Spotlighting the Humanities

Our knowledge of the world is enriched by the humanities, and Trinity University’s humanities courses know no bounds when it comes to grappling with the complexities of history, philosophy, religion, literature, and more. 

Read about several of the wide range of courses taught this fall in Trinity’s School of Arts and Humanities.

CLAS/ANTH 1309 Pirates, Merchants, and Marines: Seafaring in the Ancient Mediterranean | Nicolle Hirschfeld, Ph.D.

In this course, students will be introduced to the ships, sailors, and navies of the ancient Mediterranean world, with an emphasis on Greece and Rome, and their impact on the movement of goods, resources, people, and ideas. 

“The Mediterranean Sea formed a natural boundary between lands and people, but it also served as a connector, the ancient equivalent of a highway linking the many and varied civilizations on its shores. And like the modern internet, the sea was a major conduit of technologies and ideas in antiquity,” says classical studies professor Nicolle Hirschfeld, Ph.D. “It is these aspects of the Mediterranean maritime world that are the focus of this class.”

This course combines the fields of archaeology, anthropology, ethnography, physical sciences, engineering, art history, history, and geography to grasp a holistic view on how ships and maritime trade impacted the ancient Mediterranean world. Students ground their understandings of this area by analyzing evidence, such as hulls and cargoes of shipwrecks, harbor-works, inscriptions, graffiti, wall paintings and mosaics, literary texts, and gravestones. 

Students learn the methodologies and technologies of underwater archaeology, and they consider the ethical questions involved in underwater archaeology, the guidelines put forward by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the problems posed by modern treasure hunting. 

CMLT 2450: Science Fiction and the Environment | Heather Sullivan, Ph.D.

In this course, students read a wide range of international and North American texts to  gain an overview of the science fiction genre. They discover how this genre can explore environmental, ecological, and technological issues with a special focus on environmental justice and ecofeminism. 

“Such a broad perspective, including many different views, is helpful when seeking to understand global climate change and the global markets that drive our cultures and environmental decisions,” says modern languages and literatures professor Heather Sullivan, Ph.D. “Comparative literature looks specifically at the trans-national and global context for interactions among various cultures, language traditions, literatures, peoples, and continents.”

The course is divided into three main sections. The first section, “Environmental Justice and Science Fiction: Eco-Warriors and Science Fiction Explorers, ”focuses on the traditional science fiction stories of exploration and colonial narratives of older texts. The second section, “Ecofeminism, the Indigenous, and Environmental Justice,” studies ecofeminist and social justice issues in novels depicting otherworldly encounters where the “aliens” represent Indigenous peoples. Finally, the third section, “Environmental Justice on Earth,” explores speculative science fiction depicting post-apocalyptic scenarios derived from ecological disasters and ideas about the “post-human.”

Throughout the course, students grapple with the implications of technology-driven changes to the world for our bodies, communities, regions, nations, economies, and for the non-human. Some of the readings for this course include books such as City of Pearl by Karen Traviss, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin, Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi, and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

ENGL 2308: The Literary Imagination: Poetry as Medicine - How Reading and Writing Can Facilitate Healing | Laura Van Prooyen, MFA

In this course, students consider the roles of poetry, psychology, and culture as they relate to life, death, illness, health and well-being.

“Multiple studies link expressive writing to improved health; we investigate the therapeutic power of poetry, journal writing, and creative community in processing difficult emotions, addressing burnout, and promoting resilience,” says English professor Laura Van Prooyen, MFA. 

Although this course falls under the English department, it explores the intersection of the liberal arts and the sciences. The course is inspired by the field of medical humanities, making it an intriguing course for humanities majors and even students on the pre-med track.  

Through this course, students develop close reading and critical analysis skills to interpret poems and analyze the therapeutic benefits of literature for individuals and communities, including those in healthcare environments. 

Students engage with media ranging from journal articles and poems to podcasts and art. Some highlights include The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad, Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, Coachella Elegy by Christian Gullette, and The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy by Ed. James Crews.

 “Engaging with poetry–both as attentive readers and writers–can foster empathy, self-reflection, and deeper understanding in how people navigate challenges,” Van Prooyen says.

ENGL 4418: Seminar in Literary Theme Or Genre: “Black and Asian Fugitive Placemaking” | Juyoun Jang, Ph.D.

In this course, students explore how Black and Asian communities use fugitive placemaking strategies to pursue freedom in the face of systemic oppression.

Fugitive placemaking is the act of turning sites of profound violence and loss into spaces of collective witnessing, resistance, and care. The idea of "fugitive" itself comes from the history of fugitive slaves. 

“Figures like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs not only sought physical escape from slavery, but also freed themselves mentally and spiritually through writing, teaching, and caring for their families and communities,” says English professor Juyoun Jang, Ph.D. 

Through readings and discussions, the class examines the intersection of Black and Asian pain, resilience, and grief. Some key texts include Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman, Home by Toni Morrison, Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward, Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho. 

Beyond considering the abstract spaces of fugitive placemaking, students also gain a deeper understanding of carceral spaces. “We apply critical thinking to explore carceral spaces, situating prisons within broader structures of racialized confinement,” Jang says. “We consider how systems of control extend across sites such as prisons, immigration detention centers, and the geographies of Mississippi and New Orleans, as well as transnational contexts like South Korea and Vietnam.” 

PHIL/MUSC 3458: Philosophy of Music | Andrew Kania, Ph.D.

This course investigates three main philosophical issues music raises and how philosophers have tried to answer them. 

First, music and emotion: Music is often described in emotional terms and valued for the emotions it expresses in itself and arouses in us. But how can mere sounds express emotions? And how can we feel sad (say) in response to music that we greatly enjoy?

Second, the nature of music: What makes some sounds music? Why does a recitation of poetry, for instance, not count as music? And what implications does this have for how we understand song? 

Third, cover versions: Why do we use this concept when talking about popular music, like rock, but not other musical traditions, like classical or jazz? Can an artist cover their own songs? To appreciate a cover, do you have to know the original?

A popular contemporary case of cover versions for students is ‘Taylor’s Versions’, Taylor Swift’s recent re-recordings of her earlier music. “At the moment, I’m working on an essay about Taylor’s Versions (are they covers?) and a paper on the nature and appreciation of covers, a draft of which we’ll read in ‘Philosophy of Music.’ So the students will be reading cutting-edge work in philosophy of music and seeing first-hand how research in this field develops,” says philosophy professor Andrew Kania, Ph.D.

Ultimately, Kania’s goal for the course is to help his students become better philosophers through their writing, philosophical research, discussions, and presentations. 

RELI 3403: Death and Beyond | Sarah K. Pinnock, Ph.D.

This course explores death and dying from comparative religious perspectives. “Contrary to the assumption that death is negative, our readings examine how facing death is deeply connected with moral values and what makes life worth living,” says religion professor Sarah K. Pinnock, Ph.D. 

Students explore the spiritual dimensions of a ‘good death,’ including beliefs about the afterlife, body disposition, funeral customs, grief, and memorialization. Additionally, this course examines end-of-life loss and responses to violent death, pulling from historical events such as the Holocaust and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Throughout the course, students develop skills in writing, reading, and critical discussion. As an interdisciplinary course, readings include literary, historical, sociological, theological, and medical approaches. 

Key texts in this course include From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty, On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Night by Elie Wiesel and translated by Marion Wiesel, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculée Ilibagiza, and Beyond the Threshold: Afterlife Beliefs and Experiences in World Religions by Christopher M. Moreman.