Contacts | Program of Study | Curricular Goals | Program Requirements | Summary of Requirements | BA Paper Timeline | Sample Programs | Application | Grading | Honors | Advising | Faculty | Courses for IRHUM Majors | Courses
Department Website: https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/ir-hum
Program of Study
The bachelor of arts degree program in Inquiry and Research in the Humanities (IRHUM) offers undergraduates the opportunity to pursue an individualized program of humanistic study in preparation of an independent, mentored research project, which will form the capstone experience of their college education at the University of Chicago. IRHUM is thus not defined by a particular discipline or field, but by the techniques and practices of humanistic inquiry and research. For individual students pursuing the IRHUM major, cohesion is provided by the program of humanistic study, formal research training, and the final research project they design in consultation with the Faculty Chair of IRHUM and their faculty mentor. While the IRHUM major can stand alone, it pairs well with other majors in the Humanities Collegiate Division and beyond.
Admission to IRHUM is by application, in which students must clearly articulate their interest in humanistic research and describe the area of humanistic inquiry and research that they plan to pursue. Students design their own program of humanistic study in close consultation with IRHUM’s Faculty Chair and their individual faculty mentor (who will serve as the primary advisor of the student’s BA research project). Centered in the humanities, the program of study may draw on subject areas, fields, and techniques from disciplines in the social, biological, and physical sciences. While IRHUM has no formal language requirement, students researching topics in other languages and cultures are highly encouraged to demonstrate proficiency in those languages by taking higher-level courses and pursuing a Practical and Advanced Proficiency Certification. Students whose research would be enhanced by secondary sources in another language are highly recommended to take courses in reading a foreign language for research (e.g., GRMN 23333 Reading German for Research Purposes) early in their degree programs.
A student’s program of inquiry culminates in a genuine research project, closely mentored by a faculty member from a humanistic discipline (including the humanistic social sciences). To prepare students for their capstone research project, they will be trained in techniques and practices of humanistic research and given the opportunity to engage in genuine research in the context of a collaborative project or in a directed setting. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the various initiatives underway at the University of Chicago (College Summer Institute in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Smart Scholars Program, Archaeological Field School, etc.) or with our international partners (the University of Sussex International Junior Research Associates Program, etc.).
Curricular Goals
IRHUM majors will:
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understand the nature of humanistic inquiry and research;
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understand its relevance for professional and academic careers, as well as global citizenship;
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learn how to design and conduct an individualized program of humanistic study and inquiry;
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learn the conventions and codes of the disciplines on which their study and research program draws;
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learn basic research techniques of humanistic inquiry and the more advanced research practices relevant to their chosen research program;
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learn how to search and find sources;
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effectively engage with primary materials of study and research (visual and material objects, archival materials, texts, theories, arguments, etc.) and evaluate their relevance;
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learn how to find, identify, and evaluate relevant secondary scholarly literature;
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experience the thrill of genuine discovery and the rewards of humanistic knowledge production;
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learn how to effectively design, structure, and write an extended research paper, as well as research abstracts, proposals, and program applications; and
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learn to present and communicate their knowledge and research in a variety of genres and media (conference presentation, conference poster, gallery or museum talk, research article, etc.), both to a discipline-specific audience and to the wider public.
Program Requirements
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Six Courses in the self-designed program of humanistic study, developed in consultation with the Faculty Chair of IRHUM and a faculty mentor.
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Academic and Professional Writing (ENGL 13000), recommended in the Winter or Spring Quarters of Year 2, or in the Autumn Quarter of Year 3.
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Introduction to Humanistic Inquiry and Research Design (IRHU 20100), recommended in the Spring Quarter of Year 2 or Autumn Quarter of Year 3. This seminar will introduce majors to the basic tenets of humanistic inquiry, including the formulation and testing of research questions and lines of inquiry, and expose students to best practices in research design. In partnership with the University Library, this course will train students in information literacy and introduce them to best practices in research design (feasibility, assessment of primary and secondary source material, collation of resources), as well as expose them to research ethics and the principles of culturally sensitive research practices. The course will also include training in data use and management, and introduce students to research tools and technology available to them through the University Library system, as well as other on- and off-campus resources.
