Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology

College of Arts and Social Sciences

Department of Philosophy and Humanities

Hum 1 – Introduction to Humanities

SYLLABUS
A.Y. 2017-2018 First Semester

Instructor: Ian S. Embradura (ian.embradura@g.msuiit.edu.ph)

A. Course Description

The course provides an overview of mankind’s creative expressions in terms of their formal elements
as well as their historical, socio-political, and cultural contexts. In this course, art and everyday life are
integrated to be symbiotic forces that constitute the production and circulation of culture as a system of
representation.

B. Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students should be able to: (1) have an in-depth definition of Art and
Culture and their relation to everyday life; (2) demonstrate how meanings are represented and find form;
and (3) engage in critical discourse that would challenge or question a social reality.

C. Guidelines

1. Attendance is not part of the grade, and will therefore not be checked every meeting.
However, if a student misses three (3) graded activities, he/she will receive a warning for a DRP grade; five
(5) missed activities is already subject for dropping even before the end of the semester. If the student
needs to be absent for a valid reason, an email must be sent to me on or before the day of absence
explaining the reason; Special Orders (SOs), medical certificates may be presented in person upon the
return of the student. Tardiness, on the other hand, will not be tolerated.

2. Plagiarism is a criminal offense in the academe. A student caught plagiarizing even a single
sentence in a written requirement will automatically get a zero score for the activity. Cite your sources
properly especially if the ideas and statements are not yours.

3. Classroom Atmosphere. The nature of the subject calls for students to share personal insights,
opinions, and interpretations. Everyone is encouraged to participate in class because this is an avenue
where subjectivities are fostered. Do not get intimidated for saying something wrong because in the
Humanities, we are and should be comfortable with ambiguity, with ambivalence.

4. Reports. Since we do not have a textbook specific for the course, references for the report are
open for the students’ choice as long as they are academic. The use of audio-visual aids is also
encouraged to reinforce the presentation. Mere reading is strongly unacceptable, because a report is not
meant for students to merely parrot what their sources say; it is your responsibility to synthesize what you
have read, and relay it to your classmates in such a way that the subject matter would be meaningful to
them as well.

5. Submission of Written Requirements. Except for activities done in the classroom, all written works
must be submitted in PDF format with the filename in this format: (Hum 1 – Section) Family Name – Title of
Activity. Use your IIT Gmail account to send your submission to my IIT Gmail account
(ian.embradura@g.msuiit.edu.ph) with the subject line similar to the filename.

6. Extended classroom. The class will have its own Facebook group where complementary
resources will be posted. Most materials used in class will come from the videos and articles posted in the
group. Students are encouraged to comment and share their insights with whatever is posted in the group.
We should uphold a democratic environment where everyone is given opportunities to be heard.
 7. Consultations. Feel free to talk to me (personally, through email, or Facebook) on matters related
in class, be it your report, a clarification on the details of a requirement, or just a thought that is bothering in
relation to our discussions in class.

D. Grading

1. Written Activities 25%

2. Presentations 10%
3. Creative Outputs 20 %
4. Participation 20%
5. Art Exhibit 25%

E. Course Outline

Week Topic References

1 A. Introduction to the Course
1. Distribution of Syllabus
2. Expectations from the Course, the
Instructor, and the Students
B. Why study Humanities?
1. What is the Humanities?
2. vis-a-vis Social Sciences?
3. So what?
2 C. Culture
1. Definitions and Debunking misconceptions
2. How do we make sense of culture?
3. Sub-cultures, Multiculturalism, Pop Culture
and all other cultures
D. Representation
1. Production and circulation of Culture
2. Language and Meaning
3. Constructivist approach
a. Semiotics/Structuralism (Saussure)
b. Discursive/Post-structuralism (Foucault)
Read:
1. How Humanities Can Help Fix the World
http://bit.ly/2ve5tv1
2. Learning to be Human
http://theatln.tc/2uEsgia
3. We Need more STEM Majors with Liberal Arts
Training http://wapo.st/2uINycR
4. Why are so many Humanities Students
Activists? http://bit.ly/1Rvdhb4
5. The art of learning: Why art history might be
the most important subject you could study
today http://bit.ly/2uJjWfq
Read:
1. The Work of Representation – Stuart Hall
http://bit.ly/2h7XoCa
2. Fashion and social identity: a cultural
phenomenon http://bit.ly/2kslBj5
Watch:
1. Language and Meaning: CrashCourse
Philosophy http://bit.ly/2h8Sapw
2. Al-Jazeera Media
Theory/History Playlist http://bit.ly/2v6kTRg
3. Clifford Gertz – The Interpretation of Culture
http://bit.ly/2lJ7sTu

