New U of W project a crash course in classic and contemporary works

The University of Winnipeg is launching a first-of-its-kind course that will introduce undergraduate students to classics, religion and literary studies all at once.

Four academics will co-teach Introduction to the Humanities — an experimental project that’s been five years in the making — this fall.

“This is pretty unique and special, and I think it has the potential to grow into quite the feather in U of W’s cap,” said Alyson Brickey, an assistant professor in the department of English.

Brickey, alongside colleagues in the faculty of arts — associate dean Brandon Christopher, associate professor Melissa Funke and Prof. Carlos Colorado — designed it together.

They plan to take turns assigning famous texts in their respective research areas and delivering lectures to an inaugural cohort of 36.

A variety of scholars with other areas of expertise are scheduled to make guest appearances to round out the comprehensive introduction to the humanities.

The co-creators took inspiration from Halifax-based University of King’s College. Students enrolled in its foundation year program on the East Coast spend all of their time reading and analyzing influential historic books, such as the Bible, Frankenstein and The Communist Manifesto.

King’s teaches this content in chronological order, but U of W will group lesson plans by theme: beginnings; self and community; love and desire; and endings.

“This might look like a ‘great books’ course — but insofar as it does, the four of us have been actively thinking about how the traditional canon has excluded important voices who have an awful lot to contribute to the study of big ideas,” said Colorado, a scholar of religion, politics and identity.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and Frederick Douglass’s famous speech What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? are on the 2025-26 syllabus.

It also features contemporary works, such as North End Love Songs, a 2011 collection from Winnipeg poet Katharena Vermette, and Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning album, To Pimp a Butterfly.

The associate dean of arts said the setup will require students to both think critically about the lasting influence of historical texts and how modern-day interpretation changes their meaning.

For Christopher, who researches Renaissance literature, what’s most exciting about the new course is the opportunity to learn from his colleagues on a regular basis. It’s rare to be able to sit in on a colleague’s lecture, let alone teach alongside them, he noted.

“The way we teach things is often siloed, but nothing happens in a vacuum,” he said, adding that the interdisciplinary nature of the course will allow students to make connections between texts and disciplines, from rhetoric to philosophy.

Brickey echoed those comments. She said their goal is to encourage more “cross-pollination” among professors and students as they consider big questions about the history of human thought.

Introduction to the Humanities was designed to be a first-year course spanning two semesters (MULT-1301 and MULT-1302) for a total of 12 credits. Registration is underway.

As is standard in foundational humanities classes, there will be an emphasis on essay writing 101 and group presentations. Much of the allotted time will be spent in intimate tutorial settings.

Funke called it “the ultra U of W experience.”

Students are going to get to know each other and four professors “very well,” in addition to becoming anchored in the community on campus, said the researcher who is interested in Greek literature and gender and sexuality.

There are 1,422 courses scheduled to run in 2025-26.

Last year, four in 10 students at U of W were working towards an arts major of some kind. Roughly half of all pupils were in an arts classroom on the downtown campus at some point.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca