2020 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences20:Western Thought 1
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Yakup Bektas
- Class Format
- Lecture (Zoom)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 3-4 Wed (B223)
- Class
- 1
- Course Code
- LAH.S420
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2020
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
--What are the Humanities? Debates from Plato to C. P. Snow and Beyond--
What educators and students since the medieval period have thought about education has undergone many changes over the centuries, changes that show no sign of stopping. The central concern has been what it means to be human. This course will look specifically at ideas of the liberal arts and the humanities, following their evolution from classical antiquity up to the utilitarianism and commercialization of education in the 20th century. It will discuss their relation to humanitas, humanity, and humanism, and examine the contrasts with mechanical arts, divinity, and science, as well as their position within liberal arts, and in modern times within social and human sciences.
To get an in-depth understanding of subtle connections between the humanities and humanism and humanistic ideas, we will read short writings from authors including Hegel, Kant, Dilthey, Sartre, Heidegger, Dewey, as well as Thoreau, Matthew Arnold, and Thomas H. Huxley.
We will then explore debates about the place, position, and worth of the humanities, focusing on C.P. Snow’s “Two Cultures.” We will also discuss the “Science Wars” in the 1990s, culture wars, creationism, multiculturalism and critiques of the idea of a canon of literature, and finally the current pressure to depreciate the humanities all over the world, as illustrated by the British “defend the humanities” campaign against the threat of funding cuts.
AIMS:
To show that ideas about the humanities have undergone a long and complex evolution, and how understanding that history contributes to evaluating their significance now.
To help develop a better understanding of the questions surrounding the state of the humanities and their place in liberal education today.
Course description and aims
"Understand better the questions concerning the state of the humanities and their value for liberal education today
Understand better the history of ideas of the humanities and meaning of the related terminology and concepts
Improved critical reading skills
Improved conversational and writing skills
"
Keywords
the humanities, the liberal arts, the history of the humanities, humanism, culture, culture and science, literature and science, Matthew Arnold, Thomas Huxley, C. P. Snow, the "two cultures"
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Conducted in lecture format. Class attendance is mandatory. Students are expected to 1) read the assigned readings prior to the class, 2) participate in classroom discussions, and 3) write short papers.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Plato's Cave: the idea of the liberal arts from Plato to Cicero | Passages from Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and others |
| Class 2 | The Liberal Arts (Quadrivium and Trivium) | Chapter/s from Kimball, The Liberal Arts Tradition (2010) |
| Class 3 | Petrarch, "lumen litterarum," and the Renaissance | Chapter/s from Kimball, The Liberal Arts Tradition (2010); others will be posted in advance. |
| Class 4 | The humanities and humanism; the Enlightenment | Kant, “What is Enlightenment?” (1784); (More will be posted ahead of time) Heidegger, “The Letter on Humanism” (1947); Sartre, “Existentialism as Humanism”(1946) |
| Class 5 | The 19th century: science, positivism, the decline of classics | Thoreau, “Reading” (Walden, 1854); Matthew Arnold, "Culture and Anarchy" (1869) |
| Class 6 | Science, culture, and literature: Debate btw Matthew Arnold and Thomas H. Huxley | Thomas Huxley, "Science and Culture" (1880); Matthew Arnold, “Science and Literature” (1882) |
| Class 7 | C. P Snow’s “Two Cultures”: the humanities v. the sciences | C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures (1962); P. R. Leavis, "The Two Cultures" (in Stefan Collini, 2013) |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Passages from Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Oratore (51 BC)
Passages from Francis Bacon’s The Advancement of Learning (1605)
Jean Jack Rousseau, Emile, or on Education (1762)
Immanuel Kant, “What is Enlightenment?” (1784)
Henry David Thoreau, “Reading” (Walden, 1854)
Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience" (1866)
Matthew Arnold, "Culture and Anarchy" (1869)
Matthew Arnold, “Science and Literature” (1882)
Thomas H. Huxley, "Science and Culture" (1880)
John Dewey, Democracy and Education (1916)
Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, I, Introduction to the Human Sciences (1989)
Jean Paul Sartre, “Existentialism as Humanism,” 1946
Martin Heidegger, The Origin of the Work of Art (1960) and “The Letter on Humanism” (1947)
Charles Percy Snow, The Two Cultures, with Introduction by Stefan Collini (2012)
P. R. Leavis, The Two Cultures? The Significance of C. P. Snow (1962), with Introduction by Stefan Collini (2013)
Anthony Grafton and Lisa Jardine, From Humanism to Humanities (1986)
Helen Small, The Value of the Humanities (2013)
Evaluation methods and criteria
Based on class performance and writing assignments (short papers)
Related courses
- Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences
Prerequisites
None