October 30, 2013 at 3:35 pm

Becoming Human: Not Just Being Human

Courses and more information at the Becoming Human website.

The phrase “Becoming Human” conjures up fragmentary images of primate prehistory in which our evolutionary ancestors made axe heads out of chipped flint and stared at cave walls transfixed by the shadows cast from their smoldering fires. But reflecting on ancestral time only gives us the broadest outline of what this phrase really signifies.

Suggesting that it may be more fruitful for people to think of themselves as becoming human rather than “being human,” this theme will explore this idea with much greater depth and breadth. On one end of the spectrum, students will examine the question of human origins as addressed by the disciplines of physical anthropology and evolutionary biology. On the other end, they will interrogate the liminal zones of the post-human with artificial intelligence theory.

To better understand “Becoming Human” as a process, they will study the uniquely human productions of politics, religion, philosophy, art and literature as moving parts rather than static wholes. Understanding that the idea of “becoming human” is itself a human construction, students will work with experts in the field to understand the myriad ways in which the human has been conceived, from ancient India to classical Greece to medieval Persia. Finally, students will engage with faculty and each other in seminars and activities to see themselves as becoming human by cultivating self-awareness, openness to others, and the capacity for sustained critical reflection on the world around them.

The A&S theme “Becoming Human” helps students to integrate what they might view as disparate parts of the undergraduate experience by framing the distribution requirements around the limits of the definition of humanity. “Becoming Human” is a theme that gets at the heart of the primary rationale of a liberal arts education and explores the boundaries of the humanities and their relevance in an increasingly multiply situated world. It is modeled after a themes platform that has been in play for several years, namely the Scholars Program for high-achieving freshmen, which draws guest lecturers from across campus every semester. Several departments, such as Classics and World Religions, Philosophy, and English have a history of supporting such endeavors, a good indication that this theme will be able to draw from a variety of departments in the coming years.

Here are some of the topics that may constitute a freshman seminar to introduce Becoming Human:

Why Study the Human(ities) at a University?
Humans in the Image of Primates: Biological Perspectives on Human Origins
Humans in the Image of God: Creation and the Place of the Human in World Religions
I Think, Therefore I Am: Consciousness and Perception as (Uniquely?) Human Phenomena
Categorizing People: Gender, Race, and Sexuality
Organizing People: Cities and the Built Environment
Do Humans Have Rights?
Love and Death
Evil, Sadism, and Cruelty
How Do We Make Sense of Life? Religion and/vs. Science
How Do We Think About (and with) Our Bodies?
Artificial Intelligence: Can We Create a Non-human Mind?
Our Impact on the Environment: Life in the Anthropocene Epoch
What Comes After the Human?

Extracurricular Activities

The organizers of “Becoming Human” also will link extracurricular activities to the coursework, drawing on existing activities as well as proposing new ones. We plan to develop as part of the freshman seminar an offsite excursion to integrate some of the ideas of the theme and to help create a community among theme participants. One possibility is to visit the Smithsonian Institution, focusing on the exhibits that dovetail with the seminar.

Established programs that would be linked to the theme might include participation in Ohio University’s Archaeological programs, either at the field school run by the Anthropology Department or the Classics and World Religions study abroad program to Israel. Others might include participation in human rights organizations, academic conferences, environmental organizations, that have central ideas of the theme of understanding human existence integrated into their mission.

Sampling of Representative Courses

Applied Science and Mathematics (2AS)

BIOS 2050 – Human Biology: Sex and Reproduction
BIOS 2250 – Genetics in Human Society
GEOG 2600 – Maps
HLTH 2000 – Introduction to Public Health
PBIO 1030 – Plants and People

Cross–Cultural Perspectives (2CP)

ENG 3550 – Studies in World Literature
CLWR 3330 – Introduction to Islam
CLWR 3340 – Hinduism
CLWR 3350 – Buddhism
ANTH 1010 – Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
COMS 1100 – Communication Among Cultures
DANC 4550 – Dance Ethnography: Intellectualizing the Body’s Motion
EDCS 1011 – Introduction to Diversity Studies

Fine Arts (2FA)

AH 2110 – History of Art I
AH 2120 – History of Art II
MUS 3210 – History and Literature of Music I
MUS 3220 – History and Literature of Music II
THAR 2710 – Theater History I
THAR 2711 – Theater History II

Humanities and Literature (2HL)

AAS 2100 – Slave Narrative and Freeman/Freewomen Fiction of the 18th and 19th Centuries
CLWR 2210 – Difficult Dialogues: Religious Beliefs
CLWR 2220 – Difficult Dialogues: Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
CLWR 3310 – Old Testament
COMS 1010 – Fundamentals of Human Communication
CLAS 2310: Human Aspirations among the Greeks and Romans
CLAS 2340: Classical Mythology
CLAS 2520: Classical Athens
CLAS 2550: Pagan to Christian
HIST 1210: Western Civ to 1500
HIST 1221: The First Universities
Hum 2070: Great Books (Ancient through Renaissance)
Phil 1300: Introduction to Ethics
Phil 2160: Philosophy of Science
Phil 2400: Social and Political Philosophy
WGS 1000: Intro to Women and Gender Studies