Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature

HUMANITIES, CLASSICS, AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Chair: George S. Tate
Graduate Coordinator, Comparative Literature: V. Stanley Benfell
Graduate Coordinator, Humanities: Joseph D. Parry
3010 JKHB
Provo, UT 84602-6120
(801) 378-4448

THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES

Widely used in the Renaissance, the term humanities (humanitas or studia humanitatis) refers to the study of human intellectual and artistic creativity. Humanities is both a general academic category (inclusive of literature, history, philosophy, and the history and criticism of art and music) and a discipline in its own right with a methodology for the critical study of intellectual history and aesthetics. The interdisciplinary humanistic fields that the department comprises—humanities, classics, and comparative literature—offer students unusual latitude in developing rich graduate programs, disciplined by insistence on substantial foreign language skills, competence in critical theory and practice, and the development of scholarly abilities.

Three degrees are offered through the Department of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature: Comparative Literature—MA; Humanities—MA; and Comparative Literature—
PhD (minor).

Comparative literature and humanities each admit from five to six students per year. The MA programs are designed as two-year programs, and most full-time students are able to complete the MA within two years, usually defending the thesis during spring or summer term of the second year.

Classics. The classics graduate program has been temporarily furloughed. Until further notice, no students will be accepted into the program and no 500- or 600-level courses will be offered. It is possible, however, for students in humanities or comparative literature to do work in classics and the classical tradition as part of their graduate programs. Classics faculty occasionally serve on graduate committees in humanities or comparative literature; two have joint appointment in comparative literature.

Comparative Literature—MA

Comparative literature is the study of literature in its totality. Graduate students in this field combine the synthesizing and analytical skills of various humanistic disciplines with high-level foreign language achievement in order to study literary text closely. Accordingly, program courses expand knowledge of the discipline and provide intense opportunities to develop wide-ranging research writing abilities.

Admission and Entry.

• Semesters of entry and application deadlines: fall, February 28 (international) and May 15 (U.S.); winter, June 30 (international) and September 15 (U.S.); spring, October 31 (international) and February 15 (U.S.); summer, December 31 (international) and March 15 (U.S.).
• Entrance examination: GRE general test.
• Prerequisite: baccalaureate degree in literature; and thorough reading knowledge (300 level) of two of the three languages required for degree.

Requirements for Degree.

• Credit hours (33): minimum 27 course work hours plus 6 thesis hours (CLit 699R).
• Required courses: CLit 610, 6 hours of 620R (in two different periods), 6 hours from 630R, 640R, 650R, 660R, or 690R; and 699R.
• Electives: 12 hours of literature.
• Language requirement: thorough reading knowledge (300 level) of three languages, one of which must be German or French, and one of which may be English for students who choose to emphasize British, American, or other anglophone literature.
• Thesis.
• Examination: final oral examination and defense of thesis.

Comparative Literature—PhD (Minor)

The PhD minor in comparative literature is designed to enrich the programs of doctoral students in other historical, theoretical, or humanistic disciplines by providing a framework for the formal consideration of interrelationships between literary study and other areas of knowledge.

Requirements for Degree.

• Credit hours: minimum 12 course work hours.
• Thorough knowledge of three literary traditions, one of which must be French or German, in two periods each.
• All readings done in original language.
• Examinations: written and oral examinations on areas of concentration. Students may be asked to demonstrate their facility with the languages relevant to their program during either or both of the examinations.

Humanities—MA

This degree provides training in humanities scholarship with a focus on interdisciplinary studies. Each aspect of the program has been designed to assist the graduate student in strengthening the skills required of scholars and teachers working in the field. Program courses concentrate on expanding knowledge of the field and of modes of interpretations. Courses also provide the student with opportunities to develop and expand research and writing skills in the humanities.

Admission and Entry.