3-4 E. Art Watch:

1. as Language 1. What is art for? http://bit.ly/2uIDPU1
2. as Aesthetic (order/beauty) 2. Why Art Matters http://bit.ly/2uIQMwZ
3. Aesthetic Appreciation http://bit.ly/2tPYQyN
3. its Origins: from traditional to specialist
4. History of Idea: Art http://bit.ly/2uIDPU1
4. Classifications (Genre, Movements, 5. Why You Don’t Get Contemporary Art
Historical Periods, etc.) http://bit.ly/2u4L3Q9
F. Form 6. Edvard Munch: What a Cigarette Means
1. Elements: http://bit.ly/29F5cbu
a. Visual (Spatial) 7. The Case for Andy Warhol http://bit.ly/1Jtoadi
b. Temporal
c. Mixed
2. in relation to Historical, Socio-political
contexts
5 G. Basic Concepts Watch:
1. Politics, Power, Hegemony, Ideology, 1. How to understand power
Agency, Institutions http://bit.ly/2tJy2MD
Read:
2. Capitalism, Marxism, Industrialization,
1. A Brief Economic History of Time
Commodification http://theatln.tc/2h8XCDR
3. Globalization, Transnationalism, Modernity 2. Communication, Cultural and Media Studies:
vs. Postmodernity the Key Concepts http://bit.ly/2uFan2J
4. Third Space, the Other/Othering,
Orientalism
 5. Essentialism, Reductionism, Determinism,
Constructivism
6-7 H. Identity Politics Read:
1. national culture 1. Stuart Hall – The Question of Cultural Identity
a. The problem of being Filipino http://bit.ly/2uEMhoM
Watch:
2. race and ethnicity; religion
1. Benedict Anderson – Imagined Communities
a. marginalization of indigenous minorities http://bit.ly/2tPTnZ2
b. violence and discrimination 2. Arjun Appadurai – Modernity at Large
http://bit.ly/2u4X1t6
3. Hip-hop is political again.
http://bit.ly/2vQ2aHF
8-9 3. gender, sexuality, and the body Watch:
a. heteronormativity 1. Feminine Beauty: A Social Construct?
b. gender performativity http://bit.ly/2jscO0m
2. Simone de Beauvoir – The Second Sex
c. body as site of contestation
http://bit.ly/2vQaOpK
3. Judith Butler – Gender Trouble
http://bit.ly/2ve3Eyx
4. Michel Foucault – History of Sexuality
http://bit.ly/2u5g2vt
5. How the LGBT created Voguing
http://bit.ly/2uFfDDD
6. The Invention of Heterosexuality
http://bbc.in/2npKPzR
7. How Art has depicted the Ideal Male Body
throughout History http://bit.ly/2phKSlL
10 4. class/political economy Watch:
a. elite vs. mass 1. How stories control our economy
b. producers-consumers http://bit.ly/2v6Iy41
2. The evolution of American protest music
c. labor and commodity
http://bit.ly/2uFD5kk
3. Homer Simpson: An Economic Analysis
http://bit.ly/2vQk2SX
4. How China is Changing Hollywood
http://bit.ly/2eTNpiY
11-12 I. Media and Pop Culture Watch:
1. Homogenization of Identities 1. Does Pop Culture need to be “Popular”
2. vis-a-vis “Art” http://bit.ly/2v4nDiJ
2. Pop Culture and Philosophy
3. The Digital Age: Its Implications for the
http://bit.ly/2tJy7zR
Humanities 3. The Medium is the Message
http://bit.ly/2v6NXbc
4. Intertextuality: Hollywood’s New Currency
http://bit.ly/2uJ4eRv
5. How Art can Transform the Internet
http://bit.ly/2h8HirQ
6. How selfies became a global phenomenon
http://bit.ly/2uEMkB0
13-14 J. The Creative Process: Making Art as a Critical
Statement

Suggested Facebook Pages to Like/Follow:

1. JSTOR Daily 4. aeon 7. The New Yorker 10. The Telegraph
2. The Atlantic 5. Vice 8. Nerdwriter 11. TEDx
3. Vox 6. CNN Philippines Life 9. Quartz 12. CrashCourse

Prepared by

Ian S. Embradura