Liberal Studies

Stewart Justman, Director

The Liberal Studies Program offers students the opportunity to work in a combination of disciplines within the humanities, including literature, philosophy, and history. The Liberal Studies Program offers options in:

  • General Humanities
  • Asian Studies
  • Religious Studies
  • Women's and Gender Studies

In addition, the Program offers a minor in Liberal Studies and South and Southeast Asian Studies.

The Liberal Studies curriculum is designed for the student who seeks a liberal education with emphasis on the humanities. While allowing ample room for electives, the coursework for the LS major focuses on the literary and religious works, cultural records, and ideas that enrich our common inheritance. The aim of the program is to foster critical understanding and appreciation of our inheritance and world through the study and discussion of these texts and traditions. Emphasis in all cases is on critical thinking, close reading of primary sources, analytical writing, and historical understanding. Students who graduate from the program will be prepared to enter various fields in the private and public sectors, pursue further professional training, and be better prepared to meet the demands of citizenship. More information about the program is available at the Liberal Studies Program office in LA 101, (406) 243–2949, or online at www.cas.umt.edu/liberal. For advising assistance contact the humanities advisor in LA 145 or call (406) 243-6082.

Majors in Liberal Studies may not take any course work presented for the major for CR/NCR. Upper–level students transferring into this program should have at least a C average in all credits attempted. The upper-division writing expectation must be met by successfully completing an upper-division writing course from the approved list in the General University Requirements section of this catalog (such as LSH 484).

Undergraduate Degrees Available

Subject Type Option Track
Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts Asian Studies
Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts General Liberal Studies
Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts Religious Studies
Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts Women's and Gender Studies
Liberal Studies Minor

Faculty

Professors

  • Paul Dietrich, Professor of Religious Studies and Liberal Studies
  • Stewart Justman
  • Ruth Vanita, Professor

Associate Professors

  • Bradley Clough, Associate Professor of Liberal Studies (Asian Religions)
  • Nathaniel Levtow, Associate Professor (Religious Studies, Biblical Studies)

Adjunct Faculty

  • Beth Hubble, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Women's Studies

Lecturers

  • Mark Hanson, Lecturer of Liberal Studies

Course Descriptions

Liberal Studies

  • LS 105H - Intro to Russian Culture

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered autumn. Same as RUSS 105HY and MCLG 105HY. A chronological survey of Russian culture from its beginnings to the contemporary period.
    Course Attributes:
    • Historical & Cultural Course
    • American and European

  • LS 202X - Introduction to India

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered alternate years. Same as SSEA 202X This course introduces students to the history, economy, political and legal system, society, culture, religions, and literary and artistic traditions of India, which is the world's largest secular democracy and the birthplace of four major world religions.
    Course Attributes:
    • Indigenous and Global

  • LS 234X - Hindu Religious Traditions

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered spring even-numbered years. Same as AS and LS 365. Critical exploration of selected aspects of Hindu thought, narrative and practice, both in contemporary and historical perspective. Focus primarily on India, but with consideration of Hinduism's transformation and impact beyond South Asia.
    Course Attributes:
    • Indigenous and Global

  • LS 306 - Intro to Russian Literature I

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered spring.  Same as MCLG and RUSS 306. A survey of Russian poetry and prose from the mid–nineteenth century through the Symbolist period of the early 20th century.  Included are the works of Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and the Symbolists.

  • LS 308 - Russian Cinema and Culture

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered alternate years. Same as RUSS 308, ENFM 308, and MCLG 308. Topically arranged introduction to the cinema of Russia and the former Soviet Union, with particular emphasis on contemporary Russian cinema. No knowledge of Russian is necessary.

  • LS 311 - Chinese Folktales

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered intermittently. Same as MCLG 380. The study of the aspirations, desires, loves, fears, moral and aesthetic values of the Chinese people as expressed in their folk literature.

  • LS 315 - Major Hispanic Authors

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered autumn.  Same as MCLG 315.  The intensive study of the life, times, and works of a major Hispanic author.

  • LS 332L - Intro Multicultural Lit German

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Same as LS 332L & WGS 332L. Introduction to multicultual literature created during recent decades in Germany. Study topics include immigrantion, citizenship, multilingualism, identity, significant literary & cultural movements & selected writers in contemporary Germany.
    Course Attributes:
    • Literary & Artistic Stds Crse

Liberal Studies & Humanities

  • LSH 102H - Intro to South & S East Asia

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered spring. Same as ANTY 102H/SSEA 102H. An introduction to South and Southeast Asian regions, cultures, societies, and histories, with particular emphasis on artistic, religious and literary traditions from prehistory to the present. An overview approach with different materials and emphases.
    Course Attributes:
    • Historical & Cultural Course
    • Indigenous and Global

  • LSH 151L - Humanities:Greeks,Bible,Roman

    Credits: 0 TO 4. Level: Undergraduate. Offered autumn. Prereq., eligibility for WRIT 101 (ENEX 101) based on writing placement examination. General survey of the field of Humanities in Western civilization contrasting the Greco–Roman with the Jewish and Christian traditions.
    Course Attributes:
    • Literary & Artistic Stds Crse
    • Writing Course-Approved

  • LSH 152L - Humanities: Medieval to Modern

    Credits: 0 TO 4. Level: Undergraduate. Offered spring. Prereq., eligibility for WRIT 101 (ENEX 101) based on writing placement examination. General survey of the field of Humanities in Western civilization, from the Middle Ages through modernity.
    Course Attributes:
    • Literary & Artistic Stds Crse
    • Writing Course-Approved

  • LSH 161H - Asian Humanities

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered autumn. Coreq., LS 151L or consent of instr. Selective survey of classical South and East Asian perspectives on the humanities. Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are the primary traditions considered.
    Course Attributes:
    • Historical & Cultural Course
    • Non-Western Course

  • LSH 291 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 9. Level: Undergraduate. (R–9) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one–time offerings of current topics.

