Society for the Humanities (SHUM)Arts and Sciences

Showing 36 results.

Course descriptions provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

SHUM 1930

By posing seemingly simple questions such as what is love and who has the right to love, this introductory-level lecture course surveys how love has been experienced and expressed from the pre-modern period ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ASIAN 2930FGSS 1940HIST 1930LGBT 1940

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7544 SHUM 1930   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Ghosh, D

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7545 SHUM 1930   DIS 201

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7546 SHUM 1930   DIS 202

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7547 SHUM 1930   DIS 203

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7548 SHUM 1930   DIS 204

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7549 SHUM 1930   DIS 205

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7550 SHUM 1930   DIS 206

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2158

Founded by Peter the Great in the early eighteenth century, St. Petersburg was built expressly to advertise the triumph of enlightened absolutism at home and to display Russia's status as a major European ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 2158RUSSL 2158

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  7577 SHUM 2158   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Litvak, O

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2315

In August 1945, Japan was a devastated country; its cities burned, its people starving, its military and government in surrender. World War II was over. The occupation had begun. What sort of society emerged ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: AMST 2315ASIAN 2258HIST 2315

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  7568 SHUM 2315   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Roebuck, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7569 SHUM 2315   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Roebuck, K

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 2350

How does literary language depict the experience of physical suffering? Can a poem or a novel palliate pain, illness, even the possibility of death? From darkly comic narratives of black plague to the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  8291 SHUM 2350   LEC 001

    • MWF
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Cohn, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2367

This course is a counter-history of modern humanitarianism, humanitarian law, and human rights, with perspectives from the Near East. Humanitarianism aspires to fulfill the promise of human rights. It ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 2637NES 2367

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9408 SHUM 2367   LEC 001

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Polat, H

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2435

Maoism and Chinese Communism are not history after Mao's death in 1976. In China, Maoism holds the key to the enduring success of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), one of the most remarkable organizations ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: CAPS 2435HIST 2435

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  7222 SHUM 2435   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Sun, P

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7223 SHUM 2435   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 2455

Bioethics is the study of ethical questions raised by advances in the medical field. Questions we'll discuss will include: Is it morally permissible to advance a patient's death, at his or her request, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: PHIL 2455STS 2451

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7782 SHUM 2455   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Markovits, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7970 SHUM 2455   DIS 201

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  8142 SHUM 2455   DIS 202

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  8143 SHUM 2455   DIS 203

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2460

Japanese pop culture-anime, manga, video games, music and more-has been a major phenomenon with massive worldwide popularity for the last three decades. In this course, we will explore a wide range of ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ASIAN 2260FGSS 2260PMA 2460

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6396 SHUM 2460   LEC 001

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Wong, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  8643 SHUM 2460   DIS 201

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Wong, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  8644 SHUM 2460   DIS 202

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Wong, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2652

This course introduces students to ancient Greek drama, with a particular focus on the genre of tragedy and its relation to the cultural, political, and performance context of Athens in the 5th century ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: CLASS 2652FGSS 2652PMA 2652

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9505 SHUM 2652   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Lambert, C

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2703

From hieroglyphs to HTML, ancient poetry to audiotape, and Plato's cave to virtual reality, Thinking Media offers a multidisciplinary introduction to the most influential media formats of the last three ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  4290 SHUM 2703   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Moseley, R

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2729

An introduction to the story of how human history from the earliest times through to the recent period interrelates with changing climate conditions on Earth. The course explores the whole expanse of human ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  8810 SHUM 2729   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Manning, S

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2750

These seminars offer an introduction to the humanities by exploring historical, cultural, social, and political themes. Students will explore themes in critical dialogue with a range of texts and media ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ENGL 2950

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • Topic: The Price is Right

  •  8177 SHUM 2750   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Stephen, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Enrollment preference given to: students accepted into the Humanities Scholars Program. For course description, see https://as.cornell.edu/research/hsp-core-courses

Syllabi: none
  • Topic: After Images: From Photography to AI

  •  8178 SHUM 2750   SEM 102

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Lorca Fuentealba, P

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Enrollment preference given to: students accepted into the Humanities Scholars Program. For course description, see https://as.cornell.edu/research/hsp-core-courses

SHUM 2805

Trade in and to Asia proved to be a key force in creating our modern globalized world. The Indian Ocean and the China Seas converged on Southeast Asia, where a cosmopolitan array of ships from every shore ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ARTH 2805ASIAN 2285VISST 2805

  • 4 Credits Opt NoAud

  •  4292 SHUM 2805   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • McGowan, K

      Pan, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  6679 SHUM 2805   DIS 201

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • McGowan, K

      Pan, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  8475 SHUM 2805   DIS 202

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • McGowan, K

      Pan, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2812

An introduction to the history and theory of writing systems from cuneiform to the alphabet, historical and new writing media, and the complex relationship of writing technologies to human language and ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  7242 SHUM 2812   LEC 001

    • MWF
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Kirk, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    This is part of the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP).

