UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA SYSTEM

ACADEMIC LEARNING COMPACT

Department: Humanities and American Studies

Program: Humanities

Degree designation: Bachelor of Arts

Identification of Core Student Learning Outcomes:

Graduates of this program should be able to do the following:

Content/Discipline Skills

• Have an interdisciplinary understanding of the cultural development of Europe and the United States. 
• Be acquainted with at least one “non-Western” culture (Latin America, Native America, Asia, or the American Southwest). 
• Have an interdisciplinary understanding of art in its cultural and historical context. 

Critical Thinking Skills

• Demonstrate skills in the formal analysis of artworks (e.g., visual arts, music,  verbal texts).
• Demonstrate the ability to interpret artworks, based on subject matter as well as formal characteristics.
• Demonstrate the ability to deal with artworks comparatively, situating them in their cultural/historical context and/or comparing them with cultural products of different media.

Communication Skills

• Develop effective written arguments, integrating the student’s own analyses and interpretations of artworks with secondary critical or historical sources. 

Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes:

A department committee will examine the required coursework taken by the student, to make sure that the proper range of courses was taken and passing grades were received.  This will insure that the student has achieved an acceptable knowledge base in European culture as well as some knowledge of another culture.  Then, by examining work produced in the program’s capstone course (HUM 4931, Seminar in Humanities), the committee will evaluate the students’ achievement in the areas of critical thinking and communication.  The results of the assessments will be used to improve student achievement and program effectiveness.