How to Think Like a Humanist
FYSEMR 68C
Subject & Catalog Number
Course Information
Description
The study of the humanities has long been at the core of a college education. But in the era of climate change, digital interfaces, and artificial intelligence, can the humanities still help us make sense of our lives? Can studying art, literature, music, language, philosophy, and history provide us with the skills we need to thrive on a swiftly changing planet? In this seminar we will discover why the answer to these questions is a resounding YES!
Thinking like a humanist enables us to reframe fundamental concerns, ferret out assumptions, clarify priorities, entertain nuance, and imagine better ways of living. The fields of science, statistics, and engineering are extraordinarily powerful, but they cannot answer the question of how we should use the power they generate. Issues of morality, meaning, intrinsic value, and ultimate aim require us to step back from the analysis and manipulation of nature and make room for poetic revelation and philosophical inquiry. Based on all we know, how shall we live?
As we address this question, our principal guide will be a series of brilliant texts on vital topics: the university, nature, the machine, modernity, media, space, evidence, and work. We will take periodic breaks from these texts to immerse ourselves in selected examples of literary fiction, visual art, and music. Engaging with these texts and works of art will enable us to reconsider the basic elements of the lives we lead.
Throughout the semester we will bend humanistic thought toward the critical questions of our time. In particular, we will wrestle with what it means to be human in a world where the use of artificial intelligence is escalating and the diversity of species and habitats is dwindling. Humanists today need to reimagine the human condition in light of how human industry is changing the earth. What does it mean to inhabit a place well? We will be explorers of human purpose in the Anthropocene, sifting through the past in search of new futures.
NOTE: This seminar will meet Wednesday, 3:00pm-5:15pm.
PRE-SEMINAR MODULE (PSM) - The seminar will commence with a PSM between Jan.18 and Jan. 22, 2027. Students will return to campus on Jan. 17. Our time in the PSM will be divided between Cambridge and the campus of the Marlboro School of Music in Marlboro, Vermont. We will delve into matters of habit, habitat, and habitation to construct a framework of concepts and practices for the semester ahead. We will study, converse, deliberate, cook, and work together, finding ways to integrate learning and living. There will be no cost to students.
Class Notes
First-Year Seminars are available only to first-year students. You may apply to both Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 First-Year Seminars via the FYS lottery between July 6 and August 6, 2026 at 11:59PM-midnight.
You may apply to as many seminars each term as you would like, but we recommend you apply to at least six in fall and three in spring.
As part of your application, you must provide a brief statement on why you are interested in each seminar. You will be notified of lottery results for both fall and spring seminars at 5 pm on August 11. If you are unsuccessful in the lottery, you may still join any seminar with open seats. A list of open seminars and instructions on next steps will be available on the First-Year Seminar Program website August 11 at 12 Noon.
Not Available for Cross Registration
