S. 11-12

SFU

OFFICF OF THE VICE PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC AND PROVOST

University Drive, Burnaby, BC

TKI,: 778.782.3925

Canada V5A 1S6

FAX: 778.782.5876

MEMORANDUM

ATTENTION

Senate

FROM

RE:

Jon Driver, Vice-President, Academic and

Provost, and Chair, SCUP

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences: Full Program Proposal for an I IonourslProgram in Humanities

(SCUP 11-43)

DATE

October 28, 2011

PAGES 1/1

vpacad@sfu.ca

www.sRi.ca/vpacademic

At its October 12, 2011 meeting SCUP reviewed and approved the Full PrograiTi Proposal for an Honours

Program in Humanities in the Department of Humanities within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Motion

That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the Full Program Proposal for an

Honours Program in Humanities in the Department of Humanities within the Faculty of Arts and Social

Sciences.

end.

c: P. Budra

P. Dutton

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

thinking of the world

SCUP 11-43

SFU

OFFICE OF THE ASSOCIATE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC AND

ASSOCIATE PROVOST

MEMORANDUM 

ATTENTION

FROM

RE:

8888 University Drive,

Burnaby, BC

Canada V5A1S6

TEL: 778.782.4636

FAX: 778.782.5876

Senate Committee on University Priorities

Bill Krane, Chair

pages

Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies

Faculty

of Arts and SocialSciences (SCUS ll-42a)(b)

DATE

avpcio@sfu.ca

www.sfu.ca/vpacademic

September 15,2011

1/1

Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies at its meeting of September

15,2011, givesrise to the following recommendation:

Motion:

That SCUP approve and recommend to Senate the Full Program Proposal for the Honours

Program in Humanities in the Department

of Humanities within the Faculty of Arts and

Social Sciences,

The relevant documentation for review by SCUP is attached.

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

THINKING OF THE WORLD

SCUS 11-42a

SFU

(b)

FACULTY OF

ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

MEMO

Office of the Dean

STREET ADDRESS

Academic Quadrangle

Room 6168

MAILING ADDRESS

8888 University Drive

Burnaby BC Canada

V5A 1S6

604-291-4414 (Tel)

604-291-3033 (Fax)

www.sfu.ca/arts (Web)

| ATTENTION 

Bill 

Krane, 

Chair 

Of

SCUS 

| FROM Paul 

Budra, Assoc. Dean FASS 

| CC. 

Jo Hinchli 

tte

| RE 

Humanities Honours 

FPP

| DATE AUG. 26th 

, 2011 

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Curriculum Committee has approved the

attached

FPP for the Humanities Honours Program as well as the minor changesto

the curriculum that it necessitates. Would you please but these items on the agenda

of the next SCUS meeting? The department would like to see these changes inthe

spring 2012 calendar.

Many thanks.

MMON l-ttA5l-.lt UNIVIHSMV

THINKING OF THE WORLD

Simon Fraser University

Department of Humanities

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Full Program Proposal for Honours Program in Humanities

A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Purpose

Honours programs are a common feature of departments in the Faculty of Arts and Social

Sciences (FASS) and serve a set of recognized needs for advanced study within an undergraduate

degree.

Since the inception of our Major program in 1998 many students and faculty in

Humanities have asked for an advanced program to satisfy their interests in Humanities beyond

the Major program. The creation of an Honours Program in Humanities will address this call from

current and future students for advanced work in Humanities.

2. Key objectives and outcomes

The Honours program is meant for those students with a special interest in the Humanities who

wish to pursue advanced studies beyond the Humanities Major with the benefit of faculty

guidance. With the recent addition of the Master'sprogram it is expected that the creation of an

Honours program will be of particular benefit to students wishing to proceed to graduate studies

in humanities at Simon Fraser University and elsewhere. The creation of the Honours program

will also reinforce the unique and important role that Humanities courses provide in the

University's curriculum.

B. CURRICULUM

What will the Student Gain?

Upon completion of the Honours Program, students will have acquired a thorough and integrated

foundation in humanities and have developed skills in research, writing, textual interpretation,

and critical thinking and analysis.

2. Honours Program Requirements

Program Courses:

The program will consist of existing and newly approved courses, which

already have sufficient relevant content, within the Humanities Department for a minimum of 18

lower-division (LD) Humanities units and 52 upper-division (UD) Humanities units. The courses

have a range of topics which are congruent with the Humanities interdisciplinary curriculum as a

whole.

