Departments in the Division of Arts & Humanities offer an array of undergraduate gateway courses that fulfill L&S Breadth requirements as well as the American Cultures requirement. Please find a selection of Spring 2025 classes below.
Learn more at https://classes.berkeley.edu/, check out freshman/sophomore seminars and Berkeley Connect classes to round out your schedule, and view the full array of language instruction across A&H on our Languages and Global Engagement page.
Investigation of the main achievements and tensions in Roman culture from Romulus to the High Empire. Key sources for literature, history, and material culture are studied in order to reveal Roman civilization in its political and social context. All materials are read in English. Satisfies Arts & Literature, Historical Studies and Philosophy & Values Breadth. Course catalog link.
This course provides a broad-based introduction to the archaeology of the ancient Romans from Rome’s origins in the Iron Age down to the disintegration of the Roman empire in the sixth century A.D. It aims to familiarize students with the more significant archaeological sites, monuments, artifact classes and works of art relating to the Roman world, and to introduce them to the important research questions in Roman archaeology and the methods that archaeologists employ to investigate these. Satisfies Arts & Literature or Historical Studies L&S Breadth. Course catalog link.
This course is intended as an introduction to the themes, characters and images of Greek and Roman myth. We will create the universe, gods, and humans, and then focus on particular heroes as opportunities to consider the scope and interpretations of the mythology. We will consider how these ancient cultures conceived of deity, what it meant to be human and how they dealt with the mysterious and the inexplicable. Primary evidence (literary references, physical remains such as temples and monuments, and iconography in sculpture and vase painting) will be used to identify and interpret the myths, study their origins, and analyze their importance for our understanding of ancient belief systems. Satisfies Arts & Literature or Philosophy & Values Breadth. Course catalog link.
A first course in the language, processes, and media of visual art. Course work will be organized around weekly lectures and studio problems that will introduce students to the nature of art making and visual thinking. This course is a prerequisite for applying to the Art Practice major. Satisfies Arts & Literatures Breadth. Course catalog link.
This course considers the evidence for the presence of early Christian believers in the so-called "Celtic" areas of western Europe. Students will examine how the Celtic peoples received Christianity in the context of native (pagan) religion; they will look specifically at how the Roman Church doctrine influenced the doctrinal stands of the early Celtic church(es), and vice versa, with particular attention to the Pelagian controversy, the date of Easter, the monastic tonsure, and the use of penitentials. The period covered is approximately 70 CE to 800 CE. Satisfies Historical Studies or Philosophy & Values Breadth. Course catalog link.
Physically, New York and Los Angeles spread across the map and encompass multiple neighborhoods and communities, seemingly facilitating our ability to explore, access, and find new connections within the concrete jungle of the metropolis. Socially and economically, both cities have been figured as distinctly “American” dreamscapes—places of refuge and freedom, success, and self-invention—that hinge on the promise that the American city works like an open circuit, enabling unrestricted movement and mobility to and for everyone who visits or decides to make it home. But who comes to the American city and why? How do visitors, residents, and (im)migrants negotiate and move through “The Big Apple” and “The City of Angels,” reimagining urban life in the process? With these questions in mind, we'll spend the semester tracing the crises of (im)mobility that mark the histories of New York City and Los Angeles, as well as exploring the possibilities for place-making forged by marginalized communities in these two U.S. urban centers. Satisfies Arts & Literature Breadth and American Cultures requirement. Course catalog link.
The second of a two-semester sequence introducing students to Chinese literature in translation. In addition to literary sources, a wide range of philosophical and historical texts will be covered, as well as aspects of visual and material culture. 7B focuses on late imperial, modern, and contemporary China. The course will focus on the development of sound writing skills. Satisfies Arts & Literature Breadth. Course catalog link.
An introduction to Japanese literature in translation in a two-semester sequence. 7B provides a survey of important works of 19th- and 20th-century Japanese fiction, poetry, and cultural criticism. The course will explore the manner in which writers responded to the challenges of industrialization, internationalization, and war. Topics include the shifting notions of tradition and modernity, the impact of Westernization on the constructions of the self and gender, writers and the wartime state, literature of the atomic bomb, and postmodern fantasies and aesthetics. All readings are in English translation. Techniques of critical reading and writing will be introduced as an integral part of the course. Course catalog link.
A survey of modern Korean literature and culture in the 20th century, focusing on the development of nationalist aesthetics in both North and South Korea. Topics include "new woman" narratives, urban culture, colonial modernity, war and trauma, and diaspora. Texts to be examined include works of fiction, poetry, art, and film. All readings are in English. Satisfies Arts & Literature Breadth. Course catalog link.