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Two Research Seminars in the humanities or humanistic social sciences. This requirement may be fulfilled with Independent Study or Reading and Research courses.
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Applied Mentored Research Experience, undertaken in the context of a collaborative, faculty- or discipline-expert mentored project. This experience will not necessarily correlate to the students’ own research project but instead expose them to the work of knowledge production as “apprentices” to experts in a humanistic field. This could include opportunities within a structured research experience with College partners (Smart Museum of Art, Oriental Institute Museum, archaeological fieldwork, the University of Sussex International Junior Research Associates Program, etc.) or a research assistantship for a faculty member. Majors will receive a stipend and, therefore, no course credit for this requirement. A mentored research experience in the biological, physical, or social sciences may count toward this requirement by petition.
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Research Proposal Colloquium (IRHU 29600) in the Spring Quarter of Year 3. Upon approval of their research proposal, students will receive the necessary financial support to pursue their research project over the summer between Years 3 and 4. Stipends cover living costs and may support travel and other necessary expenses in support of their research project. The College Summer Institute in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences is aimed toward rising seniors and provides, thus, the ideal setting for IRHUM majors working on their research project.
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BA Thesis Writing Colloquium (IRHU 29800) in the Autumn Quarter of Year 4. Students are expected to complete their thesis by the end of the Autumn Quarter.
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In the Winter and Spring Quarters of Year 4, majors are expected to present their capstone research project to a wider audience by giving an academic talk at a conference, presenting a poster session, etc., for which IRHUM will provide the necessary financial support, as needed.
Note: Students double-majoring can double-count up to three of the six courses in the self-designed program of humanistic study between the two majors and write only a single BA thesis (counting for both majors). IRHU 29600 Research Proposal Colloquium and IRHU 29800 BA Thesis Writing Colloquium cannot be replaced by similar courses or seminars from other majors.
Summary of Requirements
| Six courses of self-designed study | 600 | |
| ENGL 13000 | Academic and Professional Writing (The Little Red Schoolhouse) | 100 |
| IRHU 20100 | Introduction to Humanistic Inquiry and Research Design | 100 |
| Two Humanistic Research Seminars | 200 | |
| Applied Mentored Research Experience | 000 | |
| IRHU 29600 | Research Proposal Colloquium | 100 |
| IRHU 29800 | BA Thesis Writing Colloquium | 100 |
| Total Units | 1200 | |
BA Paper Timeline
The final BA research project, usually taking the form of a written thesis, is carefully scaffolded. Students design their research project in consultation with their faculty mentor during the course of IRHU 29600 Research Proposal Colloquium in the Spring Quarter of Year 3. Upon approval of their research proposal, students receive full financial support to conduct their research over the summer between their junior and senior years. IRHU 29800 BA Thesis Writing Colloquium in the Autumn Quarter of Year 4 provides a structured and collaborative setting, in which students can complete their project in a timely and closely mentored manner.
This schedule is designed to avoid the usual Spring Quarter crunch of BA thesis writing and to make it easier for students to use their research thesis as a writing sample for fellowship or graduate school applications. The intentional design of the BA thesis (or, research capstone) experience ensures that students are fully equipped and able to put into practice the principles of academic research design. This elevates the value of the research thesis as a training experience, as well as a measurable academic output. Additionally, the enhanced structure of the thesis experience provides students with the opportunity to translate a portion of their project into a refined research and writing sample for the purposes of graduate school and/or any postgraduate experience that expects advanced research training (e.g., national fellowships like Fulbright, etc.). IRHUM also aims to train students in the dissemination of their research through written and oral communication to both expert and non-expert audiences. The final two quarters of Year 4 are reserved for attending undergraduate research conferences and symposia, writing up their research for publication, or preparing other forms of dissemination.
