Academics
Interdisciplinary in approach, the Humanities Program is designed to acquaint the student with the principal issues and trends that have shaped the development of western thought from antiquity to the twentieth century. Drawing on such diverse subjects as history, literature, philosophy, political economy, and fine arts, each course focuses on an intensive study of primary sources in a given era. Each course emphasizes a close reading and analysis of key influential "texts" that have helped shape the development of global cultural and intellectual development. Those "texts" may include novels, musical compositions, poetry, essays, films, or works of history.
Since the program is designed to assist the student to think and write clearly and critically, each course includes a writing component. The primary objectives of the Humanities Program are twofold: to provide the student with an appreciation for the evolutionary development of the cultural and intellectual tradition of the world (with an emphasis on western civilization), and, more generally, to impart a sense of what Renaissance humanists referred to as the scientia rerum--the broad vision of how specialized or technical knowledge can be integrated into a liberalizing and humanistic whole.
Other goals of the program include the following: to assist the student to improve and develop her or his ability to think and write critically, to introduce the student to formative and influential texts in the development of the contemporary world, to explore principal intellectual issues and problems (the formation of male and female gender identities, the nature of justice, the meaning and purpose of human existence, the quest for intellectual certainty, the nature of the family, the origins of the modern world, the struggle for social and economic justice, and the possibility of transcendence) and to stimulate student interest in cultural and intellectual history.
History
In the early 1950's the faculty at Saint Michael's College created a "great books" general education curriculum (the Dupont Plan--named for the president of the College who was a member of the Society of Saint Edmund) which required students to follow a structured program of courses over the four years of their undergraduate careers. In 1971 the faculty discontinued the Dupont Plan. However, many of the courses developed in the course of the previous decades continued in a humanities program, which now has its own coordinator. Humanities courses have traditionally been included in the menu of courses that have met the humanities requirements of the general education distribution requirements. In 1999 the program underwent significant revision. Humanities 101 (Ancient and Medieval Civilization) and Humanities 102 (Modern Civilization) are now the two keystone courses of the program, and they meet the Liberal Studies (general education) Requirements in the following areas: historical studies, literary studies, and culture and civilization. Beginning in the fall of 2000, the program will host as part of Humanities 101 and 102 a concert series, to be developed by the concert pianist, Paul Orgel. Beside the concert series, the pogram also sponsors a film series and a series of guest lecturers.
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For more information on the Humanities Program, contact the Coordinator of the Humanities Program, George Dameron, Department of History. gdameron@smcvt.edu