The document provides an overview of the humanities. It defines the humanities as a collection of disciplines that use critical thinking to examine issues through various lenses such as history, literature, philosophy, religion, and the arts. The humanities employ research techniques like identifying problems, reviewing what others have said, and forming questions to collect and analyze data. The overview then discusses topics studied within the humanities, including Western culture, globalism and technology, visual arts periods and analysis, music and performance, world religions, and foundational and modern philosophy. It concludes by reviewing key lessons such as defining knowledge acquisition, the role of artists, and distinguishing philosophy from opinion.

1. A R E C A P
HUMANITIES
100
Alexis Persani/Léo Caillard, Street Stone (2012)

2. WHAT ARE THE HUMANITIES?
• A collection of disciplines
• Classics
• History
• Linguistics
• Literature
• Performing Arts
• Music
• Theater
• Dance
• Philosophy
• Religion
• Visual Arts

3. WHAT ARE THE HUMANITIES?
• A collection of disciplines:
• Common method of critical thinking
• Examining evidence through observation
• Studying the context of an issue
• Discerning the relevant criteria for making a judgment
• Using the right methods to reach a judgment
• Applying the correct theories to understand the
problem.

4. WHAT ARE THE HUMANITIES?
• A collection of disciplines:
• Common method of critical thinking
• Common research technique
• Identifying research problem
• What have others said about this?
• Identify the purpose of the research
• Forming specific questions
• Collect data
• Analyze data
• Evaluate and Report results

5. WHAT DID WE STUDY?
• Overview of Western Culture
Alexis Persani/Léo Caillard, Street Stone (2012)

6. WESTERN CULTURE
What Are the Humanities?
• What makes us human?
• Human values vs.
market values
• Why the humanities
matter

7. WHAT DID WE STUDY?
Globalism & The Impact of Technology
• How do human values work
in a technological society?

8. WESTERN CULTURE
Visual Arts
• Historical periods
• How to look at art
• Realism
• Abstraction
• Why it matters
Aeneas’ Flight From Troy
Federico Barocci, 1598

9. WHAT DID WE STUDY?
Music and the Performative Arts
• Melody
• Rhythm
• Pitch
• Harmony
• How music works
• Why music and dance
matter

10. WHAT DID WE STUDY?
Communication and Performance

11. WHAT DID WE STUDY?
Religions of the World

12. WHAT DID WE STUDY?
Philosophy: Foundations and Modern Ideas
• Aristotle
• Plato
• John Locke
• David Hume
• Immanuel Kant
Raphael’s ‘School of Athens’ (1509-10), with Plato and Aristotle

13. WHAT DID WE LEARN?
• What is knowledge, and how do we acquire it?
• Epistemology
• How do we define the role of the artist?
• Including visual artist, writer, musician, etc.
• What can the arts accomplish?
• What are differences in what is accomplished between, for
example, music and the visual arts.
• How does philosophy differ from opinion?
• How do knowing common fallacies help us discern good
arguments?