Humanities
Course: Humanities
Institute: IIIT Pune — F.Y. B.Tech Semester II (AY 2025-2026)
Credits: 2 (2L)
Examination: Theory — 100 Marks
This page organizes Unit-wise comprehensive notes covering the full Humanities syllabus. The course explores the meaning and value of the humanities, humanism’s historical origins, Renaissance culture, Machiavelli’s political realism, the language and structure of literature, and major literary works from Homer to Shakespeare.
Unit-wise Notes
Unit I — Humanities: Misconceptions, Humanity, Humanism & Culture
Introduction to Humanities; What are the Humanities?; Origin of Studies in Humanities (Greek paideia, Cicero’s humanitas); Foundation of Humanities (studia humanitatis); Contemporary Conceptions; Misconceptions about Humanities; Skills Development; Humanities vs Humanity; Humanism — Origin, Meaning & Significance; Basic Principles & Attitudes (Classicism, Realism, Idealism); Platonic Academy of Florence; Machiavelli’s Realism & The Prince; Renaissance Humanism; Body Language & Culture.
Unit II — On the Language of Literature
Literary Language as Unique Experimentation; Questions Arising Through Literary Language; Views of Aristotle, Wordsworth, Shelley & Shklovsky; Divisions of Language — Segmental, Supra-Segmental & Syntactic Levels; Themes, Motifs & Interpretations; The Message of a Literary Work; Effects & Mediums of Messages (Implication, Parallelism, Recurrence, Symbol, Presupposition, Title); Reading Literature Critically (Substance, Mode, Form); Key Characteristics in Reading Literature; Abilities Needed (Empathy, Perception of Meaning, Artistic Unity); Citation & its Significance; Homer’s Iliad; William Shakespeare.