Overview
Please click here to see more information about the program.
The Master of Humanities degree offers students the opportunity to individually tailor their studies to meet their needs and interests. In consultation with a faculty advisor, students develop a unique plan of studies by combining fields, such as History, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Film, Women's and Gender Studies, Public Policy, American Studies, Fine Arts, Sociology, Literature, Anthropology, Communications, Political Science, and Economics.
Our degree programs are designed for part-time or full time students whose professional and personal obligations require a program that is flexible.
Why Interdisciplinary Studies?
While most colleges and universities are organized around traditional disciplines, academic institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of interdisciplinary research in an emerging global economy and culture. By approaching knowledge and learning through an interdisciplinary model, students integrate and synthesize the methods, tools, theories and concepts of diverse disciplines to tackle questions and research from new angles. By bringing together sometimes disparate and contrasting disciplines, new possibilities for dialog and interaction arise that can address the complex questions and issues that characterize the world today.
Explore the possibilities!
These requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.
Graduate Education Policies and Procedures apply to this program.
Program Requirements
- Students must complete a minimum of 36 approved credit hours.
- Students must complete a minimum of 30 graduate (5000-level and above) approved credit hours.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of B- (2.7) in all courses applied to the degree and must achieve a minimum cumulative program GPA of 3.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to degree requirements.
- Students must complete all coursework with CU Denver faculty. Students may concurrently pursue graduate-level coursework at other CU system campuses with the approval of their MHMSS graduate advisor.
Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations
- Courses credited toward the MH degree must typically be taken at CU Denver (a maximum of 12 graduate credit hours may be transferred from other institutions after matriculating into the MH program, subject to the MH director's approval).
- Each student's program is supervised by MHMSS faculty. All independent study, project, and thesis contracts must be approved in advance by the program director. A total of two independent study courses and one internship may count toward the degree.
- A maximum of two 4000-level undergraduate courses may apply, with faculty approval.
- Students wishing to count credits accrued from a study abroad program while pursuing the MH must follow graduate education policies and procedures and must have approval of the program director in advance of studying abroad.
- An oral exam defending the project or thesis before a committee of three faculty members must be passed in order to graduate.
- A grade below B- in any given course will not be counted toward the degree.
- Students make take up to three graduate-level online courses (up to 9 credits) towards the degree, with prior approval.
- All students must complete and pass a final project or thesis and an oral comprehensive defense of that work, in order to graduate.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
| Foundations and Theories of Interdisciplinary Humanities 2 | |
| Foundations and Theories of Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Methods and Practices of Graduate Interdisciplinary Studies | |
| Research Perspectives in Graduating Interdisciplinary Humanities and Social Sciences | |
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| Master's Thesis | |
| Master's Project | |
Total Hours | 36 |
General MH Track
Students pursuing the general MH degree track create a course of study based on their individual interests and goals. In consultation with a faculty advisor, students choose two or three academic disciplines as areas of concentration.
Ethnic Studies Track
Students pursuing the Ethnic Studies track explore the construction of race and ethnicity by governments and communities through the intersection of popular culture and public policy in both the historical and contemporary contexts.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
| Research Methods in Ethnic Studies | |
| Problematizing Whiteness: Educating for Racial Justice | |
| Anthropology of Globalization | |
| Intercultural Communication | |
| Critical Issues in American Education | |
| Contemporary World Literature | |
| Race, Culture and Immigration | |
| Black and Latino Children in Families and Schools | |
| Race, Religion and Belonging in the United States | |
| Cultural Diversity Awareness in the Workplace | |
| African-American Literature | |
| Women of Color Feminisms | |
| Crime, Policing, and Justice in American History | |
| Mexico and the United States: People and Politics on the Border | |
| African Struggle for Independence | |
| Islam in Modern History | |
| Law, Diversity and Community in United States History | |
| Viewing Empire: The Art of Imperial and Colonial Propaganda | |
| Advanced Indigenous Peoples' Politics | |
| Urban Politics, Planning, and Development | |
| Indigenous Politics | |
| Social Movements, Democracy and Global Politics | |
| Gender, Development and Globalization | |
| Seminar: National Question and Self-Determination | |
| Advanced Indigenous Peoples' Politics | |
| Immigration Politics | |
| Community Organizing and Community Development | |
| Health Disparities | |
| Poverty and Social Inequality | |
| Hate Groups and Group Violence | |
| Crime and Inequality Over the Life Course | |
| Spanish Sociolinguistics | |
| Dialects of the Spanish-Speaking World | |
| Spanish in Colorado | |
| Spanish in the United States | |
| Mexican Literature I: pre-Columbian and Colonial | |
| Mexican Literature II: 19th to 21st Centuries | |
Total Hours | 15 |
Complete a project or thesis on an approved ethnic studies related topic.
