Program Objectives:

1. Students should learn to engage with texts and works of arts by learning and practicing methods of close reading, careful analysis and critical thinking.
2. Students should learn to examine how individual works of the humanities have been shaped by their historical and cultural contexts, and how works of the humanities in turn have influenced the values, beliefs, institutions and actions of their audiences. Students should study examples of cultural interaction, diffusion and change both in the past and in the modern period.
3. Students should acquire a substantial knowledge of philosophical, literary, aesthetic and religious movements in the Western traditions. They also should acquire some knowledge of works of the humanities, or specifically of religious traditions, and of cultural history in at least one non-Western culture
4. Students should learn and practice methods of inquiry used in academic disciplines of the humanities, the history of culture, or the academic study of religion. The department should support the study of methodological issues in non-Western intellectual traditions, and critical thinking about choices of methods and their implicit and explicit assumptions

Program Outcomes:

1. Apply analytical skills to social phenomena in order to understand human behavior.
2. Apply knowledge and experience to foster personal growth and better appreciate the diverse social world in which we live.
3. Understand the role of individuals and institutions within the context of society.
4. Assess different social science theories and concepts and understand the distinction between empirical and other methods of inquiry.
5. Utilize appropriate information literacy skills in written and oral communication.
6. Understand the diversity of human experience and thought, individually and collectively
7. Apply knowledge and skills to contemporary problems and issues.