Historical survey of literature in English: Beginnings through Milton. Satisfies Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth. Course catalog link
In a world of expanding global commerce (imports like tea suddenly becoming commonplace in England), political revolution (English, American, French), and changing conceptions of what it means to be a man or woman (a new medical discourse viewing them as categorically distinct), increasingly available printed texts become sites of contestation—including debates about what constitutes "proper" language and Literature itself. Satisfies Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth. Course catalog link
This course will examine different examples of British, Irish, American, and global Anglophone literature from the middle of the 19th century through the middle of the 20th. Moving across a number of genres and movements, we will focus on the ways novelists, poets, and dramatists have used literary form to represent, question, and even produce different aspects of modernity (broadly construed). Satisfies Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth. Course catalog link
This course is intended to introduce undergraduates to the study of a range of media, including photography, film, television, video, and print and digital media. The course will focus on questions of medium "specificity" or the key technological/material, formal and aesthetic features of different media and modes of address and representation that define them. Satisfies Arts & Literature L&S Breadth. Course catalog link
In this course, we will study 1789, 1848, and 1968 and ask questions about the meanings and effects of revolution. We will read first-hand accounts and watch films from the 1960s and 1970s, in addition to reading works by historians, sociologists, novelists, and philosophers. We will think about the relations between revolution and violence, revolution and change, and revolution and art. In English. Satisfies Historical Studies or Social & Behavioral Sciences L&S Breadth. Course catalog link
We will explore the ways in which Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud--three of the most important thinkers in modern Western thought--can be read as responding to the Enlightenment and its notions of reason and progress. We will consider how each remakes a scientific understanding of truth, knowledge, and subjectivity, such that rationality, logic, and the powers of human cognition are shown to be distorted, limited, and subject to forces outside our individual control. All lectures and readings in English. Satisfies Historical Studies or Philosophy & Values Breadth. Course catalog link.
An introduction to the historical circumstances and visual character of Western art from the Renaissance to the present. Not a chronological survey, but an exploration of topics and themes central to this period. For example: What tasks did painting and sculpture perform in the past? For whom, at whose expense? How do the rise of landscape painting, the cult of the artist, and the new emphasis on the nude relate to the emergence of modern society? Do stylistic labels like Classicism, Realism, Impressionism, and Modernism help us answer such questions? This course is recommended for potential majors and for students in other disciplines, both humanities and sciences. Satisfies Arts & Literature or Historical Studies Breadth. Course catalog link.
Rather than follow a master chronology that would attempt to contain Africa’s multiple cultural formations in a single narrative, this course will introduce students to African art through an investigation of a range of aesthetic traditions and movements across sub-Saharan Africa that are meaningfully reinvigorated in contemporary artistic production and popular visual culture. Our continual return to the cultural politics of the present will provide an anchor and roadmap for our inquiry; we will see contemporary visual culture as staging interventions that push at Western ideas of “primitive African tradition,” while bringing to the fore conventions that, when tracked, reveal alternative traditions legible within an art historical context. Satisfies Arts & Literature or International Studies Breadth. Course catalog link.
This course will survey the full range of Dante’s Divine Comedy, from the depths of hell to the heights of paradise. We will consider Dante’s 14th-century poem in its historical and cultural context, delving into the political, social, and philosophical aspects of his afterlife vision. We will also explore what it is to read a 700 year old text in the stormy present, probing how Dante responds to and remains rooted in his moment and sometimes reaches out beyond to speak to our own. Satisfies Arts & Literature or Philosophy & Values Breadth. Course catalog link.
In this course, we’ll read a sampling of folktales and jokes from diverse Jewish communities (German, Kurdish, Moroccan, Russian, Yemeni, etc.) while exploring themes such as creativity and artistic expression. We’ll also address gender, group identity and values, stereotypes, and the interactions of Jews and non-Jews. Films, videos, and guest storytellers will complement discussions. Final projects allow students to pursue their interests. Students from all majors and backgrounds are welcome. Conducted in English with readings in English. Satisfies Arts & Literature Breadth. Course catalog link.
This course provides a multidisciplinary introduction to the Middle East, an area that has long dominated the news but remains relatively unknown to most Americans. In a broad sense, the Middle East refers to “Arab” countries in general as well as Israel, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and the region of Kurdistan. The course aims to help students expand their knowledge and understanding of the social, economic, and cultural complexities that underlie current events and politics in the Middle East. We will examine the interplay of cultures, societies, and economies of various regional communities that remain central to the dynamics of Middle Eastern identities. Satisfies Historical Studies or International Studies Breadth. Course catalog link.
