Undergraduate Bulletin > Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies > SPLS Major—Humanities

Special Programs in Liberal Studies Major—Humanities Concentration (SPLS)

Rationale and Program Objectives

The Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, Humanities Concentration, is an online degree completion program for adult students who have earned a minimum of 60 hours of transferable credit at other institutions. The program is designed to provide students with an opportunity to earn their baccalaureate degree in an e-learning environment by gaining a thorough understanding of the humanities, the interconnections among them, and their relevance to individuals and to modern society. The humanities are broadly defined to include those disciplines that study people—their ideas, their history, their literature, their artifacts, and their values. The program will investigate individual people in their solitude, life together in societies, and models of and for reality that constitute cultures. Individual courses will tackle the Big Questions that have been the traditional province of the humanities such as “What makes a life worth living?” The program is designed to enhance the student’s ability to:

• Think critically and analytically.
• Communicate clearly and effectively.
• Understand and explain interconnections among the Humanities disciplines.
• Appreciate the wide range of human experience.
• Achieve increased depth of knowledge in one of the four categories of the Humanities: Literature, Fine Arts, Philosophy/Religion/Ethics, Historical Perspectives.

Program Requirements

I General Education Core Requirements (GEC)

See complete GEC requirements and approved course listings for all categories.

Core Category	S.H.
Students may select courses for:
Literature (GLT)	3
Fine Arts (GFA)	3
Philosophical, Religious, Ethical Principles (GPR)	3
Historical Perspectives on Western Culture (GHP)	3
Mathematics (GMT)	3
Natural Sciences (GNS) one must be a laboratory course; each must have a different departmental prefix	6–7
Reasoning and Discourse (GRD) ENG 101 or FMS 115 or RCO 101, and one additional GRD course	6
Social and Behavioral Sciences (GSB)	6

 

II General Education Marker Requirements

See details and courses. It is possible to meet all GE Marker Requirements while completing the GE Core requirements or courses required by the major/concentration.

 

III College of Arts and Sciences Additional Requirements

See requirements and approved courses.

Category	S.H.
Historical Perspectives on Western Culture one GPM (Premodern) or GMO (Modern) course, depending on category used to satisfy GHP requirement	3
Humanities and Fine Arts one additional Literature (GLT) course	3
Natural Sciences one additional GNS/GLS or GPS course	3–4
Social and Behavioral Sciences (GSB) one additional GSB course	3
Foreign Language (GFL) intermediate-level proficiency in one language, demonstrated by placement test, or completion of course work through course number 204	0–12
Writing Intensive Courses (WI) a total of four WI courses

 

IV Major Requirements

Minimum of 30 semester hours above the 200 level including the following:

1. Core Courses (6 s.h.)
   
   BLS 300 Seminar in the Humanities
   BLS 301 Pathways: Reading and Writing in the Humanities
    
2. Distribution Requirement (12 s.h.)
   
   At least one course from each of the following topic areas:
    
   1. Literature: BLS 320, 321, 322, 323, 325, 326, 327
   2. Fine Arts: BLS 340, 341, 342, 343, 345, 346, 347, 348
   3. Philosophy/Religion/Ethics: BLS 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366
   4. Historical Perspectives: BLS 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386
       
3. Area of Emphasis (9 s.h.)
   
   At least three (3) additional courses in one of the following topic areas:
    
   1. Literature: BLS 320, 321, 322, 323, 325, 326, 327, 342, 343, 347, 386
   2. Fine Arts: BLS 340, 341, 342, 343, 345, 346, 347, 348
   3. Philosophy/Religion/Ethics: BLS 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366
   4. Historical Perspectives: BLS 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386
       
4. Capstone Seminar (3 s.h.)
   
   BLS 400 Senior Seminar in the Humanities

V Electives

Electives sufficient to complete the 122 semester hours required for the degree.