Humanistic inquiry takes us into realms that lie at the heart of what it means to be a thinking, feeling person, and into realms of interpretation and analysis beyond what facts and figures alone can tell us.  Courses in humanistic inquiry encourage close engagement with works of the imagination—in words, sight, and sound—understanding what it means to live another life and see over the horizon.  The following courses have been approved to satisfy the GE-B, Humanistic Inquiry.  This list also notes any additional GE requirements the course may satisfy.

updated: 4/16/2024

American Studies and Ethnicity

  • AMST 150gw, The American War in Viet Nam
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    AMST 201g, LGBTQ America
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    AMST 205g, Introduction to American Popular Culture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    AMST 206mg, Politics and Culture of the 1960s
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    AMST 301gp, America, the Frontier, and the New West
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    AMST 331gw, The Black Atlantic: Narratives of Migration and Travel
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Archaeology

  • ARCG 305Lg, Virtual and Digital Culture, Heritage and Archaeology
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Art History

  • AHIS 100g, Introduction to Visual Culture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    AHIS 127g, Arts of the Ancient Americas
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    AHIS 201g, Digging into the Past
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    AHIS 381g, Visual Cultures of Asia
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Cinema and Media Studies

  • CTCS 150gw, Vision of Diversity in the Cinematic Arts
    also satisfies GE-G
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.

Classics

  • CLAS 150gp, The Greeks and their Legacies
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    CLAS 151gp, The Legacy of Rome
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    CLAS 160gp, Ancient Lives
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    CLAS 180g, Classic Mythology and the Mythic Imagination
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    CLAS 195gp, Nature and Environment in Ancient Mediterranean Culture
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement
    effective Fall 2023

    CLAS 320mgp, Diversity and the Classical Western Tradition
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    CLAS 337gp, Ancient Drama
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    CLAS 348g, Athens in the Age of Democracy and Empire
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Comparative Literature

  • COLT 101gp, Masterpieces and Masterminds: Literature and Thought
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    COLT 102g, On Location: The Place of Literature in Global Cultures
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    COLT 250g, Cultures of Latin America
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    COLT 251g, Literature and Thought of the West Since 1800
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    COLT 264gp, Asian Aesthetic and Literature Traditions
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    COLT 360gp, Fictions of Africa
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    COLT 374mg, Women Writers in Europe and America
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    COLT 382gw, Zen and Taoism in Asian Literature
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Critical Studies

  • CRIT 160g, Critical Theory in Art, Design and Visual Culture
    This course does not satisfy an additional GE requirement.
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.

    CRIT 350gw, Global Art, Design and Visual Culture since 1960
    also satisfies GE-G
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.

Dance

  • DANC 342gp, International and Historical Perspectives on Dance
    also satisfies GE-H
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.

East Asian Languages and Cultures

  • EALC 110gp, East Asian Humanities:  The Great Tradition
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 125g, Introduction to Contemporary East Asian Cinema and Culture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 130gp, Introduction to East Asian Ethical Thought
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 145g, Introduction to Chinese Culture, Art and Literature
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 150gw, Global Chinese Cinema and Cultural Studies
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 255gw, Southeast Asian Literature and Film
     also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 333g, Introduction to Korean Film
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 340gp, Japanese Civilization
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 342gp, Japanese Literature and Culture
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 344gp, Korean Culture from Ancient to Modern Times
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 346g, Hallyu, the Korean Wave
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 350gp, Chinese Civilization
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 352g, Chinese Literature and Culture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 354g, Modern Chinese Literature in Translation
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    EALC 358g, Transnational Chinese Literature and Culture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

English

  • ENGL 170g, The Monster and the Detective
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 172g, The Art of Poetry
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 174g, Reading the Heart:  Emotional Intelligence and the Humanities
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 176g, Los Angeles: the City, the Novel, the Movie
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 200g, Introduction to Colonialism/Postcolonialism
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 230g, Shakespeare and His Times
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 261g, English Literature to 1800
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy Requirement
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.

    ENGL 262g, English Literature since 1800
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy Requirement
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.

