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Overview of the Program

Comparative Humanities at Habib University offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate program that trains you to draw on resources in the arts, humanities and social sciences to come to terms with the biggest challenges in the human sphere, such as, crises in the intersecting spheres of knowledge, ethics, and the ecology. While you learn to move flexibly across disciplinary boundaries, this is an education in forms, that is, in forms of inquiry, concept, and affect in the humanities disciplines, history, literature, philosophy, and religion.

Curriculum Details

Comparative Humanities Major students are required to take at least 37 courses and 124 credit-hours throughout their 4-year (8-semester) program. Each student must complete a Primary and a Secondary Concentration from the following four concentration areas.


Main Thrusts

The following thrusts are designed to introduce students to transdisciplinary approaches and to reflect on the methods, aims, and styles of inquiry practiced in the humanities disciplines.

Literature

Explore mystical poetry within South Asian folk and vernacular traditions through critical and historical lenses. Compulsory courses include ‘What is World Literature?’ and ‘Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism.’

Philosophy

Broaden your perspectives by learning about philosophy as the art of concept creation. Some compulsory courses for this concentration include ‘What is Philosophy?’ and ‘Introduction to Western Philosophy.’

History

Discover an interpretative approach to historical study and derive meaning from diverse sources—diaries, letters, arts, novels, and more. Mandatory courses include Global Histories & Historical Methods, along with electives on narrative exploration.

Religion

Learn fundamental concepts within the fusion of Islamic Sufi philosophy. Required courses include ‘What is World Religion?’ and ‘Introduction to World Religion,’ along with electives on the sacred, encompassing devotional music and visual culture from the Islamic World.

4 year Academic
Journey

The students of CH Major are required to complete a minimum of 37 courses and 124 credit-hours over their 4-year journey (8 semesters). Each student is required to complete a Primary Concentration and a Secondary Concentration from the 4 available Concentration areas – 1) Religious Studies, 2) History, 3) Literature, and 4) Philosophy. A set of recommended courses (semester-wise) fall under the following course categories:

Category 1 – Habib Liberal Core (HLC), also known as the University Core, is a common curriculum designed for all Habib University students as a mandatory requirement. A total of 10 courses are included in the HLC/University Core.

Category 2 – CH Program Core entails a set of mandatory courses for the CH Majors. A total of 07 courses are included in the CH Program Core.

Category 3 – Primary Concentration. Each student has to complete a total of 06 courses within their selected Primary Concentration.

Category 4 – Secondary Concentration. Each student has to complete a total of 04 courses within their Secondary Concentration.

Category 5 – CH Electives. Each student has to complete a total of 02 CH Electives of any level from any of the 4 Concentration areas.

Category 6 – Free Electives. Each student has to complete at least 08 Free Elective courses (with a minimum of 24 credit-hours). Students may take 1 Cr and 2 Cr courses to fulfill but must complete 24 credit-hours in Free Elective category.

Courses to complete Credit hours Course Category Comments
First Semester (5 courses)
CORE 101 – Rhetoric and Communication 4 University Core (1 of 10)
A course in Philosophical Form of Thought Min 3 University Core (2 of 10) All PHIL course codes (3 credit-hour and above) fall in this category.
A course in Formal Reasoning Form of Thought (CS 101 – Algorithmic Problem Solving or CORE 111 – Logical Problem Solving) 4 University Core (3 of 10)
HUM 101 – Critical Inquiry and the Humanities 4 CH Program Core (1 of 7)
Free Elective* 3 Free Elective (1 of 8)
Second Semester (5 courses)
CORE 102 – What is Modernity 4 University Core (4 of 10)
RELS 1xx – Introduction to World Religions/What is World Religion? Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Requirement 1 of 2) For Primary Concentration in Religious Studies A 2 course sequence within the Primary Concentration
RELS 223 – Comparative approaches, methods and key issues in the study of religion Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Requirement 2 of 2) For Primary Concentration in Religious Studies
OR
HIST 1xx/2xx – Global Histories Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Requirement 1 of 2) For Primary Concentration in History
HIST 227 – Understanding Histories: Historiography and Historical Methods Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Requirement 2 of 2) For Primary Concentration in History
OR
LIT 1xx/2xx What is World Literature? Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Requirement 1 of 2) For Primary Concentration in Literature
LIT 225 – Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Requirement 2 of 2) For Primary Concentration in Literature
OR
PHIL 200 – What is Philosophy?** or PHIL 122 – Introduction to Western Philosophy**” Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Requirement 1 of 1) For Primary Concentration in Philosophy
Philosophy Concentration Elective Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Elective 1 of 5) This Elective is from the declared Primary Concentration area
Free Elective* 3 Free Elective (2 & 3 of 8)
Third Semester (5 courses)
CORE 201 – Pakistan and Modern South Asia 4 University Core (5 of 10)
A course in Quantitative Reasoning Form of Thought Min 3 University Core (6 of 10)
CORE 200 – Scientific Methods 3 University Core (7 of 10)
HUM 201 – Conceptual Genealogies 4 CH Program Core (2 of 7)
Primary Concentration Elective (In RELS, HIST and LIT) Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Elective 1 of 4) This Elective is from the declared Primary Concentration area Elective within Primary Concentration
OR
Primary Concentration Elective (In PHIL**) Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Elective 2 of 5) This Elective is from Philosophy Concentration
Fourth Semester (5 courses)
CORE 202 – Hikma I 4 University Core (8 of 10)
HUM 200 – World Historical Figures: Leadership, Judgment, and Authority 4 CH Program Core (3 of 7)
Primary Concentration Elective (In RELS, HIST and LIT) Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Elective 2 of 4) This Elective is from the declared Primary Concentration area Elective within Primary Concentration
OR
Primary Concentration Elective (In PHIL**) Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Elective 3 of 5) This Elective is from Philosophy Concentration
RELS 1xx – Introduction to World Religions/What is World Religion? Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Requirement 1 of 2) For Secondary Concentration in Religious Studies 1st course within Secondary Concentration
OR
HIST 1xx/2xx – Global Histories Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Requirement 1 of 2) For Secondary Concentration in History
OR
LIT 1xx/2xx What is World Literature? Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Requirement 1 of 2) For Secondary Concentration in Literature
OR
PHIL 200 – What is Philosophy?** or
PHIL 122 – Introduction to Western Philosophy**”
Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Requirement 1 of 1) For Secondary Concentration in Philosophy
Free Elective* 3 Free Elective (4 of 8)
Fifth Semester (5 courses)
CORE 121 – Jehan-e-Urdu 4 University Core (9 of 10)
HUM 301 – Comparative Hermeneutics I (Major Works and Traditions Seminar) 4 CH Program Core (4 of 7)
Primary Concentration Elective (In RELS, HIST and LIT at Upper-level) Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Elective 3 of 4) This Elective is from the declared Primary Concentration area. Elective within Primary Concentration
OR
Primary Concentration Elective (In PHIL** at Upper-level) Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Elective 4 of 5) This Elective is from Philosophy Concentration
RELS 223 – Comparative approaches, methods and key issues in the study of religion Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Requirement 2 of 2) For Secondary Concentration in Religious Studies 2nd course within Secondary Concentration
OR
HIST 227 – Understanding Histories: Historiography and Historical Methods Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Requirement 2 of 2) For Secondary Concentration in History
OR
LIT 225 – Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Requirement 2 of 2) For Secondary Concentration in Literature
OR
Philosophy Concentration Elective** Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Elective 1 of 3) This Elective is from Philosophy Concentration
Free Elective* 3 Free Elective (5 of 8)
Sixth Semester (4 courses)
A course in Creative Practice Form of Thought Min 3 University Core (10 of 10)
HUM 401 – Comparative Hermeneutics II (A Major Work in Dialogue with its Tradition Seminar) 4 CH Program Core (5 of 7)
HUM 300 – Criticism Dissent and the Ethics of Disagreement 4 CH Program Core (6 of 7)
Primary Concentration Elective (In RELS, HIST and LIT at Upper-level) Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Elective 4 of 4) This Elective is from the declared Primary Concentration area Elective within Primary Concentration
OR
Primary Concentration Elective (In PHIL** at Upper-level) Min 3 Primary Concentration – (Elective 5 of 5) This Elective is from Philosophy Concentration
Seventh Semester (4 courses)
Elective Min 3 CH Electives (1 of 2) Any level Elective course in HIST, LIT, PHIL, RELS
HUM 402 – Capstone Research Seminar 4 CH Program Core (7 of 7)
Secondary Concentration Elective (In RELS, HIST and LIT) Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Elective 1 of 2) This Elective is from the declared Secondary Concentration area Elective within Primary Concentration
OR
Secondary Concentration Elective (In PHIL**) Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Elective 2 of 3) This Elective is from Philosophy Concentration
Free Elective* 3 Free Elective (6 of 8)
Eighth Semester (4 courses)
Elective Min 3 CH Electives (2 of 2) Any level Elective course in HIST, LIT, PHIL, RELS
Secondary Concentration Elective (In RELS, HIST and LIT at Upper-level) Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Elective 2 of 2) This Elective is from the declared Secondary Concentration area Elective within Primary Concentration
OR
Secondary Concentration Elective (In PHIL** at Upper-level) Min 3 Secondary Concentration – (Elective 3 of 3) This Elective is from Philosophy Concentration
Free Elective* 3 Free Elective (7 of 8)
Free Elective*** Min 3 Free Elective (8 of 8) Students pursuing Thesis option are to take an Independent Study (min 3 credit-hours) in lieu of free elective 8 of 8

Note –
*Electives (program/free) need to be taken so that over all total credit hours are 124.
**Philosophy Concentration at Primary and Secondary level has only 1 required course. Rest are all electives.
*** Students, pursuing thesis option, are to take an IS (min 3 Cr Hrs) in lieu of free elective 8 of 8.

“Note 1 – Students can double count free electives in the grid towards completion of requirements for declared concentrations in HIST, LIT, PHIL, or RELS. This is applicable for students pursuing beyond the minimally required one primary and one secondary concentration.

Note 2 – Regarding “Free Electives”, students have the option to take 1 and 2 credit hour courses, with the understanding that they’ll have to complete the total of 124 credit hours coursework (and a minimum of 37 courses) minimally required for graduation. The “”Free Electives”” descriptor refers to a category of course, rather than a specific course.

Note 3 – Two electives within Primary Concentration and one elective within Secondary Concentration must be upper-level electives.

Our Faculty and Fellows

Our faculty is committed to fostering teaching excellence and shares the University's belief in the importance of an interdisciplinary undergraduate experience characterized by collaboration between faculty and students.

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning integrates the classroom and the real world. The Comparative Humanities program engages students with the world through professional work, research, and service around the world, especially in the South Asian context. Students learn how to transform ideas into impact and become critically conscious citizens with successful careers.

Future Prospects

Habib University's Comparative Humanities degree program cultivates a unique mindset for tackling real-world challenges with a broader perspective. Students gain a versatile skill set, including critical thinking and effective collaboration, shaping them into well-rounded thinkers. This interdisciplinary journey encourages profound reflections on life's crucial questions, complemented by growth opportunities like minors, workshops, and tailored career/grad school programs.

Careers

Entrepreneurship

Graduate School

The interdisciplinary skill set prepares you for a broad spectrum of professions such as advertising, banking, education, entrepreneurship, journalism, law and politics, media and communications, and many more.

Discover how your unique perspectives from arts, humanities, and social sciences can drive success in solving real-world problems with creative, innovative, sustainable, and impactful ventures.

The program's interdisciplinary nature instills critical thinking and a strong grasp of global dynamics, setting our graduates apart in graduate education and facilitating admissions to leading institutions worldwide.

Success Stories

Explore the rich insights about the success of our current Comparative Humanities students and graduates across various fields:

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