<Undergraduate Courses and Programs<College Courses

Vanier College Courses

Academic Program Office:

238 Vanier College, 416-736-5192

Web Address:

http://www.yorku.ca/vanier/

College Master:

C. Carpenter

Listed below are the 1000-level and 2000-level nine-credit foundations courses which are part of the Faculty of Arts general education requirement. These courses introduce students to interdisciplinary study and emphasize critical thinking, reading and writing skills at the university level and reflect the academic mandate of the college.

AS/HUMA 1100 9.00 Worlds of Ancient Greece and Rome

A study of the classical world with a view to understanding the origin and evolution of some of the literary, philosophical and political ideals of ancient Greece and Rome. Materials for this study will be drawn from Greek and Roman literature in translation, with illustration from the plastic arts. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 1100 6.00.

AS/HUMA 1110 9.00 Greek and Biblical Traditions

The stories, symbols and myths of Greek and Biblical literature have provided the basic images for Western society's interpretation of itself and its experience. An examination of Greek and Biblical traditions which inform personal and community life today. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 1110 6.00.

AS/HUMA 1120 9.00 Medieval Civilization

An investigation of the culture of medieval western Europe, tracing its values, aesthetics, and habits of perception. Plastic arts and architecture, epic, romantic and lyric prose and poetry, theology, and historical documents illustrate forms of thought and expression. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusions: AS/HUMA 1120 6.0, AS/HUMA 1125 9.0.

AS/HUMA 1125 9.00 Civilization of Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Sampling epic, romance, autobiography, short story, drama, music, political theory, science and the visual arts, this course traces European high culture from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusions: AS/HUMA 1120 9.00, AS/HUMA 1130 9.00.

AS/HUMA 1130 9.00 The Renaissance

The course explores the European Renaissance as a form of civilization. It treats literature, music, philosophy, religion, political theory, and the plastic arts, and seeks to make clear the ideas, values, and habits of mind which gave unity to an epoch in Western history. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 1125 9.0, AS/HUMA 1130 6.0.

AS/HUMA 1160 9.00 The Enlightenment and Human Understanding

A fundamental feature of the Enlightenment is the view that human experience is the foundation of gaining knowledge and truth. We focus on selected Enlightenment writers and thinkers in order to understand this approach to writing. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.)

AS/HUMA 1170 9.00 The Modern Age: Shapers and Definers

The course introduces the student to some of the important shapers and definers of the modern (Western) artistic and intellectual tradition, along with some of the movements and counter-movements that framed their work (Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, Modernism etc.). (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 1170 6.00.

AS/HUMA 1610 9.00 The Art of Writing

A course on the nature and evolution of European, British and American writing through the modern period. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 1610 6.00.

AS/HUMA 1840 9.00 Existence, Freedom and Meaning: The Idea of Human in European Thought

Major works of literature, philosophy, religion and science since the Renaissance are read and discussed in a search for the distinctively human. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 1840 6.00.

AS/HUMA 1915 9.00 Animals and the Literary Imagination

From antiquity to the present, the animal world has been strongly reflected in Western literature. The course presents a cross-cultural examination of the depiction of animals in Western literature and culture (especially the English, North American, German and Russian traditions). (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 1500C 6.00.

AS/HUMA 1970 9.00 Worlds of Childhood

An exploration of childhood as an aspect of human experience represented in many forms in various cultures over time. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 2215 6.00.

AS/HUMA 2100 9.00 The World of Ancient Greeks

A study of the culture of the Greek speaking peoples of the Hellenic and Hellenistic Mediterranean at various points in their development and evolution. Areas of cultural endeavours to be explored include drama, epic, gender, law, philosophy, history and rhetoric. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 2100 6.00.

AS/HUMA 2110 9.00 Egypt in the Greek and Roman Mediterranean

An examination of Egypt and Egyptians in the imagination and history of the cultures of the Greek and Roman Mediterranean. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 2000K 6.00.

AS/HUMA 2800 9.00 Introduction to the Study of Religion

A comparative examination of the history, literature, practices and social aspects of the religious traditions of South Asia (Buddhism, Hinduism), East Asia (China, Korea, Japan), Europe and West Asia (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Africa and Native America. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Note: Not all traditions will be offered in any given year. Degree credit exclusions: AS/HUMA 2800 6.00, AS/SOSC 2600 6.00, AK/HUMA 3481 6.00.

Cross-listed to: AS/HUMA 2800 9.00, AS/SOSC 2600 9.00

AS/HUMA 2815 9.00 Islamic Traditions

The course examines the beliefs, rituals, doctrines and teachings that have constituted the Islamic tradition from its inception until the present. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.)

AS/HUMA 2830 9.00 The Founders of Christianity

An introduction to the literature and history of the early Christian communities in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece and Rome. The varieties of early Christian thought and practice are examined in terms of their religious, cultural and political contexts. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 2830 6.00.

AS/HUMA 2850 9.00 The Jewish Experience: Symbiosis and Rejection

An examination of the interaction of Jews and gentiles in selected periods from antiquity through the 20th century. A case study in ethnic adaptation, the course seeks to understand how Jews sometimes adapted their lives to the world around them, and at other times withdrew into themselves, and how at certain times they exerted considerable influence on the people among whom they lived or who lived among them. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusions: AS/HUMA 2850 6.00, AS/HUMA 2851 3.00, AS/HUMA 2852 3.00.

AS/HUMA 2900 9.00 Introduction to Creative Writing

This course is an introduction to the writing of poetry and prose fiction. The main focus of the course will be the student's own writing. Students will be expected to satisfy a number of assignments relating to both fiction and poetry. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Note: Admission to AS/HUMA 2900 9.00 requires submission of a portfolio (10 to 15 pages of poetry and prose fiction), and is subject to the permission of the creative writing program coordinator.

AS/SOSC 1910 9.00 Education and Social Change

This course examines the development of educational systems against the background of a changing social structure. The question of "education for what" is stressed in understanding historical and contemporary school systems. The course emphasizes the Canadian educational experience. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusions: AS/SOSC 1910 6.00 and AS/SOSC 1919 9.00.

AS/SOSC 2600 9.00 Introduction to the Study of Religion

A comparative examination of the history, literature, practices and social aspects of the religious traditions of South Asia (Buddhism, Hinduism), East Asia (China, Korea, Japan), Europe and West Asia (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Africa and Native America. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Note: Not all traditions will be offered in any given year. Degree credit exclusions: AS/HUMA 2800 6.00, AS/SOSC 2600 6.00, AK/HUMA 3481 6.00.

Cross-listed to: AS/HUMA 2800 9.00, AS/SOSC 2600 9.00

AS/SOSC 2830 9.00 Music and Society

This course explores the relationship between the production and performance of music and its economic, social and political milieux. The first part of the course centres on the special theoretical perspective of the social sciences and the understanding it gives of the structure and content of music. The second part focuses on music in the modern world. (This course is affiliated with Vanier College.) Degree credit exclusion: AS/SOSC 2830 6.00.