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