Humanities 3. Renaissance, Reformation, and Early Modern Europe
How I think about HUM 3...
HUM 3 looks at a remarkable time of creativity, change, and conflict, and it shows us human beings at their worst and at their best: cruel and compassionate, violent and virtuous, foolish and wise, greedy and generous, miserable and happy, narrow-minded and open to new worlds of progress, promise, and possibility. Along the way, HUM 3 makes us confront Big Questions and Big Problems from the past that are still Big Questions and Big Problems today: What does it mean to be a good person? To whom and to what do we owe obedience? How do we know what is true? How should we deal with death and with the loss, sorrow, pain, and impermanence that must inevitably come to us as we make our way through "this life of ours"? Where are we going, and how do we get there?
These are dilemmas all of us have to struggle with over and over again, and I find it so rewarding to hear from my students, each time I teach this course, that the approaches and answers that we explore together through our readings and conversations continue to have a really remarkable power to spark curiosity and to inspire. This is anything but a dead, distant past — it's all very accessible, very relevant, and very alive.
Patrick Patterson, Associate Professor, History
Fall 2023 Schedule
Please see the Schedule of Classes for a complete listing of days, times, and room locations for each lecture and section. The Schedule of Classes will also include the reading list for each instructor.
A00 Zavodny
Professor Tatiana Zavodny: Humanities 3 A00
Section | Teaching Assistant |
---|---|
A01 | John Kinney |
A02 | John Kinney |
A03 | John Kinney |
A05 | Scott Thiele |
A06 | Scott Thiele |
A08 | Scott Thiele |
B00 West
Professor Geoffrey West: Humanities 3 B00
Section | Teaching Assistant |
---|---|
B01 | Jonathan Martin |
B02 | Jonathan Martin |
B05 | Jonathan Martin |
B06 | Amber Orozco-Reese |
B07 | Amber Orozco-Reese |
B08 | Amber Orozco-Reese |
B09 | Matt Crum |
B10 | Matt Crum |
C00 Rodriguez
Professor Bretton Rodriguez: Humanities 3 C00
Section | Teaching Assistant |
---|---|
C01 | Csaba Olasz |
C02 | Csaba Olasz |
C03 | Riley Wilson |
C04 | Riley Wilson |
C05 | Alessandro Seide |
C06 | Alessandro Seide |
C07 | Kasandra Balsis |
C08 | Kasandra Balsis |
D00 Lyon
Professor Antony Lyon: Humanities 3 D00
Section | Teaching Assistant |
---|---|
D01 | Russell Peck |
D02 | Russell Peck |
D03 | Stevie Violette |
D04 | Stevie Violette |
D05 | Ning Zhang |
D06 | Ning Zhang |
D07 | Kevin Westerfeld |
D08 | Kevin Westerfeld |
What Will I Read?
After engaging with works from the classical and medieval periods, HUM 3 brings in a variety of texts that reflect the birth of news ideas and perspectives during the Renaissance as well as the shock of encounters between Europe and the Americas. Some core texts that are often taught are:
- Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition
- Michel de Montaigne, The Essays
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Selected Writings
- John Milton, Paradise Lost