Humanities

It is significant that our department's name is pluralized - there is no one thing that constitutes the humanities, nor it is easy to define. We also have to separate the humanities as a conglomerate of academic disciplines from the Humanities as a specific department at Mount Royal University.

The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences thinks of the humanities in terms of "those disciplines that investigate the human condition, using primarily analytical, critical or speculative methods to consider society and human behaviour". Humanities here at Mount Royal embodies the close relationship between humanities and social sciences, having program areas and disciplines spanning both.

In Mount Royal, Humanities is a vibrant cross-, trans-, and inter-disciplinary department. What unities it is an understanding that all aspects of the human condition are worthy of in-depth investigation, and that there is no external authority or adjudicator of these things other than ourselves. It inquires into what it means to be human, and to strive towards a world which respects the inherent dignity and worth of all persons. Along the way it imparts the knowledge and skills necessary to explore, understand, critique, and implement these things. It just so happens that these are the very knowledge and skills that will make you a better and more effective thinker and actor in all areas of your life. We believe that studying the humanities within the Humanities is one of the most practical things, literally, one can do.

The Department has grown over the years - from an original trinity of History (HIST), Philosophy (PHIL), and Religious Studies (RELS), it now also includes Art History (ARTH), Canadian Studies (CNST), Classics (CLAS), Humanities (HUMN), as a generalized stand-alone program area, Indigenous Studies (INST), Linguistics (LING), Mediterranean Cultures (MECU), and Women's & Gender Studies (WGST).