SHUM 3022

In 1610, Nahua chronicler Chimalpahin wrote that a group of Japanese merchants had made landfall in Mexico, bringing with them writing desks, folding screens, porcelain, and silk. During this period, Japanese ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 3022ASIAN 6022

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  9464 SHUM 3022   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Misra, D

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3334

The body has been crucially important to Black liberation politics. Not only has it been a site of contestation and control, but it has also served as a productive site of protest, alliance, and collective ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  8729 SHUM 3334   LEC 001

    • W
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Chresfield, M

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3370

This course will examine how theorists, scientists, artists, and other audiences ask questions of sound and questions of blackness, as well as what those questions reveal about the listener. We will also ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: MUSIC 3370

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  9615 SHUM 3370   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Xaka, V

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3475

This course addresses central debates in the philosophy of legal punishment. We will analyze the leading theories of punishment, including the familiar retributivist and deterrent alternatives, as well ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: LAW 6030PHIL 3475PHIL 6475

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  4203 SHUM 3475   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Yost, B

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3750

This course explores the practice, theory, and methodology of humanities research, critical analysis, and communication through writing and oral presentation. We will study the work and impact of humanists ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: ANTHR 3950ARTH 3755ASIAN 3375NES 3750

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6602 SHUM 3750   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Ghosh, D

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  6603 SHUM 3750   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Ghosh, D

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 3825

This course will explore Holocaust survivor testimonies, from the multilayered history of their recording across the globe and their increasing institutionalization after the 1980s to their current uses ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GERST 3825JWST 3825

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9465 SHUM 3825   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Burzlaff, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3977

This course examines how writers, filmmakers, and content creators from Africa engage with and revise public images of bodies-specifically pleasure, queerness, sex strikes, etc. Our inquiry also surveys ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  9458 SHUM 3977   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Diabate, N

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4020

From Jerusalem to Rome, from Shanghai to Marrakesh, Jews and cities have been shaping each other for thousands of years. This course ranges through time and space to examine how Jewish and other minority ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  9482 SHUM 4020   SEM 101

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Sampson, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4025

Part epistemology and part experimental humanities, this seminar looks at improbable encounters between the divergent regimes of thought and knowledge expressed by literature and the sciences. Our main ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  9460 SHUM 4025   SEM 101

    • W
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Dubreuil, L

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4081

This course explores the increasing presence of all the arts in prisons throughout the country and examines the increasing scholarship surrounding arts programs and their efficacy for incarcerated persons. ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 4681PMA 4681

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  9457 SHUM 4081   SEM 101

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Levitt, B

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4103

Vladimir Nabokov's legacy at Cornell is not limited to the world-famous literary works he produced here. The university's natural and built environments also provided powerful material for his lifelong ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4103ENVS 4103

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9352 SHUM 4103   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Banerjee, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4202

There are two contrasting views of the status and role of women in Africa. One view portrays African women as controlled by men in all social institutions. Another view projects women as having a relatively ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASRC 4602ASRC 6602

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6985 SHUM 4202   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Assie-Lumumba, N

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4422

This course explores the method of oral history in theory and practice, across different topics, contexts, and geographic/national terrains. It will consider questions like: what sorts of insights do oral ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 4422

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9434 SHUM 4422   SEM 101

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Sandwell, R

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  9435 SHUM 4422   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Sandwell, R

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 4426

This course will explore the culture and society of Choson Korea (1392-1897) through a variety of historical, literary, and visual representations. Following the major political, social, and ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 4426

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8929 SHUM 4426   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Son, S

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4455

This seminar explores how patterned cloths serve as a symbolic medium, functioning on multiple levels of understanding and communication. As spun, dyed, and woven threads of consequence, textiles can be ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  9455 SHUM 4455   SEM 101

    • W
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • McGowan, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4520

This seminar explores the ways in which artists and craftspeople created representations of non-Europeans that shaped, negotiated, and challenged pluralistic biological and symbolic conceptions of race ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ARTH 4520ARTH 6520

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9459 SHUM 4520   SEM 101

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Howie, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4555

This seminar examines long-term colonialist processes of erasing Indigenous histories, and recent attempts to bring this heritage back to visibility. We will read texts by Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Jean ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  9439 SHUM 4555   SEM 101

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Jordan, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4701

This course explores nightlife as a temporality that fosters countercultural performances of the self and that serves as a site for the emergence of alternative kinship networks. Focusing on queer communities ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  7738 SHUM 4701   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Jaime, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4750

This course is designed to support seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program working on their capstone projects. Students in the course will be guided in their project research and writing. The course ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1 Credit Sat/Unsat

  •  4079 SHUM 4750   SEM 101

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Lorca Fuentealba, P

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Enrollment limited to: seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program.

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1 Credit Sat/Unsat

  •  4140 SHUM 4750   SEM 102

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Stephen, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Enrollment limited to: seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program.

SHUM 4800

The Rural Humanities seminar will introduce students to the public humanities as both a disciplinary inquiry and a set of practices grounded in public and community engagement. It is intended to train ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: PMA 4450PMA 6450SHUM 6800

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • Topic: Documenting Local Lives: Filmmaking As Research

  •  4296 SHUM 4800   SEM 101

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Bunn, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Application required. See https://rural.as.cornell.edu/seminar to apply.

  • Topic: Documenting Local Lives: Filmmaking As Research

  •  6052 SHUM 4800   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Bunn, A

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 4860

To explore cultural aspects of imprisonment through a focus on theatre produced by those incarcerated. Does making theatre in prison seem to assist in transformation? Students create work with PPTG members ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one laboratory. Combined with: PMA 4680

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7749 SHUM 4860   SEM 101

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Levitt, B

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  7750 SHUM 4860   LAB 401

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Levitt, B

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Taught in Auburn, NY.

SHUM 6800

The Rural Humanities seminar will introduce students to the public humanities as both a disciplinary inquiry and a set of practices grounded in public and community engagement. It is intended to train ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: PMA 4450PMA 6450SHUM 4800

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • Topic: Documenting Local Lives: Filmmaking As Research

  •  4297 SHUM 6800   SEM 101

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Bunn, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Application required. See online: rural.as.cornell.edu/seminar to apply.

  • Topic: Documenting Local Lives: Filmmaking As Research

  •  6053 SHUM 6800   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Bunn, A

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies