Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Introduction to Humanities (Face-to-Face)

HU 1010-01

Course: HU 1010-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: INDS
CRN: 32969

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to the humanities, is a foundational course for majors in the Social Sciences, and complements studies in numerous disciplines. In this course, you will explore what it means to be human through the backdrop of history, art, architecture, music, religion, and other cultural institutions.

Required Texts

Fiero, Gloria K., Landmarks in Humanities, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2021. ISBN-10: 1260220753

Disclaimer: The above resource provides information consistent with the latest research regarding the subject area. Southern Utah University does not necessarily endorse specific personal, religious, philosophical, or political positions found in this resource.

Additional Materials Needed for Learning
  1. Computer with basic audio/video output equipment
  2. Internet access (broadband recommended)
  3. Canvas 
  4. Microsoft Word or Google Docs

Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
  1. Define the Humanities and what characteristics are universal to humans
  2. Identify significant landmarks in humanity throughout history
  3. Compare the commonalities and differences of the human experience as it is expressed through art, architecture, language, history, religion, music, inventions, philosophy, etc.
  4. Discuss big themes in humanities in varying contexts, such as conflict, justice, beauty, compassion, human rights, and the like.
  5. Show a greater understanding and appreciation for oneself, classmates, friends, family, community, and cultures around the world.

Course Assessments/Learning Outcomes
Reviews                                1-5
Discussions                          1-5
Activities                               1-5
Reflection Essays                 1-5

Essential Learning Outcomes (ELO):
HUM 1010 counts as a General Education course in the Social and Behavioral Science category. These courses prepare students to grasp the variations and complexities of human life, past and present; and come to an informed sense of self and others. More specifically, HUM 1010 will introduce students to (and assess their progress on) 5 essential learning outcomes over the course of the semester:
  • 2.0 Communication: Students develop and express ideas and will be able to do so in a variety of ways, namely in writing, by speaking, visually, kinesthetically, through design or aurally.
  • 4.0 Critical Thinking: Students demonstrate disciplined processes of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.
  • 7.0 Information Literacy: Students identify, locate, evaluate, attribute and share information effectively and ethically. They thoroughly analyze their own and others’ assumptions and carefully evaluate the relevance of contexts when presenting a position.
  • 9.0 Intercultural Knowledge and Competence: Students demonstrate that they are more culturally self-aware and aware of the cultures of others, have honed their verbal and nonverbal communication skills to negotiate shared understandings, ask complex questions and seek out understanding of other cultures, and are able to suspend judgment and initiate interactions with culturally different others.
  • 11.0 Knowledge of Human Cultures & Physical & Natural World: Students demonstrate knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world through study in the fine arts, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, life and physical sciences.


Course Requirements

LEARN
Readings, Videos, In-Class Discussions, Websites

APPLY
7 Reflection Essays
You will have 7 Reflection Essays in this course. Each will have a prompt to which you will respond in a 300-word minimum narrative. This essay should include: 1) a specific connection to your life experience, 2) reflection on specific course content, and, 3) at least two source references from the course textbook, videos, articles, and websites. Please include your opinions, but make sure you include sources to support them. These reflection essays will show that the students are making personal connections to the content and gaining enduring understandings that will help them to be influential global citizens. 100 points each

2 Activity Assignments
You will have 4 activity assignments in the course. Each has specific instructions. You need only choose and complete 2 of these. This will allow you some flexibility on the types of activities you prefer to tackle. Activity Assignments will have two due dates during the 7 week session. These activities will help students explore their own culture and discover what makes them human. 200 points each

6 Reviews
You will have 6 Knowledge Reviews. Each review will consist of 6-8 multiple-choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank questions; and, 1 short essay question. These will be completed at the beginning of each Tuesday class period. Students will have 10 minutes to complete the them. These reviews will ensure that students grasp the humanities basics from the provided content. 50 points each

12 Small Group Discussions
During this session we will have 12 graded in-class discussions. Your attendance in class and participation in small group discussions is a significant portion of your grade. At the end of each class period, you will fill out an 'exit ticket.' This will be a paper with your name on it and a few sentences about what you contributed and what others shared that stuck out to you during the discussion that day. The purpose of the discussions is to provide a venue in which you can reflect and express your thoughts with others in a positive and productive way, deepen your understanding, and broaden your worldview. 50 points each

Grading Scheme
This course will be graded by points earned from four categories totaling 2000 possible points.               
 Activities (2)                  400 points
 Reflection Essays (7)    700 points
 Reviews (6)                   300 points
 Discussions (12)           600 points

Grading Scale
 Grade |  Points
 A           1880 - 2000 
 A-         1800 - 1879
 B+        1740 - 1799
 B          1680 - 1739
 B-         1679 - 1600
 C+        1540 - 1599
 C          1480 - 1539
 C-         1400 - 1479
 D+        1340 - 1399
 D          1280 - 1339
 D-         1200 - 1279
 F                0 - 1199

Course Outline

Module 1 | Origins of Humanity and Classicism
     Learn | Readings Chapter 1-2, Videos 
     Apply |  Discussion, Essay 1

Module 2 | Roman Empire and Spread of Religion
     Learn | Readings Chapters 3-4, Videos 
     Apply |  Discussions, Essay 2, Review 1

Module 3 | Christianity and the Middle Ages
     Learn | Readings Chapters 5-6, Videos 
     Apply | Discussions, Essay 3, Review 2

Module 4 | Renaissance and Reformation 
     Learn | Readings Chapters 7-8, Videos 
     Apply |  Discussions, Essay 4, Review 3, Activity 1

Module 5 | Exploration and Enlightenment
     Learn | Readings Chapters 9-11, Videos 
     Apply | Discussions, Essay 5, Review 4

Module 6 | Romanticism and Materialism
     Learn | Readings Chapter 12-13, Videos 
     Apply | Discussions, Essay 6, Review 5, Activity 2

Module 7 | Modernism and Globalism
     Learn | Readings Chapters 14-15, Videos 
     Apply | Discussions, Essay 7, Review 6

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late Assignment Policy
Course Assignments should be submitted on time. If the student is unable to complete an assignment on time, then he or she must contact the instructor immediately by email. Assignments that are submitted after the due date without prior approval from the instructor will receive the following deductions:
  1. Late assignments submitted within one week after the due date will receive up to a 10% deduction.
  2. Assignments submitted more than one week and less than 2 weeks late will receive up to a 20% deduction.
  3. Assignments submitted two weeks late or after the final date of the course will not be accepted outside of special circumstances (e.g. death in the family, significant personal health issues), which will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the instructor.
  4. Group projects, including group discussions and assignments will not be accepted after the due date outside of special circumstances (e.g. death in the family, significant personal health issues), which will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the instructor.
Extra Credit
If you follow the instructions and submit all of your assignments for the course, it is unlikely that extra credit will be necessary.

Attendance Policy

While many of your assignments and resources can be found on Canvas, your physical attendance is required in this course. You will participate in group discussions each class period and that experience will play a significant role in your education and your final grade. If you have extraneous circumstances, please reach out to your instructor to ensure that you get the help you need.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Within this course, all submitted assignments should be written, developed, created, or inspired by you. If any work is created by artificial intelligence (AI) it will be considered plagiarized work and a violation of SUU Policy 6.33: Academic Misconduct. This could result in a failing grade to disciplinary action through the Dean of Students’ Office. AI is an evolving technology and will impact our academic, professional, and personal lives. It is important that as part of your education, you learn to critically think, create, and evaluate products/assignments.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.