Students standing holding pamphlets

Global Explorations

Take part in the discussions that human beings have been having over the last four thousand years all over our world.

Humanities Core (HumCore) gives Stanford undergraduates an accessible and structured/curated introduction to culture, art, literature, politics, religion, and history.

It is a chance to explore traditions, texts, and ideas around the world through an integrated set of elective courses.

HumCore affirms our shared global reality, teaching humanities courses that reflect human lives and histories from all over the globe without privileging a single narrative. No tradition or canon exists in a vacuum, and throughout history, any given culture is shaped by encounters with other cultures and forms of thought.

The Humanities Core has a unique collaborative structure: courses meet twice a week, and the second meeting each week brings together students and faculty across the Core. Each quarter, this structure gives students a seminar-based exploration into ten of the most important texts or cultural objects from a given tradition – alongside weekly conversations that draw comparisons and discuss connections between different parts of the world.

 

Check out the current HumCore courses

View sample schedules for shared sessions:

Certificate

In every HumCore course, students develop their ideas alongside faculty and have access to mentors who can help guide them into majors, minors, research opportunities, and honors programs. HumCore offers the opportunities to demonstrate your achievements by earning a humanities certificate.

Gateway Courses

Looking for more pathways into studying the humanities and arts? Gateway courses introduce you to the fundamental issues and questions in each discipline.