    ENGL 263g, American Literature
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy Requirement
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.

    ENGL 270g, Studying Narrative
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 280g, Introduction to Narrative Medicine
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 297g, Introduction to the Genre of Nonfiction
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 298g, Introduction to the Genre of Fiction
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 299g, Introduction to the Genre of Poetry
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 325g, Premodern Wonders: Magic, Monsters and Marvels
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 333g, Literature of Gandhi’s India
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 342g, Women in English and American Literature after 1800
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 344gm, Sexual/Textual Diversity
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 350g, Literature of California
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 352g, Bookpacking
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 355g, Anglo-American Law and Literature: Conceptions of Tyranny
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 361g, Contemporary Prose
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 362g, Contemporary Poetry
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 363g, Contemporary Drama
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 371g, Literary Genres and Film
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 373g, Literature and Society
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ENGL 376g, Comics and Graphic Novels
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

French

  • FREN 260gw, Global Women’s Narratives
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    FREN 270gw, Black Europe
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    FREN 307g, Public Memory and the Ghosts of History
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    FREN 347g, Race, Gender and Power in Francophone Literature
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    FREN 370mg, Equality and Difference around the Enlightenment
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    FREN 372gp, Medicine, Health and the Body in Literature and Culture
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    FREN 373g, Remembering Loss, Writing Memory
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    FREN 375mgw, Global Narratives of Illness and Disability
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Gender and Sexuality Studies

  • SWMS 212gp, Introduction to Gender and Sexuality: American Perspectives
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SWMS 215gw, Introduction to Gender and Sexuality: International Perspectives
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SWMS 219gp, Introduction to Feminist Theory
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SWMS 221g, Introduction to Queer Theory
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SWMS 227gp, Death and Gender in Urban Contexts
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

General Education Seminars

GE Seminars are limited to freshmen.

  • GESM 120g, Seminar in Humanistic Inquiry
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    GESM 121g, Seminar in Humanistic Inquiry
    This course does not satisfy an additional GE requirement.

German

  • GERM 360g, Twentieth Century German Prose: Texts and Films
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    GERM 372g, Literature and Culture in Berlin in the 1920s
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    GERM 375g, The German Exile Experience
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

History

  • HIST 100mg, The American Experience
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 102mg, The Worlds of Medieval Europe
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 103g, The Emergence of Modern Europe
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 104gp, Modern Europe
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 105g, The Korean Past
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 106g, Chinese Lives: An Introduction to Chinese History
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 107gp, Introduction to the History of Japan
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 108g, Histories of South Asia
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 109g, The Latin American Experience
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 185g, A Survey of Armenian History
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 210gw, How to Be An American: Global Histories of U.S. Citizenship
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 220gp, Murder on Trial in America
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 235g, War and the American Experience
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 240gp, History of California
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 245mgp, How Sex Changed: US History, 1870-the Present
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 271g, Telling Native American Stories
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 272g, Women and Gender in the Ancient and Spanish Americas
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 275g, The Worlds of the Silk Road
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    HIST 278gp, Ottomans and Empire: Anatolia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean World
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Italian

  • ITAL 300g, Inventing Modern Italy
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ITAL 350g, Gender and Sexuality in Renaissance Italy
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    ITAL 382g, Dante
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Judaic Studies

  • JS 100gp, Jewish History
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    JS 150gw, Jewish Histories of the Modern Middle East
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement
    effective Fall 2024

    JS 170gp, Exploring the Hebrew Bible
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement
    effective Spring 2024

    JS 258gp, Food, Faith and Conflict
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    JS 314gp, Holy War and History: Jews, Christians, Muslims
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    JS 315g, Anti-Semitism, Racism and Other Hatreds
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    JS 370gp, Digs and Dispute: Religion and Archaeology in Israel
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Linguistics

  • LING 322g, Language Contact and Language Acquisition
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Middle East Studies

  • MDES 320g, Arabic Literature: Classical to Contemporary
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    MDES 325g, Politics of Film and Literature in Modern Iran
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    MDES 343g, Modern Arab Culture and Literature
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Music History and Literature

  • MUHL 250g, Music and Ideas
    This course does not satisfy an additional GE requirement.
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.