Program Requirements

Lower-Division Requirements:

Entering students must first complete 65 credit hours in the Arts and Social Sciences, including

the lower division Humanities major requirements and normally have a GPA of 3.33 or higher in

lower-division Humanities courses. Students must submit an application for entrance into the

program and consult the Humanities advisor.

Upper-Division Requirements:

Humanities majors will complete 32 upper-division units. Honours students must obtain an

additional 20 units.

Students must successfully complete the following:

HUM 401-4: Pre-Modern Studies

HUM 422-4 The Humanities and the Critique of Culture

HUM 480-4: Advanced Topics in the Humanities

HUM 490-4: The Humanities Graduating Seminar

HUM 495-4 Honours Essay

The

lower-division core courses

(18 units) were chosen to provide students with a foundational

understanding of the Humanities discipline while the

upper-division core courses

(20 units) focus

on advanced studies in Humanities with the benefit of faculty guidance.

Please see Appendix A for the full calendar entry for the Humanities Honours Program.

OtherRelevant courses:

Courses that, in a given semester, have relevant content may be applied

to the Honours Program with prior approval from the department.

3. Course Descriptions

Please see Appendix B for a full description of courses applicable to the Honours Program.

4. Program Structure

Courses are taught as a lecture/tutorial or seminar. The courses will normally be offered on the

Burnaby campus, with infrequent offerings according to need at Surrey or Harbour Centre. Class

sizes range from 15-120 students on average.

Please see the chart below for past enrollments and frequency of offerings of the core courses.

The lower-division core courses are offered frequently with the upper-division courses offered at

least once a year. Given the breadth of Humanities core and elective courses offered, students

should have no difficulty completing program requirements. No excessive impact is expected on

the core/elective courses from Humanities given the number of choices and varied interest of

students.

Core

Courses

1091

1094

1097

1101

1104

1107

1111

1114

1117

(Anticipated)

HUM101W

126

101

111

133

175

142

Plus two of:

HUM102W

188

183

213

153

209

137

230

HUM 105

143

150

HUM 130

154

122

202

133

226

123

162

Plus one of:

HUM 201

HUM 202

HUM 203

HUM 401

HUM 422

HUM 480

HUM 490

HUM 495

Prerequisites:

None of the upper-division courses in the program are restricted to Honours students with the

exception of HUM 495-4.

C. LEARNING METHODOLOGIES

1. Learning Environment and Methodologies

In the Honours Program, students are encouraged to examine the knowledge and ideas central to

the humanities and to integrate these concerns in original and critical ways. It is this focus on the

integrative process - the purposeful bringing together

of historical, literary, philosophical,

religious and aesthetic perspectives in the analysis of human cultures and contemporary society -

that gives courses in Humanities their unique and important role in the University's curriculum.

Upon completion

of the Honours Program, student will have acquired a through foundation in the

study of humanities and have developed skills in research, writing, textual interpretation, and

critical thinking and analysis.

Courses applicable to the Honours Program already exist and will achieve the intended outcomes

for the program.

2. Other Learning Possibilities

HUM 102W-3 and HUM 130-3 are available by distance education.

D. FACULTY

No additional funding for faculty, staff, or instructors will be required as the courses are currently

being taught with existing resources. The following continuing faculty members will contribute to

the program:

Dr. Ian Angus (Modern European thought, Canadian intellectual history)

Dr. Paul Crowe (Philosophy and religion of the Song & Yuan dynasties, Daoism)

Dr. Stephen Duguid (Enlightenment studies, Culture and Ecology)

Dr.

Paul

Edward

Dutton

(Carolingian

civilization,

^^-century

Renaissance)

Dr.

Anne-Marie

Feenberg-Dibon

(Enlightenment,

19th

20th-century

European

Fiction)

Dr. Samir Gandesha (Modern European Thought and Culture)

Dr. Christine Jones (Religion and Culture, Philosophy of Literature)

Dr. Tsuyoshi Kawasaki (Japanese Culture, Asia-Canada Interaction)

Dr. Shuyu Kong (Chinese Literature, Film and Popular Culture, Diaspora Culture)

Dr. David Mirhady (Ancient Greek Rhetoric and Law)

Dr. Emily O'Brien(Renaissance Italy)

Dr. Eleanor Stebner (Religion, Culture, and Ideas)

The present number of faculty associated withthe Honours Program gives it a certain durability

during study leaves and other leaves of absences. As such, students should not be affected by

inconsistent or limited course offerings due to faculty leaves. No new faculty positions are

required for the proposed Honours Program.

