Humanities BA | Fairleigh Dickinson University

The Humanities major offers a broadly-based liberal arts education and an integrated interdisciplinary experience that draws on Literature, History, Philosophy, the visual and performing arts, and culture courses in modern languages. Each discipline has its characteristic methods and interpretive moves, which are studied independently and which come together in an introductory methods course and a senior capstone seminar, which offer intensive interdisciplinary study of themes and historical periods.

This major would be magnificent preparation for a career in law (especially combined with FDU’s own prelaw minor), or any other field that prizes rigorous yet flexible thinking, well-honed research skills, clear but sophisticated writing, and being able to take multiple perspectives on an issue. It is also strongly recommended for elementary education.

Program Outcomes

  1. Understand how various methodologies specific to areas of study within the Humanities are effectively employed in the study of texts or other cultural artifacts.
  2. Understand methodology and/or content differences in different disciplines.
  3. Demonstrate critical reading, reasoning, and writing skills that contribute to the study of the Humanities.

Degree Plan

NOTE: All students are required to complete the General Education Requirements of their campus in fulfillment of their Bachelor degree requirements.

The standard Bachelor’s degree at FDU is 120 credits, including Gen Ed requirements and an optional 15-credit minor or 15 credits of free electives. 36 credits are required for the major:

Required major courses (9 credits)

  • HUMN 1100, Intro to Methods in the Humanities
  • HUMN 4001, Humanities Senior Capstone
  • Any 3-credit course in Philosophy (PHIL) or Religion (RELI)

Elective courses (27 credits)

Choose nine more 3-credit courses from these disciplines:

  • The Arts, including Art History (ARTH), Cinema Studies (CINE), Music (MUSI), and Theater Studies (THEAH). One 3-credit expressive or studio arts course in Art (ART), Creative Writing (CREW), Dance (DAN), Filmmaking (FILM) or Theater (THEA) can also count here.
  • History (HIST)
  • Humanities (HUMN)
  • Language (LANG), i.e. culturally-specific courses taught in English
  • Literature (LITS)
  • Philosophy (PHIL)
  • Religion (RELI)

HUMN courses are unlimited. Otherwise there’s a maximum of three courses from the same discipline (“the Arts” being one discipline), and only one of those can be at the 1000-level.

Internship

3 credits of an approved internship in any Humanities discipline will count towards the major electives.

QUEST/MAT Options

  • BA, Humanities/QUEST/Preschool – Grade 3
  • BA, Humanities/QUEST/Elementary Education
  • BA, Humanities/QUEST/Preschool – Grade 3 TSD
  • BA, Humanities/QUEST/Elementary Education Special Education
  • BA, Humanities/QUEST/English as a Second Language
  • BA, Humanities/QUEST/Elementary Education ESL

The QUEST version of the major is expressly designed to give elementary-school teachers the skills to teach language arts, social studies, civics, and more. Again, there are 36 required credits:

Required major courses (6 credits)

  • HUMN 1100, Intro to Methods in the Humanities
  • HUMN 4001, Humanities Senior Capstone

Literature (15 credits)

  • One course in American literature
  • One course in world literature
  • One course on Shakespeare
  • LITS 3311, Children’s Literature
  • LITS 2030, English Grammar, or LITS 2031, The English Language

History (9 credits)

  • One course in world history
  • One course in American history
  • One course in geography

Government and Politics (3 credits)

  • One course in American government or politics

Elective (3 credits)

  • One additional course in Art (ART), Art History (ARTH), Cinema Studies (CINE), Creative Writing (CREW), Dance (DAN), Filmmaking (FILM), History (HIST), Humanities (HUMN), Literature (LITS), Music (MUSI), Philosophy (PHIL), Religion (RELI), Theater (THEA), or Theater Studies (THEAH).