Bachelor of Arts in Humanities

The Bachelor of Arts major in Humanities was introduced in the College of Arts and Sciences in 1983. The current program retains vestiges of the old classical curriculum—the College previously had a traditional Humanities course devoted to the classical languages and literatures and to the arts—but adds more modern courses. It is home to students interested in the arts (both the fine and practical), media (both printed and broadcast), and research and writing (both creative and critical).

The program is based on the classical belief in the capacity of human beings for self-perfection. It seeks to liberate the individual genius by exposing students, in the words of Matthew Arnold, to “the best that is known and thought in the world,” or The Great Tradition to which the individual talent belongs. These are the classics of literature, philosophy, and the arts—the makers charting the march of human civilization. Thus, the program holds that while people certainly cannot live without bread, neither can they live only for bread.

Following the classical belief in individualism, the program in Humanities recognizes the particular talents and interests of students. Thus, besides receiving the basic background to the humanities or their potential in the actual practice of the arts, students chart their own course of studies under the supervision of the Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and are given the means and services of the university.

The end of the Humanities program is to produce graduates sensitive to the delicate nuances of the human condition, aware and appreciative of the record of the great human passions and ideas that have shaped and continue to shape the modern world, infused with the spirit of rigorous rational inquiry, and equipped with the intellectual maturity to form and articulate their own ideas. With the students’ commitment, the program hopes to instill the virtues of intellectual tolerance, love and liberty of thought, and the belief in the essential dignity of human beings—ideals that are the core of every attempt to change the world.

The Bachelor of Arts major in Humanities, in short, is liberal education for genuine human liberation. It is a recognition of the impulses—ever fundamental but now too often ignored—that are the heart of our common humanity.

Program Learning Objectives

Apart from being able to do what the revised Ateneo Core Curriculum envisions them as doing, the graduates of the AB Humanities program should be able to:

1. demonstrate familiarity with key concepts, authors, developments, and works in two or three areas of the humanities;

2. analyze objects (whether texts, issues, phenomena) in the humanities using and integrating appropriate concepts or theories;

3. conduct research or undertake projects, either by himself or herself or with a team, using the appropriate methodologies; and

4. read texts in a foreign (i.e., not a Philippine) language apart from English. 

Curriculum

Under the AB HUM curriculum, Humanities Majors, with the guidance of the IS Department’s Academic Adviser: take a menu of classes from two or three disciplines in the humanities fields of their choice, namely, Literature (whether in English or in Filipino), Philosophy, History, Languages, Music Literature, and the Fine Arts (Arts Management, Creative Writing, Information Design, and Theater Arts); take Major/Required Courses from the IS Department consisting of three Great Books classes, a class in Aesthetics, the course Introduction to Interdisciplinary Approaches, and three Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) electives.

A pair of terminal classes, Senior Seminar I and Senior Seminar II, allow Humanities seniors to integrate their two or three disciplines in an investigative-analytical paper, an applied research project, or a creative work.

It is the mission of the Bachelor of Arts major in Humanities program to produce graduates who are: sensitive to the delicate nuances of the human condition; aware and appreciative of the record of the great human passions and ideas that have shaped and continue to shape the modern world; infused with the spirit of rigorous rational inquiry; and equipped with the intellectual maturity to form and articulate their own ideas. With the students’ commitment, the program hopes to instill the ideas of intellectual tolerance, love and liberty of thought, and the belief in the essential dignity of human beings—ideals that are at the core of every attempt to change the world. The Bachelor of Arts, Major in Humanities, in short, is a liberal education for genuine human liberation.

AB Humanities Track

AB Humanities Majors take a total of 10 IDS HUMAN Program Electives (a.k.a. “Major Electives” or MEs for short) in two or three Tracks of their choice.

Under OPTION A (two tracks), AB Humanities Majors take:

• 5 courses in their preferred Track 1, and
• 5 courses in their preferred Track 2.

Under OPTION B (three tracks), AB Humanities Majors take:

• 4 courses in their preferred Track 1,
• 3 courses in their preferred Track 2, and
• 3 courses in their preferred Track 3.

Below are the disciplines or areas of study that may be chosen as AB Humanities Tracks:

• Education
• Fine Arts: Arts Management
• Fine Arts: Creative Writing
• Fine Arts: Information Design
• Fine Arts: Theater Arts
• Foreign Language and Culture: Chinese Studies
• Foreign Language and Culture: French
• Foreign Language and Culture: German
• Foreign Language and Culture: Japanese Studies
• Foreign Language and Culture: Korean Studies
• Foreign Language and Culture: Spanish
• History
• Literature (in English)
• Literature (in Filipino)
• Music Literature
• Philosophy

AB Humanities Official Curriculum

AB HUM Program of Study and Track Design (as of 13 Feb 2023)