Chair of Literature Humanities: Prof. Gareth Williams, 615 Hamilton Hall; (212) 854-2850
Literature Humanities Bulletin

In the almost seventy years that Literature Humanities (originally Humanities A) has been part of the Core Curriculum, only five titles have never left the required reading list: Homer, THE ILIAD; Aeschylus, ORESTEIA; Sophocles, OEDIPUS THE KING; Dante, THE INFERNO; and William Shakespeare, KING LEAR. Today’s Literature Humanities students read a collection of works ranging from THE HOLY BIBLE, to Montaigne’s ESSAYS, to Virginia Woolf’s TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, plus other works at the discretion of the instructor. Lit Hum as it is commonly known, is designed to enhance students’ knowledge of certain main lines of literary development that have shaped the western canon over nearly three millennia. Much more than a survey of great books, Lit Hum encourages students to become careful, critical readers of the literary past that we have inherited: what was it in the works read that caused previous generations to value them so highly? What is the artistic or human value that makes these works relevant to a modern age that is technologically advanced in ways unimaginable only a century ago? To what extent, and in what ways, can the different works on the syllabus be seen to be in conversation with each other across centuries and across cultures?