Sample Programs
While the potential for developing individual BA programs in Inquiry and Research in the Humanities is as great as the combined ingenuity, imagination, and interest of each student in consultation with the student's advisors, we have identified a few sample program plans below:
Studying Chicago's Cityscape
| ARTH 24190 | Imagining Chicago's Common Buildings | 100 |
| ARTH 24191 | City Imagined, City Observed | 100 |
| ENST 22300 | South Side Ecologies | 100 |
| PBPL 28501 | Process and Policy in State and City Government | 100 |
| TAPS 24500 | Chicago Theater: Budgets and Buildings | 100 |
| ENGL 13000 | Academic and Professional Writing (The Little Red Schoolhouse) | 100 |
| IRHU 20100 | Introduction to Humanistic Inquiry and Research Design | 100 |
| Two Humanistic Research Seminars | 200 | |
| Applied Mentored Research Experience | 000 | |
| IRHU 29600 | Research Proposal Colloquium | 100 |
| IRHU 29800 | BA Thesis Writing Colloquium | 100 |
| Total Units | 1100 | |
Understanding Climate Change through Literature and Art
| ENGL 12520 | Climate Change in Literature, Art, and Film | 100 |
| ENST 28728 | Climate Change and Society: Human Impacts, Adaptation, and Policy Solutions | 100 |
| GEOS 24220 | Climate Foundations | 100 |
| GEOS 24705 | Energy: Science, Technology, and Human Usage | 100 |
| PBPL 24756 | Exploring the Resilient City | 100 |
| PHSC 13400 | Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast | 100 |
| ENGL 13000 | Academic and Professional Writing (The Little Red Schoolhouse) | 100 |
| IRHU 20100 | Introduction to Humanistic Inquiry and Research Design | 100 |
| Two Humanistic Research Seminars | 200 | |
| Applied Mentored Research Experience | 000 | |
| IRHU 29600 | Research Proposal Colloquium | 100 |
| IRHU 29800 | BA Thesis Writing Colloquium | 100 |
| Total Units | 1200 | |
The History of Print
| ARTH 18700 | The Arts of Arabic and Persian Manuscripts | 100 |
| CLCV 21500 | Medieval Book: History, Typology, Function | 100 |
| ENGL 45433 | Book History: Methods, Practices, and Issues | 100 |
| GRMN 22312 | Reforming Religious Media: Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation | 100 |
| HIST 12203 | Italian Renaissance: Petrarch, Machiavelli, and the Wars of Popes and Kings | 100 |
| HIST 25425 | Censorship, Info Control, & Revolutions in Info Technology from the Printing Press to the Internet | 100 |
| ENGL 13000 | Academic and Professional Writing (The Little Red Schoolhouse) | 100 |
| IRHU 20100 | Introduction to Humanistic Inquiry and Research Design | 100 |
| Two Humanistic Research Seminars | 200 | |
| Applied Mentored Research Experience | 000 | |
| IRHU 29600 | Research Proposal Colloquium | 100 |
| IRHU 29800 | BA Thesis Writing Colloquium | 100 |
| Total Units | 1200 | |
Application
Interested students should apply for admission into the IRHUM program as soon as possible upon completion of general education requirements (typically by the end of the second year and, except in extraordinary circumstances, no later than the end of Autumn Quarter of the third year). Transfer students in particular are urged to apply at the earliest point that they can. An application is initiated by consulting with the IRHUM Faculty Chair and/or Co-Chair, to discuss the feasibility of designing and implementing the planned study and research program. After consultation, students who wish to pursue an application to the IRHUM program must submit a recent course transcript (with a minimum B average in preceding course work) and a two-part written proposal according to the following guidelines. Applications must be written in error-free, succinct, and well-crafted language in order to receive full consideration.
Motivation Statement
The first part of the proposal consists of a 750-word motivation statement, explaining the student’s intellectual motivation and academic preparation for embarking on an individualized program of humanistic inquiry, and describing in broad outlines the research interest(s), as well as the program of study to pursue those interests. While not required, a brief statement indicating the student's current plans for a BA project and potential mentor may be included. This will further clarify the student's intentions for the IRHUM major and its final research experience for the review committee.
Course Prospectus
The second part of the proposal consists of a list of courses that comprise the complete program of study described in the motivation statement. This list may include courses the student has already taken as well as courses the student intends to take. While a list of proposed courses is a required part of the application, it is understood that these will undergo modification contingent on the availability of courses from year to year. Any changes to the course prospectus must be discussed with and approved by the IRHUM Co-Chair and then forwarded to the student’s College adviser.
After the application materials have been reviewed by the IRHUM Faculty Chair and Co-Chair, a twenty-minute interview will be scheduled with the IRHUM Faculty Chair and Co-Chair. The IRHUM Faculty Chair will inform the student via email of the result of the application.
Grading
All courses in the major must be taken for a quality grade, including ENGL 13000.
Honors
To be eligible for honors, a student must maintain an overall GPA of 3.25 or higher and a GPA in the major of 3.5 or higher. Honors are reserved for the student whose BA project shows exceptional intellectual merit in the judgment of the faculty mentor, the IRHUM Faculty Chair, and the Master of the Humanities Collegiate Division.
Advising
Close contact with the faculty and staff relevant to the student's career in IRHUM—including the student's College adviser, the IRHUM Faculty Chair, and the student’s faculty mentor—is essential in a program that involves so much individual initiative and experimentation. Students are encouraged to seek their advice whenever they have an intellectual or practical concern about progress in the major.
Faculty
Since IRHUM is an interdisciplinary major whose field of study encompasses all the offerings in the various departments and programs of the University (particularly in the Humanities Division), all faculty members of these varied departments and programs are related to IRHUM. IRHUM students may approach any University of Chicago faculty member who works in the student's field of interest with a request to serve as faculty adviser for the BA paper. Similarly, IRHUM students may take courses with any faculty member from any department of the University.
Courses for IRHUM Majors
IRHUM majors can choose course offerings from across the College that fit into their program of study, provided they are approved by the IRHUM Faculty Chair and the student's faculty mentor. Methodology courses from other programs and departments may—upon petition—count toward the requirements of the IRHUM major.
Majors are strongly encouraged to consider the curricular offerings of the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse, as well as the resources and training offered through the College Center for Research and Fellowships.
Inquiry and Research in the Humanities Courses
IRHU 20100. Introduction to Humanistic Inquiry and Research Design. 100 Units.
This seminar will introduce majors to the basic tenets of humanistic inquiry, including the formulation and testing of research questions and lines of inquiry, and expose students to best practices in research design. In partnership with the University Libraries, this course will train students in information literacy, introduce them to best practices in research design (feasibility, assessment of primary and secondary source material, collation of resources), as well as expose them to research ethics and the principles of culturally sensitive research practices. The course will also include training in data use and management and introduce students to research tools and technology available to them through the University Library system, as well as other on- and off-campus resources.
Instructor(s): N. Fazio Terms Offered: Winter
IRHU 27000. Race in Science and Medicine from 1800 to the Present. 100 Units.
This interdisciplinary course will explore the ways in which scientists have studied and theorized race from the 18th century onward. We will start with Linnaeus's racial classification and the 18th and 19th century anthropological study of skulls and bones, move to the 20th century study of genetic human variation, and end with the use of racial categories in biomedical research today. How have practices and theories of studying human diversity changed and persisted over time? The course will highlight the problematic and contentious nature of these studies by analyzing their colonial contexts, the UNESCO critiques after World War II, and current-day comments on race and science in newspaper articles and podcasts (transcripts available on course website). Together, we will reflect on how historical knowledge can assist in tackling complex issues surrounding race, science, and bias in societies today and in the past. As a final assignment, students will, in groups, develop a podcast episode on a topic relevant to the course in groups.
Instructor(s): I. Clever Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Open to second years and above.
Note(s): This course partially fulfills the research seminar requirement for the IRHUM major.
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 30330, HIPS 26012, KNOW 36012, CHDV 36012, HLTH 27000
IRHU 27001. The Human Body in Extremes. 100 Units.
