classroom photo of instructor holding a live owl, students taking pictures

Humanities, Social Science, Science, General Education, InterArts

Humanities + Sciences

The Division of Humanities and Sciences (HS) provides the keystone of a Cornish College of the Arts education. Here, students from all artistic disciplines come together to engage in critical thinking and problem-solving, and to build skills in communication and collaboration that will support their lives as Artists, Citizens, and Innovators now and for years to come.

Students select from a rich array of courses in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences that are designed to expand their scope of knowledge, inform their artistic practice, and develop their understanding of context and culture. Through active exchange of ideas, lively discussion, and intellectual challenge, Cornish students cultivate an understanding of the world as it is and gather the tools to shape it into the world they want it to be.

Humanities and Sciences courses are taught by a vibrant community of accomplished writers, artists, researchers, and scholars, each of whom brings to their teaching deep knowledge and experience in their specific field as well as a profound commitment to the education of artists.

Students sitting on the large Cornish letters posted outside the Commons residency building

Humanities and Sciences for First-Year Students

Writing and Analysis introduces first-year students to the fundamental skills of writing, close reading, analytical thinking, research, and more. This two-semester course offers all students the basic tools to write effectively and to make use of College resources such as the Library and Writing Center.

InterArts at Cornish

The Division of Humanities and Sciences houses the college’s Interarts offerings that bring students together from across the disciplines to engage in discussions of artistic practice and making in a setting outside of their major courses.

In the first semester at Cornish, all students take IA 150 The Emerging Artist. Taught by faculty from all areas of study, The Emerging Artist is an interdisciplinary first year workshop creating a platform for ideas that students will carry with them throughout their studies at Cornish. Through making, discussion, field trips, and visits from working artists, this course examines the role of the artist in society, the legacy of the arts at Cornish and in Seattle, the nature of artistic practice, and how these inform an emerging sense of artistic identity.

Humanities and Sciences for Upper-Division Students

In the second, third, and fourth years at Cornish, students are provided with rich opportunities to broaden and deepen their intellectual exploration through courses in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. In these courses, students expand their knowledge and are challenged to think creatively, critically, and analytically. These HS courses are designed to build on the fundamental skills students have learned in the first year and to provide students with content that enriches, fuels, and grounds their artistic practice.

Our writing program continues in the upper division, where students are required to complete one course that is designated as “writing intensive.” These courses incorporate formal and informal writing into broader pedagogical goals and engage students in learning both the subject matter of the course and discipline-specific ways of thinking and communicating. The Writing Intensive requirement can be met in HS or in-major courses.