Humanities Final Exam

180 Humanities Final Exam

Fall 2013 Three short final responses:

A. Religion plays a major role in A Man for All Seasons, for Thomas More as well as for

Henry VIII. The personal religious views held by these two central characters appear clear, but how is their approach to religion viewed by you, the viewer or audience? When applied to these two characters, do you view their religious views positively or negatively? Do you see religion a positive or a destructive force in this play? Illustrate your response with specific references to the text.

B. As a concluding exercise, I’d like to return your attention to the sentiments of the syllabus for this course and encourage you to consider in what ways and to what degree you found the six readings instructive. In short, how – if at all – have the readings been worth your while?

I stated in the syllabus that our approach to these works would be to examine the actions and behaviors of their central characters, particularly the ways each addresses three of Life’s fundamental questions (they can be found in the Syllabus in Course Documents, if you’ve forgotten them). There was also a fourth question: “To what extent and in what respects are responses to these three questions interrelated – for you today, as well as for the individuals in the works considered?”

Consider your response to this prompt a personal one, and approach it as you see fit.

C. Over the decade or so that I’ve been presenting AUCW 180 here at the University of

Hartford, the social structure – as well as the academic structure — of this country, as well as the University of Hartford, has changed rapidly and drastically – as it has, I suspect, in most societies of the Western World.

It seems obvious, though it has not yet been openly acknowledged at most universities, what has long been viewed as “traditional classroom instruction” is on its last legs throughout this country. The question before us is what will replace it. Though online courses will apparently be a key player in the immediate future, will their ubiquitous presence be an enhancement to student engagement, or a curse?

I’ve posed the question to you already: If everything you need for a course such as this is available on the Internet, what becomes of the activities of the traditional class?

What, if anything, worked for you in a class such as this? What might has

worked for you? What changes would you suggest? What should be

changed before I meet my Spring 2014 classes in the final weeks of January?