What can the human body endure? This interdisciplinary research seminar focuses on the interplay between bodies and extreme environments. Each week we will "visit" a different hazardous context or locale and consider the challenges it poses to human culture and survival. Environments to be covered include outer space, deep seas, polar regions, radiation zones, mountain summits, underground mines, and disaster areas. With tools from environmental history, the history of medicine, the history of technology, medical anthropology, and sociology, we will consider how ideas of the body and how ideas of the environment change over time, and how producing knowledge about the limits of the body helps to define what people consider "normal." Each seminar will pair short readings drawn from secondary sources with original research tasks in diverse historical archives. Students in the course will develop greater familiarity with humanistic research methods, as well as learn how to apply scientific and biomedical ideas of the body to participate effectively in current debates shaping where people live, work, or simply visit.
Instructor(s): J. Bimm Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Open to second years and above
Note(s): This course partially fulfills the research seminar requirement for the IRHUM major.
Equivalent Course(s): HLTH 27001, KNOW 36000, HIPS 26100
IRHU 27002. Compiling and Mediating Environmental History. 100 Units.
How do audiovisual media archives inform both the research and presentation of environmental history? Social media posts, fiction film, photographs from geological surveys, and urban field recordings all index historical environmental conditions. Artists and scholars enlist such archives to reanimate lost and changed landscapes for contemporary audiences, raising historiographical questions about how research excavates, extracts, and assembles both image and sound. This course looks at a series of documentary films and online media projects that enlist media to narrate histories of socio-ecological interaction. These projects explore site-specific environmental crises as they were deliberately or inadvertently recorded by media, including the toxic legacies of U.S. Imperialism, the extraction economy of South African apartheid, or how Hollywood films unconsciously document the long-term impacts of climate change. Students will analyze these media objects alongside readings in media historiographical theory, environmental history, and documentary theory. The goal of this engagement is to guide students toward a final project that employs both research and creative practice to compile a report about an environmental historical case study that utilizes a media archive to make the argument. This course shows how humanistic inquiry into documentary media and the material conditions of media production can inform the assembly and presentation of environmental historical knowledge.
Instructor(s): Thomas Pringle Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): No production experience is required. This course partially fulfills the research seminar requirement for the IRHUM major.
Equivalent Course(s): KNOW 26072, ENST 27002
IRHU 27003. Violence and the State. 100 Units.
Violence in modern states is at once exceptional and ever-present, thought of as aberration even as it is routinely employed. Focusing primarily on modern Europe and its colonial empires, this seminar will explore this contradiction in theory and practice. We will consider violence at the intersection of race, gender, and class. We will learn how various modern thinkers including Tocqueville, Weber, and Sorel theorized the place of violence in liberal society. We will read writers and activists like Frantz Fanon, Mohandas Gandhi, and Assia Djebar to understand the role of violence in empire and decolonization. Finally, we will connect this history to the present day by considering how it relates to police violence in the contemporary world.
Instructor(s): Yan Slobodkin Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course partially fulfills the research seminar requirement for the IRHUM major.
Equivalent Course(s): KNOW 26068, CRES 26068, GNSE 27005, HMRT 27003
IRHU 27005. The End of Certainty? Chaos, Complexity, and Human Life. 100 Units.
What is uncertainty? Is it a temporary state of affairs, a situation to be resolved with more data, or is it permanent feature of our world? This course examines how uncertainty, once understood as the absence of knowledge, has become an object of knowledge in its own right. We will pay particular attention to the fields of chaos theory and complexity science, which emerged in the late twentieth century from physics and mathematics but have since become widely applied sciences, making their way into fields as diverse as molecular biology and economic theory. Together we will follow the path of 'complexity' in its many forms, reading texts by geneticists, physicists, climate scientists, philosophers, economists and many others. By the end of the course we will have developed a shared archive of uncertainty, and gained a better understanding of how uncertainty underpins what we do, in fact, know. This course is collaborative, interdisciplinary and historical, and welcomes all interested students, including those with backgrounds in history, philosophy, biological sciences, environmental studies, mathematics, and economics.
Instructor(s): I. Gabel Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course partially fulfills the research seminar requirement for the IRHUM major.
Equivalent Course(s): HIPS 26075, KNOW 26075
IRHU 27006. Research in Archives: Human Bodies in History. 100 Units.
