Shaw University
Humanities DepartmentHUM 200: Introduction to Humanities
Professor: Dr. Desire Baloubi
Office: OLD EDU, R # 6
Phone: 546-8307/8254
E-mail: dbaloubi@shawu.edu
Office Hours:
Required Text: Tita, Charles, ed. Humanities Reader. Acton: Tapestry Press, Ltd. , Littleton, MA, 2004.
Recommended Readings:
Cunningham, Lawrence and John Reich. Culture and Values. 4th Edition, Vol. I & II. Harcourt Brace Publishers.
Fiero. The humanistic Tradition. 3rd Edition, vols. 3-6. McGraw Hill.
Course Description:
As the editor clearly defines it in the preface, "Humanities 200 is a core curriculum course required of all students at Shaw University." This literature course explores a few aspects of the Renaissance in Europe with emphasis on moral values, customs, and beliefs. It also touches on twentieth-century African and African-American literature. In short, HUM 200 exposes students to different worlds and gives them an opportunity to engage in fruitful class discussions, which will lead to interesting cross-cultural analyses.
Course Objectives:
Specialty Area Standards Based on NC DPI Standards and Indicators:
Core Standard 1: Teachers know the content they teach.
Indicators: 1.1 Teachers have a broad knowledge of content.
1.2 Teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty.
1.3 Teachers understand the ways in which their teaching area connects to the
broad curriculum.
1.4 Teachers know relevant applications of the content they teach.
Core Standard 3: Teachers are successful in teaching a diverse population of students.
Indicators: 3.1 Teachers demonstrate their belief that diversity in the classroom, in the school,
and in the society is a strength.
3.2 Teachers treat students as individuals.
3.4 Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs.
Technology Standard 3: Teachers implement curriculum plans that include methods and
strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning.
Indicator: 3.3 Teachers apply technology to develop students' higher order thinking
skills and creativity.
Course Policies:
Course Grades:
20% Oral presentations and active participation in class discussions
25% Papers (Paper I and Paper II)
25% Midterm Exam
30% Final Exam
Class Schedule and Assignments:
Week 1 Introduction and Chapter 1 (Paper I is assigned)
Week 2 Chapter 1 & 2
Week 3 chapter 2
Week 4 chapter 3 (Paper I is due)
Week 5 chapter 3
Week 6 chapter 4
Week 7 chapter 5
Week 8 Midterm EXAM (based on the chapters above)
Week 9 chapter 6: Twentieth Century African & African-American Literature
Introduction and "Halfway to Nirvana" by Ayi kwei Armah
(Paper II is assigned)
Week 10 "Two Worlds" by Pitika Ntuli and "Bride Price" by Mabel Segun
Week 11 "A Summer Tragedy" by Arna Bontemps and "Who's Passing for Who?"
Week 12 "The Sorrow Songs" by W. E. B. DuBois and "Yet Do I Marvel" Cullen
(Paper II is due)
Week 13 "Scrambling for Africa Again" by Désiré Baloubi, in Journal of Black Studies edited by Molefi Kete Asante, May 1999, Vol.29: 5
Week 14 Excerpts from I Know Why Goats Smell Bad by Raouf Mama
Week 15 Review
FINAL EXAMS (COMPREHENSIVE)--FORMAT TO BE ANNOUNCED
Useful hyperlinks:
Chapter 4: Moral Issues
* Utilitarianism
* Ethics
Constructionism
Philosophy
Chapter 5: Harlem
Harlem Renaissance
Fatheryan
Csustan
Harlem: Mecca of the New Negro
The Harlem Renaissance Bibliography
Chapter 6: Twentieth-Century African Literature
Africa
African & Caribbean Literature
Stanford
Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Civilization
Assyrian Calendar
Civilization's Roots
Civilization
Chronology
Summerian Civilization
Useful Links to Proverbs:
http://www.memorablequotations.com/proverb.html
http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Discourse/Proverbs/Miscellaneous.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=185
http://www.angelfire.com/mn2/patch/quoteso.html
http://www.esrnational.org/proverbs.htm
www.topics-mag.com
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/Around_the_World/Languages/
http://oneproverb.net/
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/proverbs.htm
http://youngstown.cisvusa.org/proverbs_from_around_the_world.htm