Department of Humanities and Fine Arts

The study of History is an important part of the journey for intellectual development and human understanding. Through a study of History, we cultivate and develop an understanding of the varieties of the human experience. History helps students develop analytical skills to interpret both the past and the present as well as identify trends and explore human existence. History helps students appreciate both the possibilities and the limits of our own age.

The Music Program plays a vital role in the life of the University and the community. The training environment it provides continues to produce musicians of distinction for careers in a variety of professional fields including performance and music education. The faculty is comprised of dedicated professional musicians who are active in both performance and teaching.

Concentrations:

• Voice (BA)
• Instruments (BA)

This interdisciplinary, comparative, and cross-cultural unit of courses allows students to examine critically important information derived from a variety of academic disciplines included in the broad fields of African Studies and African Diaspora Studies. The minor encompasses courses that cover the histories, sociopolitical constructs, religions, literature, music, and philosophies of African and African-descendant peoples. Beyond the acquisition of knowledge, the minor in African and African American Studies will introduce students to methodologies for the application of their acquired knowledge through internships, research projects, and perspectives about social change.

In this program students will become familiar with a diverse range of religious phenomena. They will be able to compare foundational beliefs among many religious traditions (including the Zulu religion, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) about such topics as human nature, the origin of the universe, life after death, gender roles, the relation between science and religion, the relation between religion and philosophy, and the grounding of ethics.