Bachelor of Arts in Humanities
The Humanities program invites students to study human creative expression and ideas across cultures, historical moments, and disciplinary boundaries. Humanities majors and minors explore methods of bringing literature, music, visual arts, film, philosophy, digital culture, and more into an integrative understanding humanity's past, present, and possible futures.
The major provides an excellent foundation of cultural literacy and critical thinking for jobs in a wide range of fields, including government, business, law, education, and the arts. The Bachelor of Arts in Humanities program is also good preparation for entering a K–12 single-subject or multiple-subject teaching credential programs.
The B.A. in Humanities (36 units) includes a 15-unit core and 21 units of electives. At least 9 units of electives must be chosen from one of the three elective categories: American Studies; Comparative & World Cultures; Science, Technology, and New Media Studies. The remaining 12 units can be any HUM-prefix course not already being counted as a core or elective.
Students interested in pairing the Humanities BA with a minor in American Studies, Classics, Comics Studies, Video Game Studies, Comparative & World Literature, or History can do so with few to no additional courses if they choose appropriate electives. Please consult with an advisor.
Up to 9 units electives may be lower division (HUM 130, 220, 225, or community college equivalents) and up to 6 units of appropriate courses in related departments may be substituted with an advisor's approval.
Program Learning Outcomes
Students completing a B.A. in Humanities should, by the completion of their degree, be able to:
- identify and describe the formal features of a range of cultural forms including (but not limited to) texts, images, and films;
- place an expressive work in its cultural context through close reading of its formal details;
- articulate cross-cultural differences, similarities, and relationships represented by cultural works from different areas of the world;
- perceive and articulate — both in discussion and in writing — formal and historical relationships among written texts and other expressive forms.
Humanities (B.A.) — 36 Units
The department's lower-division General Education courses (HUM 130, HUM 220, HUM 225) or other lower-division courses concerned with ideas, social conditions, and art forms are recommended for students planning to major or minor in Humanities.
- Up to 9 units of lower-division coursework may be counted as electives in the major.
- Humanities majors who successfully complete HUM 300GW will have satisfied the University Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR).
- No more than 9 units in the major may be taken CR/NC.
Core Requirements (15 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| HUM 300GW | Reading and Writing Across Creative Forms - GWAR | 3 |
| HUM 303 | Remembering our Past: Memory, Tradition, History | 3 |
| HUM 305 | Imagining New Futures | 3 |
| HUM 415 | Thinking the Present: Comparative Arts and Culture | 3 |
| HUM 690/CWL 680 | Senior Seminar: Research in the Humanities and Comparative & World Literature | 3 |
Electives (21 units)
Select at least 6 units from each of the areas listed below. The remaining 3 units can be from any area. No more than 9 units of lower-division courses (on these lists or approved transfer units) can be used towards electives. Other appropriate courses not in the lists below may be allowed as electives with approval of a faculty advisor.
American Culture Studies
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CWL 440 | "Typical American": Narratives of Multiculturalism in the Americas from 1492 to the Present | 3 |
| CWL/ENG/JS 451 | Jewish Literature of the Americas | 3 |
| CWL 540 | Faulkner, García Márquez, and Morrison | 3 |
| HUM/AMST 225 | Values in American Life | 3 |
| HUM 340 | Bay Area Culture | 3 |
| HUM 371 | Biography of a City: Latin American Cities | 3 |
| HUM 375 | Biography of a City: United States Cities | 3 |
| HUM 376 | San Francisco | 3 |
| HUM/JS/HIST 441 | American Jews and Popular Culture | 3 |
| HUM 450/AMST 410 | California Culture | 3 |
| HUM 455 | Humanities of the Americas | 3 |
| HUM 485/AMST 310 | The Arts and American Culture | 3 |
| HUM/HIST 480 | Thought and Culture in America to 1880 | 3 |
