Each semester, the Graduate Humanities Program engages the intersection of the arts, literature, culture, and history within an open, exploratory, and experimental educational environment.
Students enrolled in the Graduate Humanities Program explore broad interdisciplinary issues through a diverse array of course offerings. Most of these are offered in a virtual seminar format: discussion-based graduate-level courses focused on reading, open and regular dialogue, collaborative and interactive interpretation, research and writing.
While several seminars are discipline-specific (our core curriculum, for example), most are designed to go beyond individual disciplines and enlist students in the cross-disciplinary study of the humanities.
Click on the links below for registration information for individual seminars. You can find general registration information on the MU Registrar website.
For previous seminar schedules, see our “Previous GHP Seminar Schedules” site.
Before joining any of our seminars, familiarize yourself with the Program’s Seminar Rules of Engagement.
Fall 2025
CULS 600: Selected Topics – Appalachian Studies Research, Arranged (VIRTUAL) (contact Director)
For students enrolled in the Appalachian Studies Certificate who are working on research projects in the Appalachian region. Registration by permission only. Contact the Director.
HIST 600: Selected Topics – Oral History and Ethnography (VIRTUAL) (Lassiter), Thursdays, 7-9:50 PM
This course will involve exploration of oral history research and ethnographic methods. Participants will work with oral history and ethnographic texts, as well as engage in research and writing on local topics.
- Luke Eric Lassiter is director of the Graduate Humanities Program and professor of humanities and anthropology.
HUMN 604: Expository Writing for Research (VIRTUAL) (Campbell), Tuesdays, 7 – 9:50 PM
This core writing course develops proficiency in writing for research.
- Elizabeth Campbell is a professor of education in the Department of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum at Appalachian State University. She has interests in collaborative and community-based research and writing. She is an author of the Graduate Humanities Program book project, I’m Afraid of that Water: A Collaborative Ethnography of a West Virginia Water Crisis, and other works on community-based and collaborative ethnography, including Doing Ethnography Today and Re-Imagining Contested Communities.
HUMN 605: Western Traditions and Contemporary Cultures (VIRTUAL) (Lassiter), Wednesdays, 7 – 9:50 PM
Using primary materials from different cultural periods, as well as contemporary critical analyses, this core course explores epistemological questions that underlie conflicts between cultures.
HUMN 650 – Special Topics – Independent Studies arranged between instructor and student (contact Director to arrange course)
For students who need to conduct independent research and/or reading in a specific topic in the humanities, the Program will offer independent studies in those topics as funds allow. Contact the Director for more information. Examples of Special Topics might include:
- Museum Studies
- Film Criticism
- Studies in Appalachian Music
- Studies in Poetry
- Language and Communication
HUMN 680 – Independent Research Symposium, Arranged (contact Director)
A pro-seminar required of all Humanities degree students who are beginning the thesis or final project. Arranged with the Program Director.
LITS 600: Selected Topics – We Are Appalachia: Publishing the Appalachia of Today (VIRTUAL) (Pleska), Mondays, 7 – 9:50 PM
In this seminar, students will read, discuss, and write about the issues of Appalachia today. In addition, students will craft a creative piece for the second volume of the anthology We Are Appalachia!, due to be released Spring 2026, along with learning behind the scenes mysteries of publishing.
- Cat Pleska holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from Goucher College. She is a 7th generation West Virginian and her memoir, Riding on Comets, was published in 2015 by WVU Press. She is a former book reviewer and radio essayist, and is currently working on a collection of travel/personal essays, The I’s Have It: Travels in Ireland and Iceland.
Summer 2025
All courses are in Summer B (May 19 – August 8)
CULS 600: SelTp: Aging in Appalachia, Mondays, 6 – 8:50 PM (VIRTUAL) (Howard)
Cross listed with PSY 480, PSY 499, and PSY 580.
This interdisciplinary, joint undergraduate/graduate survey course is a project of the Marshall University Center for Healthier Aging Initiatives in Appalachia (aka “Aging Center”), jointly taught by members of the Aging Center’s interdisciplinary faculty. It will present the process of aging from an interdisciplinary, biopsychosocial perspective. Information will be integrated and applied to rural communities and healthcare settings. Enrolled graduate students will conduct an integrated research and writing project.
- Graduate Humanities Program’s course section is facilitated by Lori Howard, Professor of Education and the Aging Center’s Co-Director.
CULS 612: Time & Place in Appalachia, Thursdays, 7 – 9:50 PM (VIRTUAL) (Lassiter)
This interdisciplinary course orients students to the importance of geography, topography, and geology to the history and development of the Appalachian region.
- Luke Eric Lassiter is director of the Graduate Humanities Program and professor of humanities and anthropology.
HUMN 600: Introduction to Graduate Study in the Humanities, Wednesdays, 7 – 9:50 PM (VIRTUAL) (Lassiter)
Interdisciplinary core course addresses questions/concepts central to the humanities. Texts from philosophy, history, literature, the arts and the sciences provide insights into selected historical periods.
HUMN 650 – Special Topics – Independent Studies arranged between instructor and student (contact Director to arrange course)
For students who need to conduct independent research and/or reading in a specific topic in the humanities, the Program will offer independent studies in those topics as funds allow. Contact the Director for more information. Examples of Special Topics might include:
- Museum Studies
- Film Criticism
- Studies in Appalachian Music
- Studies in Poetry
- Language and Communication
HUMN 680 – Independent Research Symposium, Arranged (contact Director)
A pro-seminar required of all Humanities degree students who are beginning the thesis or final project. Arranged with the Program Director.
LITS 600: Selected Topics – Appalachian Studies Research, Arranged (VIRTUAL) (contact Director)
For students enrolled in the Appalachian Studies Certificate who are working on research projects in the Appalachian region. Registration by permission only. Contact the Director.