Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities Major

As a major in the Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities (IPH), you will learn to write and speak clearly and flexibly, be exposed to a range of canonical texts, be trained in the historical and formal analysis of those and other texts, be fluent in at least one foreign language, and have considerable experience in independent research. IPH crosses boundaries, illustrating how studies in language, literature, history, philosophy, and the arts can supplement and challenge each other. Interested students must apply to and be accepted into the major.

sample courses:

An Intellectual History of Sex and Gender

When did sexuality begin? Is it safe to assume that gender constructions are universal and timeless? In this course, we will engage with a broad range of readings that serve as primary texts in the 'history of sexuality and gender.' Our aims are threefold: to analyze the literary evidence we have for sexuality and gender identity in Western culture, to survey modern scholarly approaches to those same texts and to consider the ways in which these modern theoretical frameworks have become the most recent set of 'primary' texts on sexuality and gender.

Scriptures and Cultural Traditions

When we think of the word "scripture" in antiquity, we might think of the texts that have been compiled in the different holy books that we currently have today. Yet the function of "scriptures" within a community, and the status given to different texts treated as "scriptural," has changed in different times and places. In this course, we will consider texts that would eventually come to be part of the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and the Qu'ran as well as several of the exegetes and reading communities that shaped their various interpretations. We will explore how non-canonical sources played a role in the formation of the various canons we have today, comparing the authoritative status given to these texts to that given to other works from antiquity, such as the epics of Homer.

our students have gone on to become:

Lawyers

Professors

Rabbis

Editors

Teachers

Social Workers

Writers