| HUM/HIST 481 | Thought and Culture in America: 1880 to the Present | 3 |
| HUM 490 | American Images: Photography and Literature | 3 |
Comparative and World Culture Studies
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CWL 230 | World Literature | 3 |
| CWL 437/ENG 533/JS 437 | Holocaust and Literature | 3 |
| CWL 450 | Literary Crossings | 3 |
| CWL/JS 480 | European Jewish Writers | 3 |
| HUM/ARTH 205 | Asian Art History | 3 |
| HUM/CHIN 271 | The Classic Chinese Novel in Contemporary Pop Culture | 3 |
| HUM 345 | Humanism and Mysticism | 3 |
| HUM 361/I R 363 | Cultural Expression in Islam | 3 |
| HUM 370 | Biography of a City: Asian Cities | 3 |
| HUM 373 | Biography of a City: European Cities | 3 |
| HUM 374 | Biography of a City: African and Middle Eastern Cities | 3 |
| HUM/JS 379 | Jerusalem | 3 |
| HUM 390 | Images of Eroticism | 3 |
| HUM 401/CLAS 410 | Ancient Greek Literature | 3 |
| HUM 402/CLAS 415 | Ancient Roman Literature | 3 |
| HUM 404/HIST 331 | The High Middle Ages | 3 |
| HUM 407 | Romanticism and Impressionism | 3 |
| HUM/CWL 423 | Going Medieval: Medieval Literature and Contemporary Adaptations | 3 |
| HUM/CWL 424 | Multicultural Middle Ages | 3 |
| HUM/CWL 426 | Literary Orients and Orientalisms, Classical to Contemporary | 3 |
| HUM/CWL 427 | Travel and the Literary Imagination | 3 |
| HUM/PHIL 432 | Nietzsche and Postmodernism | 3 |
| HUM/CWL 445 | Literatures of Migration and Diaspora | 3 |
| HUM/ARTH 496 | Art, Architecture, and Space in the Islamic World | 3 |
| HUM/JS/PHIL 501 | Judaism, Christianity, and Islam | 3 |
| HUM 532/CWL 432 | From Ghost Stories to Short Stories: Japanese Fiction in Comparative Contexts | 3 |
| HUM/CLAS 582/HIST 370 | Tales from Ancient India: Hinduism and Buddhism | 3 |
| HUM 586/HIST 374 | Bollywood and Beyond: Indian History Through Film | 3 |
Science, Technology, and New Media Studies
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CLAS 450 | The Ancient World and Video Games | 3 |
| CWL 180 | Introduction to Videogames: A Comparative Perspective | 3 |
| CWL/ENG 275 | Reading Video Games | 3 |
| CWL 380 | Thinking with Video Games | 3 |
| HUM/CMX 235 | Comics and Culture | 3 |
| HUM/CMX/LS 304 | Making Comics | 3 |
| HUM/HIST 315 | History of Science from the Scientific Revolution | 3 |
| HUM/LS 317 | Critical Animal Studies | 3 |
| HUM 380 | Nature and Human Values | 3 |
| HUM 390 | Images of Eroticism | 3 |
| HUM/CMX 541 | Manga | 3 |
| HUM/CMX/LS 604 | Advanced Comics Making | 3 |
| WGS 580 | Feminism and the Speculative: Another World is Possible | 3 |
| WGS 582 | Gaming from the Margins | 3 |
General Education Requirements
| Requirement | Course Level | Units | Area Designation |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Composition | LD | 3 | 1A |
| Critical Thinking | LD | 3 | 1B |
| Oral Communication | LD | 3 | 1C |
| Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning | LD | 3 | 2 |
| Arts | LD | 3 | 3A |
| Humanities | LD | 3 | 3B |
| Social and Behavioral Sciences | LD | 6 | 4 |
| Physical Science | LD | 3 | 5A |
| Biological Science | LD | 3 | 5B |
| Laboratory | LD | 1 | 5C |
| Ethnic Studies | LD or UD | 3 | 6 |
| Science or Math/Quantitative Reasoning | UD | 3 | 5UD or 2UD |
| Arts or Humanities | UD | 3 | 3UD |
| Social and Behavioral Sciences | UD | 3 | 4UD |
| SF State Studies | |||
| Courses certified as meeting the SF State Studies requirements may be upper or lower division in General Education (GE), a major or minor, or an elective. | |||
| American Ethnic and Racial Minorities | LD or UD | 3 | AERM |
| Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action | LD or UD | 3 | ES |
| Global Perspectives | LD or UD | 3 | GP |
| Social Justice | LD or UD | 3 | SJ |
Note: LD = Lower-Division; UD = Upper-Division.
First-Time Student Roadmap (4 Year)
The roadmaps presented in this Bulletin are intended as suggested plans of study and do not replace meeting with an advisor. For a more personalized roadmap, please use the Degree Planner tool found in your Student Center.
SF State Scholars
The San Francisco State Scholars program provides undergraduate students with an accelerated pathway to a graduate degree. Students in this program pursue a bachelor’s and master’s degree simultaneously. This program allows students to earn graduate credit while in their junior and/or senior year, reducing the number of semesters required for completion of a master’s degree.