PROGRAM CONSULTATIONS AND EVALUATION

The Humanities Honours program at SFU would be comparable to programs presently offered at

SFU and at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia. The SFU

Humanities Honours Program is consistent with the structure of Honours programs in other

departments within FASS with some small differences both because

of our own unique

contribution to the field and available resources.

Two of the province's four research universities presently offer a variant of the Humanities

Honours Program. The University of Victoria offers a BA (Honours) in Greek and Roman

Studies or Medieval Studies. The University of British Columbia offers a BA (Honours) in

Classical Studies; Myth and Literature in Greece, Rome, and Near East; Classics; and Religious

Studies. SFU's Humanities Honours Program will be in keeping with the recognition of the

importance of the humanities subject fields at other major institutions and will address a

persistent student interest.

3. Ongoing Review and Evaluation

Once implemented, the Honours Program will be reviewed and evaluated by the Department of

Humanities' Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. In addition, the Honours Program will be

part of the Department of Humanities external review which occurs every six years.

F. ADMISSION

Admission Requirements

Prospective students must apply to Simon Fraser University for admission and meet the normal

Simon Fraser University admission requirements. Honours Program admission must be obtained

from the department advisor.

An annual cohort of 15-18 students is anticipated in this program.

G. OTHER

No additional funds, lab space, or equipment will be required

APPENDIX A: Calendar Description

Honours in Humanities

This program is meant for those with a special interest in the humanities who wish to pursue advanced

studies beyond the Humanities Major with the benefit of faculty guidance.

Lower-Division Requirements:

Entering students must first complete the lower-division Humanities major requirements and normally have

a GPA

of 3.33 or higher in lower-division Humanities courses. Students must submit an application for

entrance into the program and consult the Humanities advisor.

Upper-Division Requirements:

Humanities majors complete 32 upper-division units. Honours students must obtain an additional 20 units

for a total of 52 upper division Humanities units.

Required:

HUM 401-4: Pre-Modem Studies

HUM 422-4 The Humanities and the Critique of Culture

HUM 480-4: Advanced Topics in the Humanities

HUM 490-4: The Humanities Graduating Seminar

HUM 495-4 Honours Essay

APPENDIX B: Calendar Descriptions of Courses

Honours in Humanities

REQUIRED COURSES:

In addition to completion of the Humanities Major requirements, students wishing to pursue Honours in

Humanities must also complete all of the following:

HUM 401-4 Pre-Modern Studies

A detailed interdisciplinary analysis of a selected topic, issue, or personality in the pre-modem world.

Prerequisite: 45 units, including HUM 101. Students who have completed this topic in HUM 301, 382, or

383 may not take this course for further credit.

HUM 422-4 The Humanities and the Critique of Culture

Focuses on the role and practice of cultural critique in the humanities based upon a selection of materials

and analytical texts across disciplines. Prerequisite: 45 units, including HUM 101. Students who have taken

Hum 322 may not take this course for further credit.

HUM 480-4 Advanced Topics in the Humanities

Prerequisite: 45 units, including HUM 101.

HUM 490-4 Humanities Seminar

A graduating course required for students in the Honours program. The seminar focuses on issues and texts

in the humanities. Topics to be addressed vary according to faculty interest and student need. Prerequisite:

Students should have completed all

of their lower-division requirements, and at least two 300-division

humanities courses. Restricted to Honours students, majors and joint majors in humanities.

HUM 495-4 Honours Essay

A research and writing project culminating in the completion of a substantial essay on a humanities topic.

Students are required to make a formal presentation and defence of their essay. Prerequisite: This course is

restricted to students in the Honours program. Students should have completed all of the lower division

requirements for the Honours program, and at least two 300-division humanities courses. Before registering

for the course, students should have the signature of a faculty member who is willing to supervise their

project. Approval of the humanities chair is also required. Students may complete this course concurrently

with HUM 490 or upon completion of HUM 490.