How have we come to know and experience our bodies? This undergraduate seminar develops humanities research skills necessary to study the body in history. Spanning early modern cultural practices to modern medicine, science, and technology, this course explores how ideas and practices concerning the body have changed over time and how the body itself is shaped by culture and society. A major focus will be learning how to conduct different forms of historical research to produce cutting-edge humanities scholarship about the human body. Readings will introduce key themes and recent scholarship including work on disability, reproduction, race, gender, ethics, extreme environments, and identity. This dynamic research group will grapple with issues at the heart of our corporeal existence by combining perspectives from the history of science, medicine, and technology, cultural history, anthropology, and science and technology studies (STS).
Instructor(s): J. Bimm and I. Clever Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course partially fulfills the research seminar requirement for the IRHUM major.
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 27006, HIST 25513, KNOW 26076, HIPS 27706
IRHU 27009. Normal People. 100 Units.
Worrying about what's normal and what's not is an endemic feature of both our popular and scientific cultures. Is my intelligence above average? What about my height? Should I be feeling this way? Is there a pill for that? People seem to have always been concerned with fitting in, but the way of describing the general run of practices and conditions as "normal" is a rather recent phenomenon; testament to the vast influence of the modern human sciences on how we understand ourselves and others. This research seminar will offer a broad historical overview of the ways that group behaviors and individual traits - bodily, moral, intellectual - were methodically described and measured in the past 200 years. We will become acquainted with the work of sociologists and anthropologists, psychiatrists and psychologists, polling experts and child development specialists, and ask about the kinds of people their efforts brought into being, from sexual perverts to the chronically depressed. The course will focus on the scientific theories and techniques used to distinguish the normal from the pathological, together with the new social institutions that translated this knowledge into forms of control. We will read Émile Durkheim on suicide rates and Cesare Lombroso on born criminals; learn about IQ tests and developmental milestones; and consider whether, with the advent of personalized medicine and self-data, we have indeed reached the "end of average."
Instructor(s): T. Arbel Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course partially fulfills the research seminar requirement for the IRHUM major.
Equivalent Course(s): KNOW 26074, HLTH 26074
IRHU 27011. Research Design and Archival Theory and Practice for Cinema and Media Studies. 100 Units.
What constitutes archival research in cinema and media studies? What role do archives play in research into and studies of media? What role does research play in shaping archival policy and practice? This course will explore the process of research on moving image media through a range of formats: the archive as space and repository, digital tools used for archival practice and access, and archival theory, questions of evidence, and the writing of history-both of and through moving images. Emphasis is on the process of research with attention to foundations of historiography, evidence, archival theory, and the various stages of writing. The course has two main threads. First, we will investigate a range of sites, practices, policies, and theoretical concerns surrounding moving image archiving. We will meet scholars and professional archivists working on a wide variety of research projects who will share their processes with us. Second, we will embark on one collective project that collaboratively weaves together multiple lines of inquiry around one topic. Drawing from traditional archives and libraries as well as engaging with digital tools, students will gain first-hand experience following the research process from discovery to identification to interpretation. From this course, students will learn how to design and implement archival research projects in cinema and media studies (with translatability to related disciplines).
Instructor(s): Allyson Field Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): Not offered in 2022-23.
Equivalent Course(s): CMST 29022, CMST 39022, MAPH 39022
IRHU 27012. Making Sense of Lived Experience: In-Depth Interviewing. 100 Units.
How do people make sense of everyday experiences of daily life, injustices, crisis, happiness, success, and suffering? How do researchers understand and connect lived experiences to sociohistorical context? In this undergraduate research seminar, students will develop qualitative research skills critical to understanding the social world. Social scientists employ a wide range of research methodologies to learn about the social world, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Qualitative approaches often explore the questions that deepen our understanding of people, groups, institutions, and social processes, attending to questions of meaning and practices. In particular, in-depth interviewing allows for the possibility of learning deeply about people's motivations, actions, attitudes, feelings, and how they make sense of their subjective experiences more generally. This course teaches students how to develop qualitative, humanistic interview-based research studies. Students will learn how to craft inductive research questions, identify and recruit participants, prepare interview guides, collect primary data by conducting interviews (and address issues that can arise while interviewing), analyze interview data, and present one's findings. The course culminates in a written interview analysis and presentation using data that gathered for this class.