Transfer Student Roadmap (2 Year)
For students with an ADT in:
- Art History (AA-T)
- English (AA-T)
- History (AA-T)
- Philosophy (AA-T)
This degree program is an approved pathway (“similar” major) for students earning the ADT in Art History
California legislation SB 1440 (2009) mandated the creation of the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) to be awarded by the California Community Colleges. Two types of ADTs are awarded: Associate in Arts for Transfer (AA-T) and Associate in Science for Transfer (AS-T).
Note: no specific degree is required for admission as an upper-division student. However, the ADT includes specific guarantees related to admission and graduation and is designed to clarify the transfer process and strengthen lower-division preparation for the major.
An ADT totals 60 units and in most cases includes completion of all lower-division General Education requirements and at least 18 units in a specific major. (The Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Science AS-T degrees defer 3 units in lower-division GE area 3 and 3 units in lower-division GE area 4 until after transfer.) Students pursuing an ADT are guaranteed admission to the CSU if minimum eligibility requirements are met, though not necessarily to the CSU campus of primary choice.
Upon verification that the ADT has been awarded prior to matriculation at SF State, students are guaranteed B.A. or B.S. completion in 60 units if pursuing a “similar” major after transfer. Determinations about “similar” majors at SF State are made by faculty in the discipline.
Degree completion in 60 units cannot be guaranteed when a student simultaneously pursues an additional major, a minor, certificate, or credential.
A sample advising roadmap for students who have earned an ADT and continue in a "similar" major at SF State is available on the Roadmaps tab on the degree requirements page for the major. The roadmap displays:
- How many lower-division units required for the major have been completed upon entry based on the award of a specific ADT;
- Which lower-division requirements are considered complete upon entry based on the award of a specific ADT;
- How to complete the remaining 60 units for the degree in four semesters.
Students who have earned an ADT should seek advising in the major department during the first semester of attendance.
General Advising Information for Transfer Students
- Before transfer, complete as many lower-division requirements or electives for this major as possible.
- The following courses are not required for admission but are required for graduation. Students are strongly encouraged to complete these units before transfer; doing so will provide more flexibility in course selection after transfer.
- a course in U.S. History
- a course in U.S. & California Government
For information about satisfying the requirements described in (1) and (2) above at a California Community College (CCC), please visit http://www.assist.org. Check any geographically accessible CCCs; sometimes, options include more than one college. Use ASSIST to determine:
- Which courses at a CCC satisfy any lower-division major requirements for this major;
- Which courses at a CCC satisfy CSU GE, US History, and US & CA Government requirements.
Remedial courses are not transferable and do not apply to the minimum 60 semester units/90 quarter units required for admission.
Additional units for courses that are repeated do not apply to the minimum 60 units required for upper-division transfer (for example, if a course was not passed on the first attempt or was taken to earn a better grade).
Before leaving the last California Community College of attendance, obtain a summary of completion of lower-division General Education units (IGETC or CSU GE Breadth). This is often referred to as a GE certification worksheet. SF State does not require delivery of this certification to Admissions, but students should retain this document for verifying degree progress after transfer.
Credit for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or College-Level Examination Program courses: AP/IB/CLEP credit is not automatically transferred from the previous institution. Units are transferred only when an official score report is delivered to SF State. Credit is based on the academic year during which exams were taken. Refer to the University Bulletin in effect during the year of AP/IB/CLEP examination(s) for details regarding the award of credit for AP/IB/CLEP.
Students pursuing majors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines often defer 6-9 units of lower-division General Education in Areas C and D until after transfer to focus on preparation courses for the major. This advice does not apply to students pursuing associate degree completion before transfer.
Transferring From Institutions Other Than CCCs or CSUs
Review SF State's lower-division General Education requirements. Note that, as described below, the four basic skills courses required for admission meet GE Areas 1A/A2, 1B/A3, 1C/A1, and 2/B4 in the SF State GE pattern. Courses that fulfill the remaining areas of SF State’s lower-division GE pattern are available at most two-year and four-year colleges and universities.
Of the four required basic skills courses, a course in critical thinking (1B/A3) may not be widely offered outside the CCC and CSU systems. Students should attempt to identify and take an appropriate course no later than the term of application to the CSU. To review more information about the 1B/A3 requirement, please visit bulletin.sfsu.edu/undergraduate-education/general-education/lower-division/#AAEL.
Waiting until after transfer to take a single course at SF State that meets both US and CA/local government requirements may be an appropriate option, particularly if transferring from outside of California.