Understanding the School of Humanities Advising Handbook

School of Humanities Student Handbook 2024-25

The Humanities Undergraduate Advising Handbook is designed to help potential and current Humanities majors and minors, first years to seniors, craft their courses of study. While this handbook cannot trace every possible route through the rich and varied terrain of the humanities, it serves as starting point while encouraging you to broaden your mind, ambitions, and experiences. Enclosed within the handbook are resources that speak to the particulars of all our school’s scholarly and creative offerings, useful contacts and resources, information on humanities research opportunities, internships and practica and other ways to stay in touch with what our school has to offer.

Given this handbook is an evolving document, envisioned as a resource relevant to you, reach out if you have ideas on how to make this resource better. Send your suggestions to humanties@rice.edu.

Read more: School of Humanities Student Handbook, 2024-25 >>

The Big Picture

Humanities coursework trains students to analyze evidence, interrogate presumptions, craft compelling arguments, master creative expression, all while challenging the status quo. These capacities are vital, not only for a wide range of careers, but key to cultivating a lifelong engagement with the world as citizens and leaders and are critical for addressing the challenges and seizing the opportunities that await you no matter what future you seek.


To understand better why the humanities matter, explore pages 5-7.

Our School Makeup

See page 32 of the handbook for a full list of all the School of Humanities Departments, Programs and Centers. From this main page you can navigate to pages that will break down specific requirements for all the majors and minors we have available within our school, including information on course requirements, frank advice, recommended introductory courses, travel and honors opportunities and more.

Navigating Advising and Finding Your Guides

Face to face contact and conversation are a hallmark of our school and key in determining what’s right for you during your time as an undergraduate. Use this handbook to find the faculty who can help you think through a plan of study that best fits all your interests and ambitions. For useful resources on how to navigate humanities advising see pages 2 and 8– 10. Pages 136-138 list the current Humanities Directors of Undergraduate Study, your main points of contact for all major and/or minor specific advising.

Four-Year Planning

Most Humanities majors require 10-12 courses in addition to university-wide requirements. HUMA minors require 6 courses. For ways to think through long term course planning see the department, program, and center pages which offer sample four-year plans for all available HUMA majors and minors.


For overarching elements to consider as you think through how to map your humanities course of study see pages 12 -13  for additional advice to keep in mind.

Get Connected

To connect with other students dedicated to the humanities, reach out to a Dean of Humanities Undergraduate Advisory Council (DHUAC) member. Established in 2018, the Dean of Humanities Undergraduate Advisory Council is a group of humanities dedicated students who serve as a consulting body on a wide range of topics, including advising, programming and events for the undergraduate student body, curricular matters and community building. Advisory Council members are excellent guides for undergraduates who are interested in majoring or minoring in a humanities field. You can find a directory of all current members on pages 27 -30.

General Bachelor’s Requirements

To view a checklist of key requirements for a bachelor's degree at Rice, see pages 15-17.

Humanities Research

 

Given the humanities encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and creative practices, your research may take various forms. It could be a scholarly paper, a body of creative work such as an exhibition, film, or performance, a work of fiction, or a digital humanities project like a website, podcast or oral histories archive.


The School of Humanities has much to offer in the realm of research. For more understanding as to what research can encompass within our school and the opportunities that are available to you as undergraduates see pages 19 – 21.

After graduation

For more information regarding careers in the humanities following graduation and what humanities skills employers prize, see pages 23 – 26.

Resources for you

For additional resources, including useful university contacts, academic calendar information, and humanities specific directories, see pages 131-135.