Humanities

专业详情

The undergraduate program in Humanities provides students the opportunity to integrate courses from across the humanistic disciplines into intellectually coherent and personally meaningful courses of study. Works of literature, music, history, philosophy, and the visual arts are brought into conversation with one another and with the history of ideas. The major offers both interdisciplinary breadth and intellectual depth.

The major in Humanities asks students to begin with broad surveys of foundational works in at least two different cultural traditions, including at least one course on classical Western European texts. All majors take two specially commissioned core seminars, one on the question of what “modernity” is, another spending a whole term interpreting a single work (or small corpus of works) in great depth. Students then devise an area of concentration according to their interests and with the help of appropriate faculty members. 

Courses for Nonmajors

Students in all classes can find options in the varied course offerings, from special seminars for first-year students to the Franke and Shulman Seminars for seniors. Many courses are open to nonmajors.

Requirements of the Major 

Fourteen term courses are required for the major, including three “foundational works” surveys, two core seminars, one course in each of four areas of study in the humanities (which may include the Franke and Shulman Seminars), four additional electives selected to complement the student’s area of concentration and approved by the director of undergraduate studies (DUS), and a one- or two-term senior essay. Majors are also required to keep an intellectual journal and are strongly encouraged to enroll in at least one term course in literature in a foreign language. 

Foundations Three broad surveys of foundational works in any cultural tradition are required, such as HIST 280, EALL 200, or RLST 189. One or two foundations courses must be in the classical tradition of Western Europe, such as Directed Studies, or ENGL 129 or CLCV 256.

Core seminars The major requires two core seminars, one in “Modernities” and one in “Interpretations.” Core seminars typically are taught by a pair of faculty members from complementary disciplines. The two broad themes of the seminars remain consistent from year to year, but the material studied and the faculty members teaching change, allowing each class of students to explore the themes in different ways.

Areas of study in the humanities One course is required in each of four areas: literature; visual, musical, or dramatic arts; science in the humanities; and intellectual history and historical analysis. Courses may be drawn from any department or program in Yale College, with the approval of the DUS.

Intellectual journal Students are encouraged to log entries outlining particularly striking moments in their intellectual lives, whether in courses or outside of them, and to keep track of questions they would like to pursue in their studies, including possible senior essay topics. Students submit a minimum of one journal entry each semester to the DUS. 

Credit/D/Fail For students in the Class of 2025 and subsequent classes, a maximum of two courses taken Credit/D/Fail may count toward the major.

Roadmap See visual roadmap of the requirements.

Senior Requirement

A one- or two-term senior essay is required (HUMS 491).

Advising

Students are expected to declare their intent to major in Humanities in a meeting with the DUS before their junior year.

Unique to the Major

The Franke Seminar and the Shulman Seminar Sponsored by the Whitney Humanities Center and designed to speak across disciplinary lines to broad public and intellectual issues, the Franke Seminar and the Shulman Seminar each include a series of coordinated public lectures. The seminars are for enrolled students; the lecture series are open to the Yale and local communities. Humanities majors may enroll in a Franke or a Shulman Seminar with permission of the DUS and the instructor.

Summer program in Rome Humanities majors who take the course HUMS 444, The City of Rome (or its equivalent, with instructor approval), and develop individual research topics to be pursued in Rome, may apply for enrollment in a two-credit summer course offered by Yale Summer Session. Museums, archaeological sites, churches, piazzas, libraries, and the city itself are part of the classroom for the summer course. Further information is available on the Humanities program website and the Yale Summer Session website.