The Humanities department at Fitchburg State University is home to art, music, philosophy, and world languages.
The Humanities Department is home to Art, Music, Philosophy, and Languages, fields that have influenced the development of our culture as much as science and technology. In today's ever-changing global job market, students will need to understand complex relationships between the many layers of their responsibilities, not just their particular job-related skills. The separate disciplines in Humanities foster the kind of creative and critical thinking skills, as well as inter-cultural awareness, that are vital to success in our globalized society. The Department is also the home of the Interdisciplinary Studies Major.
Art offers students the chance to study art history and studio art through a wide range of topics, including art history from antiquity to the present day and Non-western perspectives, as well as drawing, painting, sculpture, and 2-D and 3-D design. The Art faculty also sponsors a biannual gallery exhibit to showcase student achievements. The Music area offers a wide range of courses in music history, theory, composition, and performance, and also sponsors a number of choral and instrumental performance groups featured in concerts every semester, and which perform at other university functions. Philosophy offers courses in human nature, logic, world religions, among many others—essential elements of a liberal arts curriculum. Foreign languages at Fitchburg State University have expanded to reflect an increasingly global focus, and students may now study Arabic, Italian, French, Latin, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. They may also gain credits through diverse study abroad opportunities.
“The Humanities Department at Fitchburg State University, comprised of Art, Music, Philosophy, and World Languages, dedicates itself to the mission of excellence in teaching and learning at Fitchburg State University through investigations of artistic, cultural and social contexts that inform contemporary global society.
The Humanities Department encourages inquiry and self-reflection by offering a practical and broadly based innovative curriculum that recognizes the increasingly porous boundaries between disciplines. The Humanities curriculum develops the student's capacity for cross-disciplinary reflection, promotes creative and critical thinking, and fosters an understanding of diverse viewpoints. It delivers a strong educational foundation that provides the student with essential skills needed for lifelong learning."
