Doctoral Humanities Seminar
All doctoral students complete three hours of Doctoral Humanities Seminar. These are year-long, 1-credit courses that address the broad themes of the humanities and draw upon the breadth of the Western tradition.
The purpose of these seminars is to emphasize to students the place of the study of politics within the humanities and liberal arts as a whole, and to help prepare them for future employment in teaching positions which will often be found at liberal arts institutions. The texts studied will be drawn from the great books of the Western canon. The seminar meets five times per academic year and each session is guided by a different Hillsdale College faculty member or an outside scholar.
The disciplines drawn from normally include, but are not limited to: Classics, English, History, Philosophy, and Politics. Sessions are normally scheduled for three hours in the evening and consist of a public lecture followed by a private seminar led by the faculty member in which questions and discussions occur among the enrolled doctoral students.
Students write a paper for each year of the seminar, based upon a particular session from that year, under the direction of the faculty member who conducted the session. Students present their papers, often in a panel format. Session themes and faculty are organized by the Graduate Dean.