Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Summer 2025 - HUM 101W D100

Introduction to Global Humanities (3)

Class Number: 3284

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 12 – Aug 8, 2025: Mon, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Aug 21, 2025
    Thu, 7:00–10:00 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Introduction to issues and concepts central to the study of the humanities around the world. Through exposure to primary materials drawn from different periods, disciplines, and regions, students will become acquainted with a range of topics and ideas relating to the study of the human condition, human values, and human experience. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course has three broad purposes. First, to get students thinking about certain fundamental questions of moral intelligence, as those questions arise across a range of human relationships – with one’s family and friends, with society, with oneself and (for religious believers) with the divine. Second, to alert students to some of the diverse ways in which literary texts and other cultural artefacts can generate meaning. And third, to foster an understanding of canon-formation and the pursuit of humanistic knowledge as historically conditioned processes, in which we have a role to play as interpreters and continuators.

Grading

  • Tutorial participation (including attendance) 10%
  • Reading quizzes 15%
  • Essay 1 (take-home) 15%
  • Essay 2 (in class) 15%
  • Multimedia Project 20%
  • Final exam 25%

NOTES:

This course fulfills the Global Humanities requirements for the



For the "required" books, there are no acceptable online alternatives to the printed editions.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Glyn Burgess, trans., The Song of Roland (Penguin Classics 1990)


ISBN: 9780140445329

Michael Frayn, Copenhagen (Anchor Books 2000)


ISBN: 9780385720793

RECOMMENDED READING:

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, trans. by Tim Parks (Penguin Classics 2011)


ISBN: 9780141442259

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818 Text) (Oxford World’s Classics 2020)


ISBN: 9780198840824

All other readings will be made available on Canvas.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.