HUM 204 - Western Civilization I

3 Credit Hours

This is an interdisciplinary course of study that critically examines the ideas and values of Western culture from ancient beginnings in Africa, the Near East, Mesopotamia, Israel, Greece, and Rome through the Middle Ages, Reformation, Renaissance and to the beginning of the Early Modern period. It emphasizes the reading and discussion of some of the most influential writings and ideas that have shaped the intellectual and cultural heritage of the Western World. The presentation of the material is both historical and thematic. It is a study of the past organized to help us better understand the present and to direct attention to the enduring questions about how to lead a satisfying and worthwhile life. Themes are selected to focus thought and discussion upon such issues as: 1) the good life; 2)work and economic life; 3) the citizen and the state; 4) knowledge and education; 5) intimacy and social life; 6) nature and the supernatural; and, 7) morality and self-realization.