• Semesters of entry and application deadlines: fall, February 1.
• Entrance examination: GRE general test.
• Prerequisite: baccalaureate degree in humanities. Applicants with degrees in art history, history, literature, music, or philosophy may also be admitted but may be required to make up deficiencies in preparation through additional interdisciplinary course work. Also, completion of an upper-division literature course in a foreign language is required.

Requirements for Degree.

• Credit hours (33): minimum 27 course work hours plus 6 thesis hours (Hum 699R).
• Required courses: Hum 610, 615; two sections of 620R in different periods; two courses from 625R, 660R, 690R; 699R.
• Electives: 12 hours in literature, art history, musicology, history, film, philosophy, or humanities (up to 6 hours may be in upper-division undergraduate classes).
• Emphasis: A 9-hour emphasis (no additional hours beyond required and elective courses listed above) in a particular period or geographical area, radiating from one of the required sections of 620R or from 625R; at least one course in the emphasis must be from electives offered in approved courses outside the department.
• Thesis (in the emphasis area).
• Examination: final oral examination that focuses on areas of concentration but also requires some general knowledge; thesis defense.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Aid is available in the form of full or partial tuition grants, teaching assistantships, internships, and (for advanced students) some student instructorships. Upon admission to the respective programs, candidates will be considered for all of these possibilities based upon merit and availability of department resources. Financial aid is limited to two years.

RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

The Department of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature utilizes the Humanities Research Center and the Reading-Writing Center for the College of Humanities:

The Humanities Research Center provides an array of technological tools, resources, and expertise to foster quality research and scholarship in the College of Humanities. The center is especially active in the production of teaching and research materials. In addition to computer and audio equipment, the center has a variety of video capabilities and in the past few years has become a world leader in computer-assisted language instruction and translation. The department also owns CD ROM databases for classical Greek and Latin texts, the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae and Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, as well as the complete works of many modern authors.

Faculty from the department currently serve as officers in the Classical Association of the Midwest and South (CAMWS), the International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA), the National Association of Humanities Educators (NAHE), the American Conference on Romanticism, and the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS). In addition, the journals Scandinavian Studies and Prisms: Essays in Romanticism, as well as the ICLA Bulletin, are edited by department faculty members, assisted by graduate students from the department.

For a more detailed description of the graduate program requirements, send for a copy of the department's bulletins on humanities or comparative literature.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Comparative Literature

Class Schedule

595R. Directed Readings. (1-3)

Prerequisite: graduate coordinator's consent.

610. Methods of Study in Comparative Literature. (3)

Introduction to critical study of literature: critical methods and bibliography; linguistic foundations of literature; textual scholarship; literary history, transmission, theory, and criticism; genre theory; literature and other disciplines.

620R. Studies in Periods and Movements. (3)

Prerequisite: CLit 610 or concurrent registration.

Various literary periods, movements, etc., and problems of periodization. Topics vary.

630R. Studies in Literary Genres. (3)

Prerequisite: CLit 610 or concurrent registration.

Various genres (e.g., novel, epic, tragedy, lyric) and problems of genre. Topics vary.

640R. Studies in Themes and Types. (3)

Prerequisite: CLit 610 or concurrent registration.

Major literary themes (e.g., Faust, Don Juan, Ulysses, Arthur), types, motifs, and problems of literary typology. Topics vary.

650R. Studies in Literary Relations. (3)

Prerequisite: CLit 610 or concurrent registration.

Interrelations of national literatures and figures and of literature with other areas of knowledge (art, history, law, psychology, music , etc.). Topics vary.

660R. Studies in Literary Theory. (3)

Prerequisite: CLit 610 or concurrent registration.

Critical theories of literature and literary analysis. Topics vary.

670R. Tutorial Internship. (3)

Prerequisite: graduate coordinator's consent.

Individual research in cooperation with graduate faculty member, generally on problems relating to a specific national literature.

690R. Seminar in Comparative Literature. (3)

Prerequisite: CLit 610.

Problems in comparative literature. Course content varies from semester to semester.

