What to Expect from Humanities 110
Dear Student,
Welcome to Reed! As the chair of the Humanities 110 program, I’m writing to let you know a little more about what to expect from the course.
What is Humanities 110?
Humanities 110 is popularly known among Reedies as “Hum 110” (rhymes with the first syllable of “human”). It is the yearlong, interdisciplinary humanities course required of all first-year students.
In Hum 110, you’ll learn and refine skills that will help you succeed throughout the rest of your time here. These skills include how to write a college-level academic paper and how to engage in a rigorous intellectual discussion in our conference-style classrooms.
By engaging with humanistic texts from multiple disciplines and genres (ranging from monumental architecture to political philosophy to popular music), you will examine how people in different times and places confronted questions fundamental to human existence, such as:
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What makes an ideal society, and why and how societies fall short of the ideal
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How texts and other artifacts reflect, respond to, and shape their contexts
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How ideas such as what is natural, what is normal, or what is a family, nation, or race are produced and deployed
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How different kinds of representation—different ways to tell stories, depict space, tell time, make arguments or just denote phenomena—affect perception and understanding
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How the categories of the human and the humanities are defined in relation to animals
How does it work?
The unique structure of Hum 110 allows you to engage with the learning community in three distinct forums.
First, everyone listens to three lectures a week given by the various professors who teach the course and represent different fields of study in the humanities. Some of these lectures will be online, so that you can view and review them at your convenience, while others—roughly every other Monday—will be plenary sessions where the whole first-year cohort will gather together.
Second, every student belongs to a conference run by your particular professor where you will discuss the readings and lectures in a small group for two 80-minute or three 50-minute discussion classes each week.
The third component is what we call a paper conference: you’ll meet one-on-one with your conference professor to go over the papers you will write for Hum 110 and discuss more broadly how you can grow as a writer.
Want to know more?
Learn about Hum 110 on our course website.
The entire Hum 110 community is delighted that you are joining us! We wish you safe travels to Reed.
Sincerely,
Christian Kroll
Chair, Humanities 110
Associate Professor of Spanish and Humanities
Important Dates
- July 1–August 9: Placement Exams available on Moodle
- July 9: Module 2 of online Orientation released
- July 15: Materials & forms due
- July 28: Module 3 of online Orientation released
- August 26: New student move-in
Helpful Links
Past Communications
Worried you missed something? Look through this archive of past emails for incoming students.
Placement Exams
We strongly recommend that you take a placement exam this summer for every subject in which you think you have some proficiency.
Move-in Process
Learn about our move-in process before you arrive on campus.
Residence Halls
Explore Reed’s on-campus housing options.
Supplemental Outdoor Experiences
Sign up by July 15 for an optional outdoor experience where you will have the chance to explore Portland and the surrounding area with a small group of Reedies.
Accommodations
Work with Disability & Accessibility Resources (DAR) to request accommodations for disability-related needs.