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Bachelor of Arts in Humanities

Drawing from a range of academic disciplines, the Humanities major draws from a range of academic disciplines to provide students with the intellectual foundations and analytical skills for understanding the past, present, and future of the world and its peoples. As a multidisciplinary study, you’ll be exposed to courses in subjects like literature, history, theater, film, art, philosophy, and religion. You’ll acquire skills in writing, critical thinking, and analytics.

Through the humanities, you’ll study the history and lives of humans, review the English language and the arts, and have an in-depth understanding of ethical problems and systems to better interpret the world today. Our program is organized around three thematic clusters: Self and Society, Societal Development and Progress, and Social Value and Critical Issues.

What You’ll Learn

As a Humanities major, you’ll be focused on reading, writing, history, culture, and civilization. Offering the most flexibility and course choice, you’ll explore a wide range of subjects while developing crucial and marketable skills, such as cultural awareness, communication, and problem-solving. Working in teams, you’ll be challenged with real-world issues, so you’ll be able to make an impact upon graduation.

Blaze Your Path

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I love the Humanities because of my great professors. Along with the wide range of content that we get to learn about, this environment prepares us for life after college in and outside of the classroom.

— Athena Kelley

What I love about the Humanities program is how it offers a variety of interesting courses that allow students to look at humanity through history as well as philosophy.

— Joshua Hansen

I love Humanities because of how diverse it is. You get to learn bits and pieces about literature, history, philosophy, and so much more. Humanities helps you discover what makes up human culture and how you can apply it to your own life.

— Calinda Strayhorn

Sample Courses

Humanities I: Moments of Global Change

The exploration of the Humanities begins by looking at moments on the world stage when events coalesced to produce monumental and far-reaching change. This course will examine how and why these alterations occurred by using in-depth case studies to help students understand the complex social processes that must combine to create fundamental social change on both a large and small scale.

Humanities II: Modeling Social and Cultural Construction

In the second of the Humanities series, students will engage in team-based projects and activities in order to resolve various scenarios presented to them. The projects and activities in the course echo the themes with which students will engage throughout the program, focusing on the restructuring and reorganization of society.

Morality and Ethics

In this course students will study the various topics, concepts, and figures focusing on the discipline of ethics. The central idea of this course is to gain exposure to and learn how to think about ethics — that is, how we ought to act toward each other. Particular emphasis will be placed on contemporary ethical dilemmas in applied ethics.

World Revolutions

The Age of Reason and Enlightenment helped birth the concept of political revolution. This course will begin by reaching a clear definition of “revolution” and examine how the conceptual development of the “citizen” encouraged disadvantaged or ignored groups to grab power for themselves. Beginning with the American Revolution in the 1770s, students will be guided through more than two centuries of revolutions. Employing a comparative approach, this course will challenge students to find common themes and differences between revolutions from Haiti in the 1790s to Eastern Europe in the 1990s.

Thinking Politically

This course will consider the major questions relating to how we already do live, as well as how we ought to live together. In doing so, this course explores the fundamental principles that determine the interaction between a given society and its members — through classic and contemporary social and political theories — as well as the application of these principles in society through social institutions, and themes such as justice, rights, and globalism.

Beyond the Human

This course offers an exploration of the philosophical and anthropological study of non-human beings, both living and non-living — objects, animals, vegetation, societies, etc. Engaging with the contemporary, this course will aim at forming a critical conversation between philosophical thinking of humanness/non-humanness and contemporary anthropological treatments of concepts such as “object,” “the animal,” “the body,” materiality/immateriality, biosociality, speculative biology, and all sorts of “natural-cultural” hybrids (cyborg, transhumanism, etc.). Beginning with the ontological elimination of subject-oriented thinking, we will turn to object-oriented thinking beyond the human.

Heroes, Antiheroes, and Villains in Film, Literature, and Comic Books

In this class, we will examine various heroes, villains, and antiheroes in film, literature, and comic books. Our goal is to critically study visual and textual narratives so that we may try to better understand these three types of characters.

Monster Lit

This class examines the monster and the monstrous in a variety of genres of literature as a path to better examine cultural anxieties, pressures, values, and fears. Central questions may include (but are not limited to) what it is to be human, what it is to be alien(ated), and the ethical limits of science, politics, and the social contract.

Field Experience and Internships

Humanities majors are required to complete 80 hours of experiential learning and internships. The knowledge, skills, and experience you gain — in the classroom and through internships — will boost your resume and your confidence with real-world work experience. Recent internship experiences include working with case workers, counselors, social workers, community outreach, and more.

Career Opportunities

Students with a bachelor’s degree in Humanities can immediately begin working in the field or continue to graduate school for advanced study.

  • Technical writer
  • Content strategist
  • Public administration
  • Lobbyist/Politics
  • Marketing manager
  • Human resources coordinator
  • Public relations specialist
  • Advertising strategist
  • Museum worker/Curator
  • Teacher
  • Community organization
  • Humanitarian aid worker

Meet Your Instructors

Dr. Zachary Isrow

Assistant Professor

352-638-9822zisrow@beaconcollege.edu

Dr. Christopher Huff

Associate Professor

352-638-9758chuff@beaconcollege.edu

Rosemarie DeJarnett

Senior Instructor

352-787-0626rdejarnett@beaconcollege.edu

Dr. Leigh Camacho Rourks

Associate Professor

352-638-9735lrourks@beaconcollege.edu

Dr. William Nesbitt

Professor

352-638-9717wnesbitt@beaconcollege.edu

Marc Roberts

Instructor

352-638-9704mroberts@beaconcollege.edu

Christopher Irving

Senior Instructor

352-638-9734cirving@beaconcollege.edu

Autumn Welt

Assistant Professor

352-787-1056awelt@beaconcollege.edu

Dr. Mary-Anne Primack

Assistant Professor

352-787-2912mprimack@beaconcollege.edu

Dr. Patricia Konovalov

Associate Professor

352-638-9815pkonovalov@beaconcollege.edu

Dr. Nancy Wood

Assistant Professor

352-638-9719nwood@beaconcollege.edu

Meet Your General Education Instructors

Dr. Kevin Chandler

Associate Professor

352-638-9772kchandler@beaconcollege.edu

Cathy Vinton

Instructor

352-638-9823cvinton@beaconcollege.edu

Jodi Livingston

Instructor

352-787-1525jlivingston@beaconcollege.edu

Tiffany Calderara

Instructor

352-638-9743tcalderara@beaconcollege.edu

Humanities Minor

Open to all Beacon students, the Humanities minor provides a broad interdisciplinary program for students, and it can be combined with a degree in another field, such as Business Management.

Associate of Arts in Humanities 

The Associate of Arts degree in Humanities provides students with an education foundation before entering the workforce or pursuing further study or professional training. The A.A. program requires the completion of a total of 61 credits, with 18 credits in the major.

Learn More About Humanities

To schedule a visit, please contact our admissions team at admissions@beaconcollege.edu or call 352-638-9731 or 855-220-5376 (toll-free).

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