BACHELOR OF ARTS IN HUMANITIES WITH SPECIALIZATION IN CREATIVE WRITING

PROGRAM OUTCOMES

The Humanities program produces graduates who can: 

a. Effectively gather data for interpretation and appraisal through looking, listening, and research, as grounded in the Humanistic disciplines of Literature and Language, Philosophy, History, and Art. This grounds the graduates’ capacity to recognize diversity and unity of disciplines in pursuit of wisdom, the synthesis of love of God and knowledge, faith and reason, culture and life.

b. Complementarily use the methods of the Humanistic disciplines in Interpreting, Analyzing, and Appraising the human person, human society, and culture, fostering openness, appreciation, and sensitivity for what is human.

c. Innovate and develop new ideas that meet the demands of the ever-changing socio-cultural landscape through the appreciation of how the different Humanistic disciplines are distinct and complementary to each other. This grounds the graduates as persons who are conversant, adaptable, and drawn to contribute to the upliftment of the human condition in the pursuit of the truth.

Graduates of the Humanities Program with 18 Units in Creative Writing are trained in the complementary use of various methods drawn from different humanistic disciplines to develop a deeper understanding of the constantly changing socio-cultural landscape and apply these methods to Creative Writing. This training and understanding equips the humanities graduate to innovate and develop new ideas that meet the demands of modern-day career opportunities, particularly in the literary field. 

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Graduates of the Creative Writing Program are prepared to take on jobs related to their field of expertise. With the extensive training they have received gave them more channels into landing a creative writing oriented career by the time they leave the university. 

The graduates can take the following careers:

• Author
• Content Writer
• Editor
• Journalist
• Copywriter
• Social Media Specialists
• Columnist
• Screenwriter
• Playwright
• Scriptwriter
• Communications Director
• Public Relations Professional
• Professor 

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS 

No  other requirements for admission apart from the regular requirements

ACADEMIC LOAD

STUDENT EVALUATION

Grading System for all ABHUM COURSES 

COURSES OFFERED

•   FIRST YEAR – FIRST SEMESTER
  • HMA121 FILM
• SECOND YEAR – FIRST SEMESTER
  • HMA232 MUSIC
  • HMA233 THEATRE
• SECOND YEAR – SECOND SEMESTER
  • HML313 POETRY
  • HMH221 HISTORICAL RESEARCH
• THIRD YEAR – FIRST SEMESTER
  • HML312 NOVEL
  • HMA314 ART IN HUMANISTIC TRADITION 1
  • HMCW311 WRITING POETRY 
  • HML314 LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM 1
  • HMP311 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 1
  • HMF311 LATIN 1
  • HML317 ESSAY
• THIRD YEAR – SECOND SEMESTER
  • HMP323 METAPHYSICS
  • HMCW322 WRITING DRAMA
  • HMH323 PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY
  • HMCW323 WRITING NARRATIVES
  • HMCW324 PRINCIPLES OF PREWRITING
  • HMF322 LATIN 2
• FOURTH YEAR – FIRST SEMESTER
  • HMP414 WORK AND SOCIETY
  • HMA414 ART THEORY
  • HMCW415 PRINCIPLES OF REWRITING
  • HML416 THEORY OF THEORIES AND THE HUMANISTIC ENTERPRISE
  • HMP415 PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSE
• FOURTH YEAR – SECOND SEMESTER 
  • HMI421 HUM PRACTICUM
  • HMCW426 PORTFOLIO BUILDING

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

FILM   HMA121

Moving pictures are now permanent and ubiquitous parts of life. Much of the information and values that students receive are transmitted through the cinematic art, whether in the big screen of the movie theater or the small screen of mobile devices. This present situation urgently demands that students learn how to properly respond to the things that they watch on screen by developing the skill of critical watching. The course on cinema aims to produce students who have the ability to explain how their response to a narrative moving picture is influenced by its content and form, and to make appraisals of cinematic works that are based on the qualities of the work in question. To this end, students are trained in analyzing, interpreting and evaluating moving pictures in various recording and delivery formats. This is founded on a thorough knowledge of the elements of cinematic art and the skill of establishing the complex interrelations of the elements, with the story content and the viewing subject.

MUSIC   HMA232

This course is a humanistic reflection on the music – the artwork, its artist and performer, and its audience. Focus is on the aesthetic interest that is generated when we articulate ourselves (and to other listeners) features of the music we hear in sounds. In the process of analyzing the structure of concrete music pieces, we are led to an understanding of music as the work of a tradition. 

