Human Expression Courses

Engaging Creative Thought

Courses in this category include the creation, as well as the analysis or interpretation, of creative works in a medium relevant to the field or domain of the course.

Creative work may include any artifact – concrete or ephemeral – newly created or a curation of work in the arts. Courses provide relevant instruction in creating, analyzing and interpreting, which culminates in assessed work for each skill. The work that students create and the work that they analyze and interpret is related by the general field of practice or medium.

Human Expression Course Listing

ART 1002 Visual Inventions

3 hrs. Studio course: experiences in critical responses to the visual arts through active involvement with various creative processes and media; relationship of the visual arts to other fields of human endeavor.

For non-Art majors.

ARTHIST 1004 Visual Perceptions

3 hrs. Lecture course: experiences in critical responses to the visual arts through analyses of artworks and artistic processes; relationship of the visual arts to other fields of human endeavor.

For non-Art majors.

CHIN 1050 Introduction to Chinese Literature

3 hrs. This survey course of Chinese Literature introduces major works of Chinese literature over history.

COMM 3455 Storytelling and Identity

3 hrs. Methods of collecting, analyzing, theorizing, and performing stories, narratives, and identity. Applications for communication research and performance, including projects in museums, public relations campaigns, organizational settings, and community media.

COMM DM 1630 Start a Podcast

3 hrs. This course will teach students how to start a podcast. Bringing together experts in different areas across the Department of Communication and Media, this course will provide students with training in a wide variety of skills necessary to create a high-quality podcast, including script-writing, interviewing, storytelling, vocal delivery, audio-editing, and publicizing. Students will also study podcasting genres so as to understand the expectations of audiences in particular sub-genres of podcasts (e.g. true-crime, comedy, drama, sports, politics, personal-development, etc.). While doing this, they will examine a handful of particularly prominent or highly-recognized podcasts to identify the principles and characteristics underlying particularly successful podcasts.

ENGLISH 1120 Literature: (topic)

3 hrs. Developing ability to read perceptively and imaginatively by exploring a variety of literary texts in English and/or English translation in multiple genres such as nonfiction, poetry, drama, fiction, and/or film. Attention to understanding and appreciating creative uses of verbal resources and artful representations of human experience.

Offered on specific topics listed in the Schedule of Classes.
May be repeated for credit under different topics.

ENGLISH 2700 Elements of Creative Writing

3 hrs. Attention to basic elements in the writing of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, including the imaginative uses of perspective and voice, narration and setting, story and plot, memory and reflection, dialogue and characterization, image and metaphor, and diction and sound.

ENGLISH 3130 Writing and Healing

3 hrs. This class uses personal narrative as a method for critical exploration of trauma and healing. Students do not need to have experienced a traumatic event to benefit from this course, rather the course engages with the study of trauma, traumatology. A range of topics related to writing and healing will be discussed: witnessing, medical narratives, radical listening and the use of critical response process to offer feedback on one another's writing. (Variable).

FAM SERV 1210 The Creative Experience

3 hrs. In this lively, experiential course, students explore creative persons, products, and places that have had an impact upon the arts and culture. In collaborative teams, students use artistic media to tell the stories of creative persons, products, and places.

FREN 3004 Introduction to Literature in French

3 hrs. Selected major works of representative French authors. Application of language skills to literary analysis and introduction to critical theories.

Required French language proficiency or equivalent.

HIST 2011 Engaging Sources: (Topic)

3 hrs. This class explores a particular genre of created source in its historical and cultural context. Students conduct and present original research, contribute to an exhibit or digital archive, and create or design their own example of the genre. May be repeated on different topics.

LIT ED 1044 Children's Literature

3 hrs. Evaluation, selection, and use of children's literature in a variety of environments and experiences.

MUSIC 1100 Soundscapes: Music in Culture

3 hrs. This course will examine representative works from selected musical traditions in their cultural, historical, and stylistic contexts. Students will cultivate listening skills and music analytical vocabulary to better identify, understand, and communicate about the musical experience as expression of meaning and purpose.

Music majors should not take MUSIC 1100 to fulfill the Human Expression learning area requirement

RELS 1040 The Power of Myth: (Topic)

3 hrs. The Power of Myth examines the functions of “myth” in religious texts, beliefs, rituals, institutions, and communities. Drawing upon key methods and approaches in the Study of Religion, this course introduces students to myths and myth-making as a creative, historical-cultural expression found in many religious communities. Specific myths will be examined in this course as well as its relationship to specific cultural contexts and communities.

Topic and theme will differ across sections, but will draw from a range of creative works from ancient sacred texts to popular US culture.
May be repeated for a maximum of 6 hours on different topics.

SPAN 3004 Introduction to Hispanic Literature

3 hrs. Selected major works of representative Hispanic authors. Application of language skills to literary analysis and introduction to critical theories.

Recommended for non-teaching majors.
Required Spanish language proficiency or equivalent.

THEATRE 1000 Theatre in Our World

3 hrs. This course will explore the basic structures of theatre, how it impacts society, and how society shapes and inspires theatre. Students will also explore and collaboratively experience processes and roles common to theatrical creation.

THEATRE 1005 Acting for Non-Majors

3 hrs. Through exploration of various acting methods and techniques, this course builds skills in creativity, oral communication and presentation, and critical analysis. An ideal course for students whose career paths require presenting, creating, and flexible thinking. Participants will explore improvisation, scene study, and a variety of acting exercises. At the conclusion of the course, students will be more comfortable with public speaking, creative problem solving, and thinking on their feet. This course is appropriate for all students, no experience necessary.