Instructor(s): Brad Bolman Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): KNOW 27000
IRHU 27013. Mobile Life. 100 Units.
This is a research-intensive course which aims to provide both theoretical frames and methods for research for exploring topics related to migration and literature in the contemporary world and in historical contexts.We will explore various aspects of the migratory experience; the ways in which literary texts shape or shed light on them; and how contemporary theories help us to understand migration and its literatures. Key terms will include migration, mobility, exile, refugees, settlement, kinship, border crossing, bureaucracy. We will ask questions such as: how do printed and other forms of information enable/regulate movement? What is an imaginative transportation? What happens when we cross a border? What is at stake in settlement? Who is a refugee? How do children function in the migratory imagination? In class we will focus mainly on anglophone texts from the nineteenth century onwards, including novels, short stories, poems and plays, journalism, propaganda, bureaucratic documents, maps, guides, and other kinds of texts. The assessment for the course will include an outline of a research project of your own devising, for which you will develop your own archive of sources. (1830-1990, Theory)
Instructor(s): Josephine McDonagh Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 29102
IRHU 27022. The Psalms: Communication, Conversion, and Meditation. 100 Units.
The Psalms are the most cited book of the Old Testament in the New Testament. No book of the Bible received more commentary by early Christian and medieval theologians, representing the foundation of all religious knowledge. Lay people through the ages used it in personal prayer and meditation, drawing strength and consolation from this unique Biblical genre. Teachers employed the Psalms to teach children how to write, ensuring that they became part of the linguistic vocabulary and mental imagery of literate people. Not surprisingly, the poetic sensibility and practice of major Western writers from Augustine, Judah Halevi, and George Herbert to Emily Dickinson and Paul Celan was informed by their reading of the Psalms. Given their importance for the religious and literary culture of the Judeo-Christian world, we will begin our course by closely reading a good number of the 150 Psalms, focusing on how they model a paradoxical communication, namely the conversation between a fallible self and an almighty and distant God. We will then hone in on the role of the Psalms for the conversion and formation of the self in number of seminal Christian thinkers such as Augustine, John Cassian, Saint Benedict, Martin Luther, among others. Since the Psalms were disseminated so widely, we will pay particular attention the material and medial forms in which they were read and performed. Readings and discussions in English.
Instructor(s): Christopher Wild Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 22623, FNDL 24625, GRMN 34623, CMLT 24623, GRMN 24623, CMLT 34623, RLVC 34623
IRHU 29600. Research Proposal Colloquium. 100 Units.
Building on the research skills majors have learned in Introduction to Humanistic Inquiry and Research Design [IRHU 20100], the two Research Seminars, and the mandatory Applied Mentored Research Experience, the Research Proposal Colloquium helps majors identify a relevant research topic/questions, design a feasible research project, establish a research timeline and formulate a clear and compelling proposal. The collaborative setting of the Research Proposal Colloquium complements the individual mentoring provided by the Faculty Advisor and the IRHUM Co-Chair. Upon approval of their research proposal by their Faculty Advisor, the IRHUM Faculty Chair, and Co-Chair, students are eligible to receive full financial support to conduct a portion of their research over the summer between their junior and senior years, as merited.
Instructor(s): TBD Terms Offered: TBD
Note(s): All IRHUM majors are required to take the Research Proposal Colloquium in the Spring Quarter of their third year.
IRHU 29800. BA Thesis Writing Colloquium. 100 Units.
Building on the Research Proposal Colloquium and the research undertaken over the summer, the BA Thesis Writing Colloquium provides a structured and collaborative setting, in which IRHUM majors receive instruction on effectively writing about their findings, workshop their efforts with their peers, and, ultimately, complete their mentored research project in a timely and productive manner. Like the Research Proposal Colloquium, the BA Thesis Writing Colloquium complements the individual mentoring provided by the Faculty Advisor and IRHU Co-Chair. Furthermore, IRHUM majors will receive support translating their research experience and output into competitive applications for graduate programs, research grants, and national fellowships.
Instructor(s): N. Fazio Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): All IRHUM majors are required to take the Thesis Writing Colloquium in the Autumn Quarter of their fourth year.