Non-European Cultures & Literatures
Course Competencies

HUM 210Asia     HUM 212Americas
HUM 211Africa    HUM 213MiddleEast

Humanities 210 *MIC / *WIC
Cultures and Literatures of Asia
[MIC = Multicultural Infusion Course]
[WIC = Writing in Context of other Disciplines]

Introduction to significant works of Asian language arts (orature, literature, and film), representing a diversity of peoples and cultures from key historical periods, will enable the Hum 210 student to:

A. Build knowledge of language arts and cultures different from one’s own.

1. Identify distinctive characteristics, genres, and periods of selected works of Asian orature, literature, and film (e.g., Sanskrit and oral folk epics; selections from the Shijing and other Chinese Classics; Buddhist-inspired aesthetics, Tokugawa-era kabuki and haiku; Indian and Pakistani post-colonial fiction; "Fifth Generation" film).

2. Situate individual Asian texts in their specific cultural, historical, and intellectual contexts, and analyze significant ways that these texts represent or reflect those contexts (e.g. cultural values and beliefs, intellectual and creative traditions, historical and biographical backgrounds, social and political realities).

3. Evaluate the limitations and benefits of studying Asian works in cross-cultural translation (e.g., across different languages, pictographic/romanized writing systems, cultures, and creative media).

B. Apply this knowledge to cross-cultural comparative analysis

4. Identify and analyze significant cross cultural differences and similaritiesamong different Asian texts and their cultures; and between Asian language arts/cultures and one’s own; and/or between Asian language arts/cultures and those of other non-Western groups.

5. Examine the effects of individual and culturally-determined factors (such as race, gender, class, nation, biases of information sources, prior cross-cultural experiences) in one’s own and others’ responses to Asian texts and cultures.

6. Identify unanswered questions, topics of personal interest, controversial claims and alternative viewpoints arising from one’s comparative study for further research and investigation.

C. Construct and communicate persuasive cross-cultural interpretations using writing

7. Formulate responses and interpretations using varied strategies and resources (e.g., active reading/viewing skills; self-reflection, critical and empathetic thinking, oral discussion and writing, multiple perspectives, comparative analysis, and interdisciplinary knowledge).

8. Create a persuasive cross-cultural interpretation of an Asian text that integrates ethnorelative perspectives and analytical criteria appropriate to Asian language arts and cultural contexts.

9. Communicate one’s interpretations in informal and formal writing, using relevant, well-selected evidence from Asian texts and their cultural contexts to support one’s points.

HUM 210 Winter 2001 Competencies, Benchmarks & Student Self-Assessments: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum210/competencies.htm

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Humanities 211 *MIC / *WIC
Cultures and Literatures of Africa
*MIC [Multicultural Infusion Course]
*WIC [Writing in Context of other Displines]

Introduction to significant works of subSaharan African language arts (orature, literature, and film), representing a diversity of peoples and cultures from key historical periods, will enable the Humanities 211 student to:

A. Build knowledge of language arts and cultures different from one’s own:

1. Identify distinctive characteristics, genres, and periods of traditional and modern African orature, literature, and film (e.g., proverb wisdom, call-and-response, praise-poetry, African griot traditions, bicultural and autobiographical fiction, African "response" literature, anti-colonial resistance arts)

2. Situate individual African texts in their contexts, and analyze significant ways that these texts reflect or represent those contexts (e.g. cultural values and beliefs, intellectual and creative traditions, historical and biographical backgrounds, social and political realities).

3. Evaluate the limitations and benefits of studying African works in cross-cultural translation (i.e. across one or more different languages; across oral and literate-based cultures; and/or from oral to written systems and to cinematic media).

B. Apply this knowledge to cross-cultural comparative analysis

4. Identify and analyze significant cross cultural differences and similarities--among different African texts and their cultures; between African language arts/cultures and one’s own; and/or between African works and cultures and those of other non-Western groups.

5. Examine the effects of individual and culturally-determined factors (such as race, gender, class, nation, biases of information sources, prior cross-cultural experiences) in one’s own and others’ responses to African texts and cultures.

6. Identify topics of personal interest, unanswered questions, controversial claims and alternative viewpoints arising from one’s comparative study for further research and investigation.

C. Construct and communicate persuasive cross-cultural interpretations using writing

7. Formulate responses and interpretations using varied strategies and resources (e.g., active reading/viewing skills; self-reflection, critical and empathetic thinking, oral discussion and writing, multiple perspectives, comparative analysis, and interdisciplinary knowledge).

