Humanities 4390: Selected Topics
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Special Topics in Humanities (3-0). Advanced study of a special topic such as Postmodern Culture, Western and Non-Western Cultures, the Cultures of the Humanities and the Sciences, and other areas of special interest in the Humanities. Topic varies with professor in charge. May be repeated for credit when the topic varies. Specific Topics courses are often cross listed in other departments. At least one Special Topics course is presented in each semester and in the Maymester to support the Humanities Minor.
Prerequisite: RWS 1302 or ESOL 1312 with a grade of "C" or better.
COURSES
TOPIC: Disability Represented in the Humanities
Instructor: Dr. Miguel Juarez
TOPIC: Film & Social Justice
Instructor: John De Frank
This course is designed to review, discuss and understand topics and movements in social justice through the lens of film, and how film is used as a tool in both a narration of history as well as medium for social justice. The course will review selected films that are based on true events or stories in which a soical injustice was overcome. The films are paired with readings that will help compare and contrast how the film depicted that particular event.
TOPIC: Women in Antiquity
Instructor Lee Ann Westman
This course will provide students with the opportunity to examine the representation of women in two ancient cultures. Students who are successful in the course will have an increased ability to interpret literary and artistic works as a representatives of cultural norms, be able to justify those interpretations, and be able to look at works or historical events from different perspectives. Students will have an increased inclination to engage in the humanities, and they will also have an increased knowledge of a certain aspect of culture, namely the ways in which gender impacts opportunity and production.
TOPIC: Cinema and the Roman Empire
Instructor: John De Frank
This course will examine the cinematic adaptations of a selected set of prominent characters and important events in the history of the Roman Empire. The course will review five films/episodes that tell stories of Roman history. Students will get a behind-the-scenes look at the production process and the vision of filmmakers to understand how to distinguish between the liberties of dramatic narrative and the details of recorded history using readings and lecture. The films and topics will explore the fall of the Roman Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire by focusing on the career of Julius Caesar, the slave rebellion led by Spartacus and the transition to Christianity. Students will participate in developing lesson plans and materials for our Layers of Rome online education platform dedicated to Roman history.
TOPIC: Layers of Rome (Study Abroad)
Instructors: Dr. Ronald Weber and Mr. John Leo De Frank
The Layers of Rome is both a study abroad program and an online educational resource for high school and college teachers who study Rome and its central role as a creator and disseminator of world culture. As a teaching method the UTEP Humanities Study Abroad Program operates on the principle that immersing students in the physical environment of the subject, in this case Roman history, art and culture, allows them to understand the importance of context and place in the evolution of world cultures. When visiting Rome and other selected Italian cities, students use all of their talents and senses, applying hands-on skills while navigating and solving real-world scenarios in the development of powerful interactive resources. During three weeks on campus and three weeks in Italy, UTEP students can earn up to 6-credit hours in the subjects of Humanities, History, Communication, Film and/or Art (Museum Studies). Students work alongside faculty to develop their research and to publish it on the Layers of Rome website.