“Knowing things is better than not knowing; and the more you know, the more rich, fascinating, and interesting the world is,” states Dr. Rusty Witek, Director of the Humanities Program here at Stetson University. Our Humanities Program is about enriching your life, engaging your intellect, and finding your passion.
The Humanities Program has faculty from a wide array of departments and programs across the College of Arts and Sciences offering courses in humanities. These faculty teach these courses because they are passionate about their subject matter, and they want to share this excitement with their students. In this way, the Humanities Program helps students engage their own intellect and figure out what they care about, and why. And in doing this, humanities prepares students to engage the world – immediately, and after graduation.
The Humanities curriculum is flexible, allowing students to work with their faculty advisor and the program director to chart a course which allows them to explore reading and studying great works of fascinating literature, to explore a myriad of areas and ideas, and the curriculum can adapt to a student’s interests as they change and grow during their time at Stetson. It’s a good program for entering students who can’t necessarily put their finger on what specifically excites them, as the curriculum fosters exploration and discovery. As a quintessential “liberal arts” major, the Humanities Program is preparation for life, and yet at the same time it is an end in and of itself, because “being smart is good.” Humanities students, learn how to learn, how to think critically, and how to communicate effectively, all of which are skills that are highly valued by employers in any field. And Humanities majors also find their own lives and the lives of those around them enriched because as Dr. Witek points out, “using your brain as hard as you can is good – and it can be fun!”
The Humanities Program is housed in the Creative Arts Department, which is also home to programs in Art, Art History, Digital Arts, and Theatre Arts. So, humanities students find themselves in a home rich with creative-thinking classmates and faculty. There is an abundance of opportunity for experiencing art across all the disciplines housed within the department, as great art exists in literature, in 2-D and 3-D “fine” artwork, in computer-generated visual or musical pieces, and as well as in live performances in theatre. And because the faculty in this multi-disciplinary program are diverse and come from many areas across the College, students can explore their passions beyond the “administrative boundaries” of a single academic department. Truly, humanities students are able to partake in the entire College of Arts and Sciences banquet!
Read more about requirements for the humanities major and available courses in the University Catalog.