8. Create a persuasive cross-cultural interpretation of an African text that integrates ethnorelative perspectives and analytical criteria appropriate to African language arts and their cultural contexts.

9. Communicate one’s interpretations in informal and formal writing, using relevant, well-selected evidence from African texts and their cultural contexts to support one’s points.

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Humanities 212
Cultures and Literatures of the Americas

Introduction to significant works of Spanish-speaking Latin American literature and film, representing a diversity of peoples and cultures from key historical periods, will enable the Humanities 212 student to:

Build knowledge of language arts and cultures different from one’s own:

1. Situate individual Latin American texts within national or regional categories (e.g., Mexico, Meso-America, the Caribbean and Columbia, Andean region, and the Southern Cone) and identify shaping features of their cultural history (e.g. the effects of the Spanish Conquest; patterns of conflict and acculturation created by the mix of European, African, and indigenous cultures and values, urban and rural structures, Catholic and syncretized folk beliefs, rich and poor, conqueror and vanquished/ruler and ruled).

2. Identify distinctive characteristics, genres, and periods of traditional, modern and "Boom" literature, the few Indigenist texts, and film.

3. Analyze and evaluate significant ways that Latin American texts reflect or represent their specific contexts (e.g. cultural values and beliefs, intellectual and creative traditions, historical patterns of cross-cultural conflict and acculturation, biographical backgrounds, social and political realities).

4. Evaluate the limitations and benefits of studying Latin American works in cross-cultural translation (i.e. across one or more different languages and cultures, across written or cinematic systems and media).

B. Apply this knowledge to cross-cultural comparative analysis

5. Identify and analyze significant cross cultural differences and similaritiesbetween "official" story and real story, among different Latin American works, between Latin American language arts/cultures and one’s own.

6. Examine the effects of individual and culturally-determined factors (such as race, gender, class, nation, biases of information sources, prior cross-cultural experiences) in one’s own and others’ responses to Latin American texts and cultures.

7. Identify topics of personal interest, unanswered questions, controversial claims and alternative viewpoints arising from one’s comparative study for further research and investigation.

C. Construct and communicate persuasive cross-cultural interpretations

8. Formulate responses and interpretations using varied strategies and resources (e.g., active reading/viewing skills; self-reflection, critical and empathetic thinking, oral discussion and writing, multiple perspectives, comparative analysis, and interdisciplinary knowledge).

9. Create persuasive cross-cultural interpretations of Latin American texts that integrate ethnorelative perspectives and analytical criteria appropriate to Latin American language arts and their cultural contexts.

10. Explain, support, and illustrate one’s points using relevant, well-selected evidence textual evidence.

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Humanities 213 *MIC / *WIC
Cultures and Literatures of the Middle East
*MIC [Multicultural Infusion Course]
*WIC [Writing in Context of other Displines]

A. Knowledge of cultures different from one’s own:

1.  Explain the broad features of Arabic, Persian, and Hebrew literary-historical periods and analyze individual texts from these periods in relation to their historical, social, religious, and cultural contexts.

2.  Identify the role that the Arabic and Hebrew languages (in their unique histories and their linguistic features) have played in the development of literatures and cultures of the Middle East.

3.  Apply specific and defensible criteria, appropriate to the cultural context, to analyze, interpret, and evaluate these texts.

4.  Evaluate the limitations and benefits of studying this literature in translation (including the potential distortions of translation and the limits translation places on traditional literary analysis of style, diction, prosody etc.)

B. Comparative analysis of literary and other cultural productions:

5.  Identify and explain significant differences and similarities among Middle Eastern works and cultures; and between Middle Eastern language arts and cultures and our own; or between Middle Eastern language arts and cultures and those of another Non-Western or marginalized culture.

6.  Examine the effects of individual and culturally-determined factors (such as race, gender, class, nation, biases of information sources, prior cross-cultural experiences) in one’s own and others’ responses to Middle Eastern texts and cultures.

7.  Illustrate the complex roles of literature within culture as potential representation of a culture, expression of a cultural tradition, creator of a culture, and/or critique of that culture.

8.  Think critically about the meaning of difference.

C. Use writing to develop interpretations and comparative analyses:

9.  Use formal and informal writing to develop and express interpretations and analyses, distinguishing between personal and critical responses, and identifying and bracketing one’s use of Western models and analytical terms.

10.  Use evidence from the texts and bring multiple viewpoints and perspectives to bear in developing one’s interpretations, evaluations, and comparative analyses of these literary works.