THEATRE   HMA233

The course introduces the student to the fundamental elements of a theatrical performance as found in Western and Philippine theatre traditions. The aim of the course is for the student to recognize theatre as a form of aesthetic expression as well as to distinguish the different arts that collaborate in a production. Analyses of dramatic literature, exposure to and analyses of local productions, as well as devising and staging theatrical pieces, provide the necessary practical framework for describing, interpreting and evaluating theatre as an art form.

POETRY   HML313

This subject teaches students to read and interpret poetry. It assumes that a knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, which are fundamental to reading prose, are necessary but not sufficient for reading poetry. Reading poetry well requires a deliberate attention to language and a nimble imagination, skills which are only seldom required by prose. By developing in the student the reading required for a sophisticated enjoyment of poetry, this course plays a part in preparing the Humanities graduate for mastery of all texts no matter the genre. 

HISTORICAL RESEARCH   HMH221

This course is a general introduction to the discipline of History. The course serves as an introductory path for students seeking an in-depth immersion in the research methodologies, philosophies, perspectives, approaches, and issues encountered in the academic study of history. Given the availability of research materials and current familiarity, the course utilizes Philippine history as an area of discourse and enquiry for exercising the principles and discussions in the current scholarship. At the same time, the course serves as an immersion in professional scholarship in history.

NOVEL   HML312

This course deals with features and conventions that make Novel a distinct literary genre. Emphasis is placed on Fiction’s unique form, its prose that makes it distinct from Poetry, as well as its medium and length which make it distinct from Drama and Short Fiction. The course will refer to essays and Fiction that will serve as springboard for discussions and lectures.

ART IN HUMANISTIC TRADITION 1   HMA314

Art in Humanistic Tradition 1 is a study of art as an expression of insights into the Humanistic Traditions of the West as represented in artforms with a focus on but not limited to painting, sculpture and architecture from Prehistoric to the Renaissance period. At the core of this course is a discussion of masterpieces which articulate the aesthetic canons and the values they signify in their original humanistic contexts, i.e., according to stories and Humanistic traditions of learning of the West as couched in the myths of the Ancient World and Classical civilizations, Christian learning of the Medieval ages, and the Humanism of the Renaissance following the trajectory of Western Art History. The course is comprised of 4 modules as follows: 1) The Humanistic Tradition of the Ancient World: Myths, Art and Architecture of Prehistoric, Ancient Near East and Egyptian Periods 2) The Humanistic Tradition of the Classical World: Myths, Art and Architecture of Greek and Roman Periods 3) The Humanistic Tradition of the Medieval: Christian Learning and Art and Architecture of the Early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic Periods 4) The Humanistic Tradition of the Renaissance: Humanism, Art and Architecture of the Renaissance Period.

WRITING POETRY   HMCW311

This course takes off from the Poetry and Music courses, focusing more on the creative process of the craft alongside the study of exemplary poems. By the end of the course, the student is expected to produce a collection of poems that can be included in the portfolio that the student develops throughout the program.

LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM 1    HML314

This course looks into different ways of critiquing literatures produced through the ages and compares such according to various approaches that have come to the fore.

HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 1   HMP311

The course presents a framework for understanding some of the major philosophical trends in the West from the pre-Socratic era to the Modern Period. Emphasis will be given to the historical significance and genesis of ideas, as well as the continuity and discontinuity in the history of development of philosophical thought. The focus will be on the Western understanding of the human being and the world, which underlies the manner man relates with realities within and beyond its boundaries. Thus, one gains a more critical understanding of the historical events that shaped the Western social and cultural milieu and vice-versa. 

LATIN 1      HMF311

This course covers the beginning stages of learning Latin. It provides the basis for the student to develop reading and writing skills in Latin on his own. Of greater importance in the course is understanding the part that Latin played in the tradition of the humanities in Western Civilization. The course aims to contribute in a basic fashion for the student to be articulate in this tradition

ESSAY   HML317

This course deals with the features and conventions that make Essay a distinct literary genre. Emphasis is placed on Essay’s unique form which makes it distinct from Drama, Fiction and Poetry, as well as its distinctions from articles and papers. The course will refer to essays that will serve as springboard for discussions and lectures. 

METAPHYSICS   HMP323

The course studies the nature of being and the various categories of the dynamics of the “esse”: one, true, good and beautiful. The course also studies the critical reasons that are foundational in addressing the question on the existence of God. 

WRITING DRAMA    HMCW322

This course takes off from the Theatre and Film courses, focusing more on the creative process of the craft alongside the study of exemplary scripts and screenplays. By the end of the course, the student is expected to produce a script or screenplay that can be included in the portfolio that the student develops throughout the program.

PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY   HMH323

This course on Philippine historiography will look at the different ways of writing Philippine general history following different assumptions, perspectives, or theories by selected historians. For this course, the historiography of Gregorio Zaide, Teodoro Agoncillo, Renato Constantino, Zeus Salazar, Onofre D. Corpuz, and Jose Arcilla will be compared. Also, specific sub-disciplines in history will be studied through works written by Filipino and foreign authors: local history, oral history, history of the arts, social history, economic history, and history of Philippine institutions.

WRITING NARRATIVES    HMCW323

This course takes off from the Novel course, focusing more on the creative process of the craft alongside the study of exemplary short fiction. By the end of the course, the student is expected to produce a collection of stories or chapters of a novel that can be included in the portfolio that the student develops throughout the program.

PRINCIPLES OF PREWRITING   HMCW324

This course focuses on the discipline of preparing for a creative writing project, covering the search for story ideas, developing premises, fleshing out plots, both for the short and long form, for the linear and nonlinear. By the end of the course, the student is expected to produce a collection of log lines and outlines that can be used to expand the portfolio the student develops throughout the program.

LATIN 2   HMF322

There is perhaps no other language from the ancient world that can claim as much influence as Latin in today’s languages and cultures. As the language of the Roman Empire and, later, of the Roman Catholic Church, Latin has helped to spread a culture that even to this day remains to “play an important role in the continuing saga of Western civilization” (Spielvogel 114) and, indeed, with the advent of technology, to influence the rest of the world. Latin continues to influence education, literature, law (Perry 168), philosophy, religion, and science (Freidell 349).

This one-semester continuation of the introductory course to this so-called “lingua mundi” (or “language of the world,” for once it was spoken by the entire civilized Western world), builds up on the previous semester’s “First Experience.” The interested students will continue where they left off in Latin 101 and learn the more advanced elements of the Latin language. They will continue to be exposed to a sampling of Latin’s rich literature, from classical times to the present. True to both the University’s liberal arts focus and its Christian ethos, this course will attempt – despite the very limited time allotted to it – to synthesize the best of what Latin has to offer. 

WORK AND SOCIETY   HMP414

HMP 414 is a philosophical study of work in the light of its anthropological, sociological and ethical dimensions. This course seeks to highlight the relevance of work as a human activity, contributing thus to the development of the worker, co-workers, culture and society. The ethical dimensions treated here are focused on the individual worker’s personal development as worker regardless of specialization and therefore applicable to any given job a worker may have at any given time.

ART THEORY   HMA414

A course on Art Theory is an introduction to key ideas on art across the different forms. The readings selected for the course introduce theories on the Visual and Performing Arts. The course helps students take an analytical and critical stance as they compare the strengths and limitations of theories on Art. Illustrative rather than exhaustive, the selected readings introduce questions on the nature of art. The course also is designed to equip the students with enough competencies and wisdom to develop a standard of beauty based on intrinsic excellence and a view of art as a form of leisure that enables the human being to understand the self and others.

PRINCIPLES OF REWRITING    HMCW415

This course focuses on the discipline of appraising, critiquing, and improving one’s own work as well as others. By the end of the course, the student is expected to produce revised versions of some of their output from their Creative Writing subjects as well as a treatise on their aesthetics based on the Humanities subjects they have already taken.

THEORY OF THEORIES AND THE HUMANISTIC ENTERPRISE HML416

The course studies the history of aesthetic criticism from the Enlightenment to contemporary times. By aesthetic criticism is meant criticism in the fine arts (architecture, painting, sculpture, music, dance, poetry, theater, film, and prose fiction). Various critical theories are likewise studied from the idea of the art object as object of contemplation during the eighteenth century to the political readings of art objects in the late twentieth century.

PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSE   HMP415

This course studies the fundamental elements of philosophical schools of thought and worldviews, with the aim of understanding methods of inquiry that distinguish philosophy from the rest of the sciences.

HUM PRACTICUM   HMI421

The Humanities Practicum is a venue for students to apply what they have learned in their classes, by immersing themselves in work environments related to the Humanities. By the term, students should be able to apply the lessons from class to current developments in their chosen place of internship.

PORTFOLIO BUILDING   HMCW426

In this course, the student is expected to add and polish the creative works developed throughout the program for compilation into a portfolio. Included in this portfolio is a treatise on creative writing that reflects the creative process of the collection. The student may concentrate on either Poetry, Fiction, or Drama. Professors will be available for advising, and at the end of the semester, the student is expected to defend the treatise in front of a panel.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

No other requirements for GRADUATION apart from the regular requirements.

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