Humanities Programs and Course Offerings

Eccentral Committee:

Gordon C.F. Bearn, Ph.D. (Yale), Philosophy and Director Humanities Center; Beth Dolan, Ph.D. (North Carolina), English; Amy Forsyth, M.Arch. (Princeton), Art and Architecture; Kashi Johnson, M.F.A. (Pittsburgh), Theater; John Pettegrew, Ph.D. (Wisconsin at Madison), History and American Studies, Director; John Savage, Ph.D. (NYU), History; Bob Watts, Ph.D. (Missouri-Columbia), English.

The Humanities Program is devoted to freeing faculty and students from the discipline of the disciplines, to finding a way to the space between the disciplines, the space where the sparks of intellectual excitement fly, sparks that ignite the pleasures and passions that characterize the best of university life.

The humanities are construed so broadly that they will include any aspect of intellectual investigation which is relevant to understanding whatever humans are or have been, whatever humans have produced or are producing. It remains an open question whether any discipline at all is irrelevant to the understanding of human life and work. Even such apparently far-flung investigations as the thermodynamics of far from equilibrium systems are already being used to understand the evolution of forms of human society, and both Goedel's work on the foundations of mathematical logic and Bohm's ontological interpretation of quantum mechanics have already been used at some distance from their original homes. Although "humanities" is the name of this program, "inclusion" is its watchword.

Intellectual work always faces a trade-off between the intensities of connection and the intensities of concentration: between the power of an analysis which excludes every concern and every method of investigation save one and the power of an analysis which reveals the amazing ways an inert site of investigation can be aroused by bringing out the myriad connections that reach out from that site in all directions at once. Divided by department and by college, by discipline and sub-discipline, universities are disposed to accentuate the centripetal powers of concentration at the expense of the centrifugal powers of connection. It is important, therefore, that there be elements within the university that draw people and disciplines out of the center of their fields. This is the eccentral mission of the Humanities Program.

Humanities Minor Programs

The Humanities Minor Programs provide homes for the homeless interdisciplines, interdisciplinary areas of concentration that do not have official departmental or interdepartmental homes. There are currently three minors in the humanities, and there may be more in the future.

a) Medieval Studies Minor in Humanities

Advisor, Michael Mendelson, Associate Professor of Philosophy

The Medieval Studies Minor requires that a student take 4 courses (16 credits) from the following list. At the discretion of the Advisor for the Medieval Studies Minor, a student may count any other course (not on this list) towards the minor.

b) Ethics Minor in Humanities

Advisors. Lloyd H. Steffen, Professor of Religion Studies and Gordon C.F. Bearn, Professor of Philosophy.

The Ethics Minor construes ethics more broadly than as the subject of philosophical treatises. The Ethics Minor is especially concerned with the way ethical challenges arise outside the semi-technical philosophical field of ethics itself, that is, in the pursuit of the various professions and in the conduct of life, generally.

The Ethics Minor consists of 4 courses (16 credits) from the following list. At least one course must come from the first five italicized members of the list. At the discretion of an Advisor for the Ethics Minor, a student may count any other course (not on this list) towards the minor.

c) Peace Studies Minor in Humanities

Advisors. Addison Bross (English) and Chaim Kaufmann (International Relations).

In a series of courses in the humanities and social-sciences, the Peace Studies Minor will focus, for one of its two main components, on the history, theory, and practice of nonviolent direct action in its various forms, as employed by such leaders as Gandhi and King. In its second component students will gain an understanding of the causes of armed international conflict and the policy processes that influence the escalation and de-escalation of hostilities. A central course (Hum 180) will introduce key concepts by which practitioners, using both these approaches, seek to create peace in a violent world. Guest lectures dealing with the second component will be offered by the Program's Co-Advisor (Chaim Kaufmann, International Relations) as well as by other faculty who are willing to contribute on a volunteer basis.

Requirements for Completion of the Minor

Four 4-credit courses, including:

1. Hum 180. Introduction to Peace Advocacy.
2. 1 course from the non-violence/peace advocacy list below;
3. 1 course from the conflict/policy process list below;
4. 1 course from either list.

Non-violence/peace advocacy/practice of advocac

*No more than one internship can be counted toward the minor.

Conflict/policy process/foreign policy

Honors in Humanities

The honors program in Humanities is designed to facilitate research beyond the disciplinary frame of a student's major. In order to earn Honors in Humanities students must (1) have a GPA of at least 3.5 and (2) apply to the director of the Humanities Center detailing how they intend to complete the rest of these requirements, namely, (3) completing 3 courses (9-12 credits) from at least 2 different departments that have been selected with the help of the director so as to prepare the student to (4) complete a year long thesis under the guidance of two faculty members representing two different departments.

Successful completion of the honors thesis in humanities will be decided by two faculty advisors for the thesis. The thesis will count for honors in the two home departments of the advisors only if the home departments also certify that the thesis has been satisfactorily completed.