Health Humanities Track
Health Humanities teaches students to the ways in which humanities disciplines interrogate relationships among health, medicine and society and what those disciplines reveal about biomedical knowledge as well as healthcare policies and practices.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
| Foundations of Health Humanities | |
| Foundations of Health Care Ethics | |
| Anthropology and Public Health | |
| Health Communication | |
| Rhetorics of Medicine & Health | |
| Hazard Mitigation and Vulnerability Assessment | |
| GIS Applications in the Health Sciences | |
| Disasters, Climate Change, and Health | |
| Topics in Media, Medicine and Society | |
| Narrative Principles and Practices in Healthcare | |
| Addressing Health Stigma in Social Contexts | |
| Ethics, Medicine & the Holocaust: Legacies | |
| Introduction to Public Health Ethics | |
| Pain, Its Paradoxes & the Human Condition | |
| International Health Policy and Management | |
| Medicine, Health Care, and Justice: Bioethics | |
| Seminar: Environmental Politics and Policy | |
Total Hours | 18 |
Complete a project or thesis on an approved health humanities related topic.
Philosophy and Theory Track
The Philosophy and Theory Track in the Master of Humanities Program offers students an interdisciplinary approach to studying philosophy, critical theory, and related theories of criticism and analysis in various Humanities disciplines.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
| Theory in Medical Anthropology | |
| Film Theory and Criticism | |
| Sex, Gender, and Visual Representation | |
| Topics: Interdisciplinary Humanities | |
| Methods and Practices of Graduate Interdisciplinary Studies | |
| Foundations and Theories of Interdisciplinary Studies | |
| Pragmatism: Classical American Philosophy | |
| Art, Beauty, and Aesthetic Criticism: Philosophy of Art | |
| Medicine, Health Care, and Justice: Bioethics | |
| Why Obey the Law? Introduction to Philosophy of Law | |
| Mind, Body, and Consciousness: Philosophy of Mind | |
| Questioning Religious Belief and Practice: Introduction to Philosophy of Religion | |
| Philosophy and Literature | |
| Introduction to Phenomenology | |
| Heidegger | |
| Nietzsche | |
| Marx and Marxism | |
| Plato | |
| Aristotle | |
| Existentialism | |
| John Dewey | |
| Philosophy of Media and Technology | |
| Social Movements, Democracy and Global Politics | |
| American Political Thought | |
| Social Theory | |
| Survey of Feminist Thought | |
| Methods and Theories of Feminism and Gender Studies | |
Total Hours | 18 |
Complete a project or thesis on an approved philosophy/theory related topic.
Social Justice Track
The Social Justice Track encourages graduate students to broaden and deepen their intellectual tools as well as their practical knowledge as to how democracy, education, consumerism, media, race, class, gender, policy, and law intersect.