A general introduction to ancient Egypt, providing overview coverage of ancient Egyptian culture and society (history, art, religion, literature, language, social structure), Egyptian archaeology (pyramids, tombs, mummies, temples, cities, monuments, daily life), and the history and development of the modern discipline of Egyptology. Assumes no prior knowledge of subject. Almost all lectures are illustrated extensively by power point presentation. Discussion sections include meetings in the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, which has the best collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts west of Chicago. Satisfies Arts & Humanities Breadth or Historical Studies Breadth or Social and Behavioral Sciences Breadth. Course catalog link.
A writing course based on traditional harmony. Beginning linear and vertical analysis. For general students. Emphasis on written exercises. Satisfies Arts & Literature Breadth. Course catalog link.
Devoted to the development of listening skills, and a survey of major forms and types of Western art music. Satisfies Arts & Literature Breadth. Course catalog link.
Introduction to ethical and political philosophy. Satisfies Philosophy & Values or Social & Behavioral Sciences Breadth. Course catalog link
Introduction to the philosophy of mind. Topics to be considered may include the relation between mind and body; the structure of action; the nature of desires and beliefs; the role of the unconscious. Satisfies Philosophy & Values L&S Breadth. Course catalog link
This course introduces Rhetoric majors to legal, political, and cultural discourses of the logo, defined as a word/image that is owned, used and misused through visual, textual and symbolic production, consumption, and appropriation. Readings and lectures examine the historical emergence of the logo as legalized property and commodity sign, and survey trademarks, brands, designs, signatures, characters, and other signifying devices through which capitalist culture communicates value, origin, responsibility, trust, ownership, taste, fashion, and status. We will also examine thefts, appropriation, dilution, and infringements of the logo in numerous cultural and political contexts, broadly encompassing literary, artistic, and performative traditions. Students will be asked to engage with various practices of interpretation, including classification, narrative, historicization, criticism, and performance. Satisfies Arts & Literature or Philosophy & Values Breadth. Course catalog link.
Exploration of the heroic narratives of the Northern Middle Ages with a focus on both the hero and the heroic ethos in a period of radical cultural, social and religious change and on a particular body of literature, the Scandinavian versions of Germanic heroic narrative. Satisfies Arts & Literature Breadth. Course catalog link.
The Soviet century, with its wars, revolutions, purges, and brief yet intense period of societal relief (otherwise known as the Thaw) has produced one of the richest and most controversial literatures of modern times. We will spend this semester reading works in different genres (poetry, novel, short prose, non-fiction) from the various “layers” of literary production— works written for official Soviet publication, works written in Emigration, and works written in the “Underground”, avoiding censorship and remaining unpublished for long decades until very recently. Our task will be to explore and appreciate a variety of styles and understandings of history, of the self and of the requirements of the artistic form. Texts will be read in English; our work will include elements of Creative Writing as well as possibility of translation work for those students who study Russian. Satisfies Arts & Literature Breadth. Course catalog link.
This course is a survey of South Asia from the 10th century to the present. Close attention will be paid to the geography and ethnography of the region, its political and economic history, the religious, philosophical, literary, and artistic movements that have shaped it and contributed to its development as a unique, diverse, and fascinating civilization. Students will study the broad patterns of historical change in South Asia from the 10th century to the present, the major cultural shifts and religious formations that have shaped South Asia over the past thousand-plus years, discuss cultural texts that reflect the history of South Asia and explain South Asia’s shifting relations with the world over the longue duree. Satisfies Historical Studies or International Studies Breadth. Course catalog link.
This course is a survey of the histories, cultures, and religions of insular Southeast Asia from the early modern period until the 2000s. It surveys the countries of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, East Timor, and Singapore. Satisfies Arts & Literature and Historical Studies Breadth. Course catalog link.
This course provides an introduction to theater through the study of values and issues fundamental to cultural identity, the comparison of selected cultural groups and their relationship to American society as a whole, and the study of drama as an instrument for understanding and expressing cultural identity. Theater of specific cultural groups to be included will be determined by the availability of live theater productions offered on campus and in the Bay Area. Satisfies Arts & Literature Breadth and American Cultures requirement. Course catalog link.
Introduction to dance techniques. Study of foundational concepts of movement such as: principles of alignment, locomotion, dance terminology, and musicality. Course catalog link.