  • LSH 292 - Independent Study

    Credits: 1 TO 9. Level: Undergraduate. (R–9) Offered intermittently. Course material appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student.

  • LSH 294 - Seminar/Workshop

    Credits: 1 TO 6. Level: Undergraduate. (R–6) Offered intermittently. A review and discussion of current research. Topics vary.

  • LSH 326 - Stories East and West

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered intermittently. A course tracing the influence of Arabic fiction on its western counterpart.

  • LSH 327L - Gender & Sexuality in Eng Fict

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered alternate years. Same as WGS 379L & LIT 379L. Major 20th century novels and short stories written in English in different parts of the world and how these texts explore changing concepts of gender and sexuality.

  • LSH 328 - Love in Bombay Cinema

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered intermittently. Examines the representation of romantic love in Bombay cinema, in the context of the representation of many types of love, familial, friendly and devotional.

  • LSH 329 - Fathers & Daughters in Lit

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Same as WGS 329. Prereq., WRIT 101. Examines how relationships between fathers and daughters have been represented, celebrated and critiqued in literature in the Western world, from antiquity to the present.

  • LSH 342 - Topics Comparative Lit & Rel

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered every second semester. Same as SSEA 342. These courses compare major traditions, texts and trends in two or more world civilizations or cultures. Works of literature and/or philosophy are examined in their historical contexts, and in relation to each other.

  • LSH 351L - Exploring the Humanities

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. (R–9) Offered intermittently. Intensive study of a specific historical period in Western humanities through its seminal literature, with an emphasis on intellectual and ethical paradigms.
    Course Attributes:
    • Literary & Artistic Stds Crse

  • LSH 368 - Shakespeare: Comedy & Tragedy

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Offered yearly.  An investigation of the differences, but also affinities, between the two fundamental Shakespearean genres.

  • LSH 389E - Placebos: The Power of Words

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate. Situated at the crossroads of medicine and the humanities, this course looks into the changing reputation of the placebo effect, with special attention to the power of words to induce therapeutic—or counter-therapeutic—effects.
    Course Attributes:
    • Ethical & Human Values Course

  • LSH 390 - Undergraduate Research

    Credits: 1 TO 6. Level: Undergraduate. (R–6) Offered intermittently. Directed individual research and study appropriate to the back ground and objectives of the student.
    Course Attributes:
    • Research & Creative Schlrshp

  • LSH 391 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 9. Level: Undergraduate. (R–9) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one–time offerings of current topics.

  • LSH 392 - Independent Study

    Credits: 1 TO 12. Level: Undergraduate. (R–12) Offered intermittently. Course material appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student.

  • LSH 398 - Coop Education/Internship

    Credits: 1 TO 6. Level: Undergraduate. Offered intermittently. Prereq., consent of director.  Extended classroom experience which provides practical application of classroom learning during placements off campus.  Prior approval must be obtained from the faculty supervisor and the Internship Services office. A maximum of 6 credits of Internship (198, 298, 398, 498) may count toward graduation.
    Course Attributes:
    • Internships/Practicums
    • Internship graduation limit 6

  • LSH 415 - Same Sex Unions Literature

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate, Graduate. Offered intermittently. Examines the literary representation of same-sex unions in European and Indian literary traditions.

  • LSH 416 - The Bhagavad Gita

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate, Graduate. Offered once every 3 years. Close reading of the Bhagavad Gita in translation, examining its literary, philosophical and religious dimensions, and the way Indian and Western commentators have interpreted and used it.

  • LSH 484 - Novel Ancient and Modern

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate, Graduate. Offered yearly. Two antithetical models for the construction of a novel.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Upper-Division

  • LSH 490 - Undergraduate Research

    Credits: 1 TO 6. Level: Undergraduate. (R–6) Offered intermittently. Directed individual research and study appropriate to the background and objectives of the student.
    Course Attributes:
    • Research & Creative Schlrshp

  • LSH 491 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 9. Level: Undergraduate, Graduate. (R–9) Offered intermittently. Experimental  offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one–time offerings of current topics.

  • LSH 492 - Independent Study

    Credits: 1 TO 9. Level: Undergraduate. (R–9) Offered intermittently. Course material appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student.

  • LSH 494 - Seminar/Workshop

    Credits: 3. Level: Undergraduate, Graduate. (R–9) Offered intermittently. Concentrated studies in specific genres and periods.

  • LSH 498 - Coop Education/Internship

    Credits: 1 TO 6. Level: Undergraduate. Offered intermittently. Prereq., consent of director.  Extended classroom experience which provides practical application of classroom learning during placements off campus.  Prior approval must be obtained from the faculty supervisor and the Internship Services office. A maximum of 6 credits of Internship (198, 298, 398, 498) may count toward graduation.
    Course Attributes:
    • Internships/Practicums
    • Internship graduation limit 6