The Department of Humanities offers several minors, which are available to students in humanities as well as those in other majors across campus. Credits toward a minor may overlap with major requirements and/or general education requirements. Consult the Registrar’s Website for specific policies related to minors. Students interested in adding a minor to their degree program are encouraged to consult their major academic advisors as well as the minor department before requesting to add the minor.
Explore Our Minors
Modern Languages
German. Spanish. Modern language minors provide students the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the chosen language and to study diverse cultures in which the language is spoken. Students pursuing a Spanish or German International Minor will either study abroad or complete a work or internship experience abroad. Upper-level modern language courses enable students to study more specialized topics using the target language.
Communication Studies
This minor provides focused study of communication practices, tradition, theories, and issues. Students are introduced to major areas of communication studies such as public, interpersonal, organizational, and international communication, as well as to philosophy of communication and cultural studies. The Communication Studies Minor emphasizes communication in multiple contexts and develops communication competencies and critical awareness of communication practices.
Diversity Studies
The humanities minor in Diversity Studies offers students a better understanding of diverse populations within the United States. It cultivates not just tolerance, but celebration of diversity, appreciation of difference, and a commitment to equitable treatment for all people. The minor offers new courses listed on the degree schedule, such as Introduction to Diversity Studies, Topics in Diversity Studies, Archaeology of the African Diaspora, and Critical Race Theory. Students cultivate respect for the experiences of other groups that comprise local, national, and global communities.
Ethics and Philosophy
The minor in Ethics and Philosophy enables students to examine value issues in diverse professional and practical contexts such as biomedicine, communications, engineering, the environment, and politics. Students may also focus on philosophical questions about science and technology, as well as on traditional problems in philosophy. Critical reasoning skills in each of these areas is heavily emphasized.
Journalism
The Journalism Minor prepares students to pursue the journalistic aspects of their chosen fields (e.g., gathering and reporting information) and to be better-informed and more critical consumers of the news. The minor requires 18 credits. Minors must take both of the required core courses (HU 3605 - Grammar and Usage in Society and HU 3621 - Introduction to Journalism), two production courses, and two critical perspective courses.
Media Production
The Media Production Minor provides students with the opportunity to deepen their understanding and use of different media and communication forms through study and intensive practice. Students who complete this minor will develop awareness of important cultural, rhetorical, and critical contexts for media development. Also, students develop creative and artistic abilities through study of contemporary practices and standards and development of original media work.
Writing
The Writing Minor offers students the opportunity to deepen their understanding and use of different writing genres in science, creative writing, technical communication and journalism to name a few. Students learn to communicate in different contexts such as in media, and for different audiences through study and intensive practice.