It is highly recommended that students in this track take at least one quantitative and/or one qualitative research methods course as part of their plan of study. There are quantitative and qualitative methods courses offered in Anthropology, Environmental Science, Political Science, Sociology, and Research, Evaluation, and Statistical Methodology (RESM), which can be approved by students MHMSS program faculty.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
| Legal and Ethical Environment of Business | |
| Communication, Prisons, and Social Justice | |
| Advanced Topics in Writing, Rhetoric, & Linguistics | |
| Survey of Feminist Thought | |
| Globalization in World History Since 1945 | |
| Crime, Policing, and Justice in American History | |
| Mexico and the United States: People and Politics on the Border | |
| African Struggle for Independence | |
| Local Governance and Globalization | |
| Sex, Gender, and Visual Representation | |
| Methods and Theories of Feminism and Gender | |
| Social Movements, Democracy and Global Politics | |
| Democracy and Democratization | |
| Gender, Development and Globalization | |
| Conflict Resolution and Public Consent Building | |
| Conflicts and Rights in International Law | |
| International Relations: War or Peace? | |
| Non-Profits and Social Change | |
| Immigration Politics | |
| International Women's Resistance | |
| Contemporary Issues in Civil Liberties | |
| Poverty and Social Inequality | |
| Hate Groups and Group Violence | |
| Sex and Gender in Modern Britain | |
| History of Sexuality | |
| Gender, Science and Medicine: 1600 to the Present | |
Total Hours | 12 |
Complete a project or thesis on an approved social justice related topic.
Visual Studies Track
The Visual Studies Track provides students focused studies in disciplines that apply critical analysis to our visual world, such as art history, museum studies, film studies, new media studies, and cultural studies. In a world whose work forces and creative citizenry are focused on the growth and use of visual technologies, visual literacy with sophisticated analytic skills is critical.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
| Film Theory and Criticism | |
| Methods in Art History | |
| Visual Arts: Its Past, Present, and Interpretations | |
| Introduction to Architecture | |
| History and Theory Architecture I | |
| History and Theory Architecture II | |
| A History of American Architecture | |
| A History of Modern Architecture | |
| A History of Theoretical Discourse on Architecture | |
| Topics in English: Film and Literature | |
| Contemporary Art: 1960 to Present | |
| Topics in Art History II: Modern and Contemporary | |
| Pre-Columbian Art | |
| American Art | |
| History of Digital Media | |
| Art of the Medieval Multiverse | |
| Italian Renaissance Art | |
| Northern Renaissance Art | |
| Baroque and Rococo Art | |
| Arts of Japan | |
| Arts of China | |
| Art of India and Southeast Asia | |
| Contemporary Art:1960-Present | |
| Historic Preservation | |
| Sex, Gender, and Visual Representation | |
| Art, Beauty, and Aesthetic Criticism: Philosophy of Art | |
| Philosophy of Media and Technology | |
Total Hours | 21 |
Complete a project or thesis on an approved visual arts related topic.
Women's and Gender Studies Track
Students pursuing the WGST track, focus on issues of sex and gender as they manifest in societies through culture, language, politics, visual representation, and history.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
| Survey of Feminist Thought | |
| Feminist Philosophy | |
| Methods and Theories of Feminism and Gender Studies | |
| Nature and Scope of Interpersonal Violence | |
| Interpersonal Violence Law and Public Policy | |
| Studies of Major Authors (when the author is a female) | |
| Viewing Empire: The Art of Imperial and Colonial Propaganda | |
| Women's Rights, Human Rights: Global Perspectives | |
| Gender and Politics | |
| Women and the Law | |
| Gender, Development and Globalization | |
| Seminar: Sociology of the Family | |
| Women in the West | |
| Sex and Gender in Modern Britain | |
| Survey of Feminist Thought | |
| History of Sexuality | |
| Contemporary Feminist Thought | |
| Gender, Science and Medicine: 1600 to the Present | |
| Goddess Traditions | |
| Feminist Philosophy | |
| Whores and Saints: Medieval Women | |
| French Women Writers | |
| International Women's Resistance | |
| Sex, Gender, and Visual Representation | |
Total Hours | 15 |
Complete a project or thesis on an approved women's and gender studies related topic.
To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.