Courses

Courses

HUSC 2101: Introducing the Human Sciences. This is an introduction to significant works, figures, and methods in the contemporary human sciences. The human sciences include social and behavioral sciences like anthropology, sociology, social psychology, and linguistics, but also range more widely to other social sciences and humanities (e.g., cognitive science, economics, political science, history, and philosophy) and even cross the border of the biological study of the human. The single weekly meeting features faculty members and guests who present and open for discussion by the class topics from the human sciences and the contemporary world. The course serves as an introduction to the University of Dallas’s distinctive concentration and major “Human and Social Sciences.” The goal is to use all the resources offered by the human sciences in order to understand the contemporary world and the many movements and influences that have been, and are, structuring global civilization and transforming human activities, institutions, and cultures. Graded Pass/No Pass. Visitors are welcome. Fall and Spring.

HUSC 2301: The World in the Twenty-First Century. An examination of some of the major currents of contemporary life. Topics such as globalization, development, consumerism and mass society, environments and ecology, communication between cultures, human migration, religion and secularism, terrorism and violence, modernity and postmodernity. Spring.

HUSC 2311. Introduction to the Social Sciences. The social sciences are the disciplines among the contemporary human sciences that focus on human societies and cultures, in particular institutional structures as they pattern ways of living. Topics treated in this course include basic concepts of the social sciences; research methods; social structure and social power; socialization and identity; class; social institutions (e.g., family, churches, education, healthcare, government and economy); and contemporary social problems (e.g., race and gender discrimination and social stereotyping). Fall. This course is also designed to help students planning to apply to medical school to prepare for the social, behavioral and psychological sciences portions of the MCAT examination.

HUSC 3311: The Arts in Contemporary Cultures. An exploration of the arts in contemporary societies, with focus on topics such as avantgardism, technical innovation and artistic experimentation, the development of mixed media, the technical and aesthetic reorganization of public and private space, the economics of artistic production and consumption, the changing relationship of artist to audience, problems of the relationship of art works to social and natural reality, and the influences of alternative cultural traditions. Spring of odd-numbered years.

HUSC 3312: Science, Technology, and Society. A study of the characteristics and growth of the modern sciences, their effects on society and culture, and the emergence of technological civilization. Topics such as the nature of scientific research and the application of sciences, big science vs. little science, the limits of scientific and technical knowledge, the political and economic power of science and technology, effects on individual and social ways of life, the rise of technicized industry and mass media, the relations between science, technology, and religion, and ethics in science and technology. Spring of even-numbered years.

HUSC 3331: Conceptual Foundations of the Human and Social Sciences. An investigation into the historical emergence and durable legacy of the modern disciplines that aim to scientifically understand human societies and cultures. Includes the reading of authors central to fields like anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and social psychology. Topics such as the significance of the concepts 'society' and 'culture,' debates about the scientific character of social and human sciences, the differentiation of the various fields of the human sciences and their relations to other disciplines, the fundamental interdisciplinarity of the human sciences, and future prospects for the social, behavioral, and human sciences. Fall.

HUSC 3332: Junior Seminar. The Junior Seminar is intended for students who are majoring in Human Sciences (and, with the Chair's approval, other well prepared and highly motivated students, especially Human Sciences concentrators). It treats extensively and in depth the design, methods, and conduct of research in the human sciences. Students play the leading role in conducting the sessions by making presentations and engaging in intensive discussions. The seminar culminates in a proposal for the senior thesis project. HUSC 3331 is prerequisite. Spring.

HUSC 3334. Philosophical Anthropology of the Contemporary World. Since the middle of the twentieth century, the human sciences have increasingly been divided between rigorous empirical work and ambitious "grand theory." This course will feature a small number of researchers who have addressed the tension between philosophical and scientific ambitions and striven to understand human being and human existence as a synthesis of the biological, cultural, social, psychological, and spiritual. Spring.

HUSC 3V50-3V54, 4V50-4V54. Special Topics in the Human Sciences. Courses offered according to the interest of students and availability of professors.

HUSC 3V57. Human Sciences Internship. A 1-3 credit-hour practicum providing field experiences for students in advanced research methods or service-learning. The internship will result in a significant research paper or related project. The location and terms of the internship require the express agreement of the student, the faculty
sponsor, and the Chair, and the availability of field placement. Students must follow all university guidelines for internships. Graded Pass/ No Pass.

HUSC 4341: Tradition and Innovation. The dynamism and transformative power of Western civilization (and any future global civilization that derives from it) is unintelligible without recognizing that the modern West is an outgrowth of classic works and institutions and that these works and institutions have produced an ethos encouraging change. The course considers topics such as the nature of history and tradition; the nineteenth-century emergence of historical/historicist philosophies and the subsequent questioning of tradition's value; the interplay of tradition, authority and cultural change; the nature and power of what is classic; differences between traditionalism and tradition; negative and dysfunctional traditions (e.g., racism and anti-Semitism); the role of education and the university in transmitting the past and facilitating the future; the challenges to tradition of science and technology; and the difficulties of achieving a fully integrated life in the face of the specialization and destabilization of human work and activities. Fall.

HUSC 4342: Senior Seminar. The Senior Seminar is intended for students who are majoring in Human Sciences (and, with the Chair's approval, other well prepared and highly motivated students, especially Human Sciences concentrators). The seminar will continue the themes, practices, and methods initiated in the HUSC Junior Seminar as students develop their senior research projects by carrying out empirical and theoretical investigation leading to the senior thesis. Students will play the leading role in conducting sessions by making presentations and engaging in intensive discussions of their research methods and results. The research culminates in a major paper, the senior thesis, the writing of which continues into the spring semester. HUSC 3332 is prerequisite. Fall.

HUSC 4142: Senior Thesis. Continuation of Senior Seminar, which is prerequisite. Completion, defense, and formal presentation of the senior thesis. Spring.

HUSC 4V61. Directed Readings and Research. Special course of 1-3 credit-hours of reading and research, determined by the express agreement of the student and the professor and approved by the Chair. For advanced students only, as needed.

Students of the programs in Human Sciences also take courses in other departments, as approved by the Chair.