Philosophy

  • PHIL 100g, Central Problems of Philosophy
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 101g, Free People, Free Thought and Free Markets
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 102gp, Historical Introduction to Philosophy
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 103g, Philosophy, Politics and Economics in Europe, from Renaissance to Enlightenment
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 104g, Ancient Foundation of Western Thought
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 110g, Modern Foundations of Western Thought
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 130g, The Physical World and Our Place In It
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 138g, Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 141gp, The Professions and the Public Interest in American Life
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 166gw, Current Moral and Social Issues
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 168g, The Meaning of Life
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 172mgw, Social Ethics for Earthlings and Others
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 174gw, Freedom, Equality, and Social Justice
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 178gw, Moral Dilemmas in the Legal Domain
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 236g, Issues in Space and Time
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 240g, Mind, Self, and Consciousness
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 254gp, Science, Knowledge and Objectivity
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 255gp, Existentialism in Philosophy, Literature and Film
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 256g, Science, Religion, and the Making of the Modern Mind
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 260gw, Ethical Theory and Practice
    also satisfies GE-G and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 265g, Ethics, Technology and Value
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 270g, Conceptual Foundations of Conflict
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 284gp, Ideas on Trial
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    PHIL 288gp, Love and Its Representations in Western Literature, Film, and Philosophy
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Portuguese

  • PORT 250g, Visions of Brazil
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Religion

  • REL 111g, The World of the Hebrew Bible
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 112g, Religions of Ancient Egypt and the Near East
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 114g, The Mediterranean: A Religious History
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 115g, Jerusalem, City of Three Faiths
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 116g, Jews in the Middle East
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 121g, The World of the New Testament
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 125gp, Introduction to Christianity: Antiquity to 1500
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 132g, Origins of Western Religions
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 134g, Introduction to Buddhism
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 135g, Chinese Religions and Culture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 136g, Sense and Sensuality in Indian Religions and Culture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 137g, Introduction to Islam
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 138g, Japanese Religions and Culture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 141g, Global Religions in Los Angeles
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 147g, Religion, Media and Popular Culture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 311g, The Bible in Western Literature
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 317g, The Bible in Its Ancient Context
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 322g, Religion and Science
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 324g, Sex and the Bible: Gender, Sexuality, and Scripture
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 325g, Religious Experience in the Greco-Roman World
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 326gp, The Historical Jesus
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 327g, Heretics, Martyrs, and Miracles
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 334g, Religion and Colonial Encounter
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 342g, Buddhist Modernism
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 359g, Culture in Diaspora: The Jews of Spain
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    REL 363g, Black Religion in America
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

     

Slavic Languages and Literatures

  •  

    SLL 110g, Russia in the Modern Era
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SLL 302g, Modern Russian Literature
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SLL 330gp, Russian Thought and Civilization
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SLL 344g, Tolstoy: Writer and Moralist
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SLL 345g, Literature and Philosophy: Dostoevsky
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SLL 348g, The Novels of Vladimir Nabokov
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

Spanish

  • SPAN 290gp, Introduction to Latin American and Iberian Studies
    also satisfies GE-H and the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement

    SPAN 295g, Gender and Sexuality in Latin American and Spanish Cinema
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement
    effective Spring 2024

    SPAN 380g, Literature of Mexico
    also satisfies the Dornsife Core Literacy requirement
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.

Thematic Option

  • CORE 101g, Symbols and Conceptual Systems: Thematic Option Honors Program
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for students in Thematic Option.

    CORE 102gp, Culture and Values: Thematic Option Honors Program
    also satisfies GE-H
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for students in Thematic Option.

Writing (Cinematic Arts)

  • CTWR 100g, Story: Character, Conflict, and Catharsis
    This course does not satisfy an additional GE requirement.
    This course is not for a general student audience.  It is part of the curriculum for certain majors and pre-professional students.