699R. Master's Thesis. (1-9)

Prerequisite: graduate coordinator's consent.

Humanities

Class Schedule

595R. Directed Readings. (1-3)

Prerequisite: graduate coordinator's consent.

610. Research Methods in Humanities. (2)

Prerequisite: instructor's consent.

Use of the library and secondary sources.

615. Writing the Thesis Prospectus. (1)

Prerequisite: Hum 610.

Design and development of MA thesis prospectus.

620R. Studies in Periods and Movements. (3)

Interdisciplinary study of literature, philosophy, and the arts of a particular period or movement in cultural history. Problems of periodization. Topics vary.

625R. Area Studies in the Humanities. (3)

Interdisciplinary study of literature, philosophy, and the arts of a particular geographical area. Topics include American, Latin American, and Asian humanities. Topics vary.

660R. Critical Theory and Methodology. (3)

Theoretical and practical criticism; problems in critical theory. Topics include aesthetics, interrelations of the arts, cultural theory, aspects of contemporary theory, and models of cultural history.

690R. Seminar in the Humanities. (3)

Interdisciplinary study of problems and major figures in the humanities. Topics vary.

699R. Master's Thesis. (1-9)

Prerequisite: graduate coordinator's consent.

FACULTY 

BASSETT, ARTHUR R., Professor. PhD, Syracuse University, 1975. Humanities: American Humanities; Victorian Art and Culture.

BENFELL, V. STANLEY, Assistant Professor. PhD, New York University, 1994. Comparative Literature: Medieval and Renaissance Literature (Italian, French, and English).

BRITSCH, TODD A., Professor. PhD, Florida State University, 1966. Humanities: Art and Society; Interrelations of Arts; Eighteenth Century.

BUTLER, TERRELL M., Associate Professor. PhD, Cornell University, 1979. Humanities and Comparative Literature: Seventeenth-Century France and England; Greek Literature; Rhetorical Criticism.

CALL, MICHAEL J., Associate Professor. PhD, Stanford University, 1982. Humanities: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century French Literature and Arts; Romanticism.

DAVIS, NORMA S., Associate Professor. MA, Brigham Young University, 1975. Humanities: American Humanities; English Romanticism.

DEBLOOIS, NANCI, Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Iowa, 1994. Classics: Greek and Latin Poetry.

DUCKWITZ, NORBERT H. O., Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Colorado, 1987. Classics: Latin Poetry; Greek and Roman Mythology.

GREEN, JON D., Associate Professor. PhD, Syracuse University, 1972. Humanities: Interrelations of the Arts; Modernism; Multimedia.

HALL, JOHN F., Professor. PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 1984. Classics: Roman History, Religion, and Law; Latin Literature.

LOUNSBURY, RICHARD C., Associate Professor. PhD, University of Texas, Austin, 1979. Classics and Comparative Literature: Early Imperial Literature; Rhetoric; Classical Tradition.

MACFARLANE, ROGER T., Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Michigan, 1991. Classics: Republican and Augustan Latin Literature.

MARSHALL, DONALD R., Professor. PhD, University of Connecticut, 1971. Humanities: Film as Art; American Humanities.

PARRY , JOSEPH  D. Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Utah, 1995. Humanities: Middle Ages and Renaissance.

PEER, LARRY H., Professor. PhD, University of Maryland, College Park, 1969. Comparative Literature: Romanticism; Theory.

SHUMWAY, LARRY V., Associate Professor. PhD, University of Washington, 1974. Humanities; Music; Asian Humanities; Ethnomusicology.

SONDRUP, STEVEN P., Professor. PhD, Harvard University, 1974. Comparative Literature: Nineteen- and Twentieth-Century Literature.

TATE, GEORGE S., Professor. PhD, Cornell University, 1974. Humanities and Comparative Literature: Medieval Studies (Scandinavian, German, English; Twelfth-Century Renaissance).

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