Applications to the director should be completed by the beginning of the second semester of the student's Junior year. The application should describe the anticipated project and show how the three preparatory courses constitute appropriate preparation for the thesis. If the final thesis does not meet with the approval of the two advisors then the student will not receive honors in humanities but he or she will receive grades and credit for the courses taken and the thesis written.

Course Offerings

HUM 126. (PHIL 126, REL 126) Professional Ethics (4)

An examination of the moral rules and action guides that govern various professions. Professions to be examined will include health (physician and nursing); legal; counseling and psychiatry; engineering; military; clergy; teaching. Attention will be given to modes of ethical reasoning and how those modes are practically applied in professional life and activity. Among issues to be discussed will be the limits of confidentiality; employer authority; power relationships; obligations to the public; professional rights; sexual boundaries; whistle-blowing; safety and risk; computer ethics; weapons development; discrimination; professional review of ethical infractions. Course will include guest lectures and case studies. Steffen (HU)

HUM 137. (PHIL 137, REL 137) Ethics in Practice (1-4)

A variable content course focusing on ethical issues arising in a particular profession, such as law, health, business, engineering, military. Variable credit. May be taken more than once. Steffen (HU)

HUM 150. Humanities Seminar (4)

Variable Content. An opportunity for humanities faculty to involve students in the exciting and accessible aspects of their research. May be taken more than once for credit. Staff (HU)

HUM 180. Introduction to Peace Studies (4)

Offers an overview of the field from the perspective of various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Among issues to be explored are the contested concepts of "peace," "war," and "violence" (overt and systemic); methods for establishing "negative" and "positive" peace; the theory and evolution of "direct action" as a means to nonviolent social change as practiced by Gandhi, King, and others; the causes of international conflict; methods for reducing, through diplomacy, the tensions that lead to war, for de-escalating hostilities and restoring peace; the validity of Just War theory and challenges to it. Since any attempt to establish peace must take into account the political and social environment in which advocates must operate, several guest lectures by faculty from International Relations and other departments will be included. Bross (HU)

HUM 181. Internship with Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern (LEPOCO) (4)

Supervised practical work with this volunteer peace-and-justice organization located in Bethlehem, PA, combined with a sequence of supervised readings in the history and theory of nonviolent methods of resolving conflict. Requirements include journal-keeping, periodical consultations with the advisor, and a final essay on the student's response to the readings and assessment of his or her practical work. Bross. (HU)

HUM 224. Lehigh Review (1-4)

Students will produce the annual edition of the Lehigh Review, the journal of undergraduate academic (non-fiction) writing. The production tasks are divided into one 4 credit editorial board and three 1 credit pass-fail modules (reviewing, distribution, images). Students may enroll in either the 4 credit editorial board or in one or more of the 1 credit modules. Admission is by application at the Humanities Center. (HU)

HUM 250. Intermediate Humanities Seminar (4)

Interdisciplinary Seminar. Normally a team taught seminar bringing various disciplines to bear on a specific topic which will change from semester to semester. May be taken more than once for credit. Staff (HU)

HUM 271. Humanities Independent Study (1-4)

Individual investigation of an author, book or topic designed in collaboration with a faculty sponsor. Tutorial meetings; substantial written work. May be repeated more than once for credit. Consent of faculty sponsor required. (HU)

HUM 350. Advanced Humanities Seminar (4)

Interdisciplinary Seminar. Normally a team taught seminar bringing various disciplines to bear on a specific topic which will change from semester to semester. May be taken more than once for credit. Staff (HU)

HUM 371. Humanities Advanced Independent Study (1-4)

Advanced individual investigation of an author, book, or topic designed in collaboration with a faculty sponsor. Tutorial meetings; substantial written work. May be repeated more than once for credit. Consent of faculty sponsor required. (HU)

HUM 373. (PHIL 373, REL 373) Independent Ethics Project (4)

Supervised ethics research into a topic approved by the advisor for the Humanities Minor in Ethics. An option for completing the ethics minor. For ethics minors only. (HU)

HUM 390. Humanities Honors Thesis, first semester (4)

An opportunity for students admitted to the humanities honors program to pursue independent research under the guidance of two faculty members representing two different departments. If the student's work does not satisfy the two advisors, the student will receive a grade for the course but will not receive honors. (HU)

HUM 391. Humanities Honors Thesis, second semester (4)

Continuation of HUM 390. If the student's work does not satisfy the two advisors, the student will receive a grade for the course but will not receive honors. (HU)

HUM 450. Theory Seminar (1-3)

Sustained investigation of a single theorist or theoretical problem relevant to research in the humanities. Theorists studied could come from beyond this list: Butler, Harraway, Irigaray, Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze, Baudrillard, Kristeva, Eliade, Freud, Marx, Lacan, Barthes, Gramsci, Guattari, Cornel, Cixous, Wittig, Hall, Gilroy, Bataille, Blanchot, Rorty, Fish, and so on. Problems studied could come from beyond this list: Power, Identity, Race, Sexuality, Writing as a Woman, Essentialism, Jouissance, Nomadism, Social Constructivism, Popular Culture, and so on. May be taken more than once for credit.