Literature and Arts (FD-LA) is one of the six Foundational Disciplines that are part of the WCAS bachelor's degree.

By taking courses in literature and art, students come to understand and appreciate the achievements of the creative imagination in a range of artistic forms and media. These include printed and oral literature, theater, music, the visual arts, and film and digital media. Students learn to describe, value, and critique such works; to identify and query the ideas and perspectives they represent; and to consider them as an array of aesthetic practices through which human beings have attempted to explore and transform their worlds. As students encounter the power of literature and art to imagine the breadth of human experience, they come to grasp the role of the arts in the evolution of human ways of knowing, being, feeling and expressing. At the same time, students examine the historical, cultural, and social contexts in which creative works are produced, which they at once reflect and contest. In recognizing the many ways in which texts and artistic works create meaning, and by paying attention to the factors that influence such processes, students gain exposure to the descriptive vocabularies, theoretical approaches, and reading practices common to criticism on literature and the arts. What is more, they develop essential skills in critical thinking and cultural analysis that will make them more conscientious readers of texts, images, and objects of all kinds.

Learning Objectives for FD-LA

Courses in Literature and Arts are designed to achieve the following learning outcomes:

• Observe the forms, genres, and styles of literary and artistic expression through practices of close reading and analysis
• Gain awareness of the social, political, cultural, and historical factors influencing artistic expression, the relations between the artist and the public, and the potential of creative art to challenge or to affirm social and cultural norms
• Appreciate how literature and the arts reveal the differences and diversity, as well as the continuity and unity, of human cultures
• Produce acts of persuasive interpretation, analysis, and commentary on literature and art, both spoken and written
• By emulating the subtleties of literature and art, students develop their writing skill and sharpen their powers of interpretation, critique, and aesthetic perception

FD-LA Courses

Courses approved for the 2024-2025 academic year.