present are symbiotically joined.

Handouts