Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

This humanities course provide an opportunity to explore possible answers to enduring life questions. Compassion", tolerance and a greater understanding of what it means to be human are goals that make this course relevant to the "good life." Your ability to think critically and synthesize knowledge will be exercised regularly through readings, writings and class discussions. An essential question for this course is: What does it mean to be human? The course also provides practice in reading and writing skills. Finally, a key purpose of humanities is to increase students' ability to appreciate people’s compassion for both the natural and created worlds

Upon successful completion students should be able to:

· Use critical thinking to evaluate culturally based assumptions behind art, architecture, literature, music, religion, philosophy, and drama.
· Identify culturally-grounded practices, values and beliefs and explain how they influenced people’s actions in the past and the extent of
their impact today.
· Articulate an understanding of the humanities; that it involves an analysis of what motivates humans to create, and how their creations
reflect their values and world views.
· Communicate effectively about the defining moments of cultures and civilizations

The SAC expects that instructors will assess student learning throughout the term using a variety of methods. The SAC encourages instructors to consider the following in determining the achievement of course outcomes:

·         Quizzes, exams or exercises.

·         Examine musical, literary or visual arts and support views with evidence.

·         Evaluate creative work from a cultural-historical perspective.

·         Work collaboratively in large and small groups

·         Capstone project on the influence of the arts

·         Term paper on the impact a humanities topic on one or more cultures

·         Written assessment of how the humanities have benefited societies over time.

Analyze primary and secondary sources of information

Themes

·         Art, architecture, music, etc. and society

·         The role of women in the humanities

·         Cultural continuity and change

·         Political and economic developments

·         Developments in literature, film and theater

·         Religions and philosophies

·         Violence, conflict and cooperation

Concepts

·         Tools and technology

·         Civilization

·         The self and the other

·         The deity

·         Urban evolution

·         Values

·         Labor

·         The arts

·         Inventions

·         Societal institutions

Issues

·         Technology’s affect on societal values

·         Impact of technology on human settlements

·         Development and use of tools

·         Creation and significance of art

·         Relationship between societies and mechanical devices

·         Effect of religion and philosophy on society

·         Inter-cultural relations

·         Impact of history on cultural developments

COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS

·         Critical and creative thinking about humanities topics

·         Connect past and present events

·         Written and/or oral analysis of cultural creations: objects, music, etc.

·         Work collaboratively with others

·         Conduct research using both primary and secondary sources

·         Write and communicate orally in a clear, organized, and effective manner

·         Ability to describe and analyze works of art

·         Critical viewing of a drama: play, musical, film