Core Humanities

Learn to think and work across disciplines. Build the skills necessary to thrive in a fast-changing world. Engage in cross training for your brain.

Core Humanities is an award-winning interdisciplinary program that forms the heart of the core curriculum at the University of Nevada, Reno. Core Humanities courses are unique and interdisciplinary in nature. They examine the history, philosophy, cultural values, political systems, literature and artistic works that have shaped societies throughout the world from ancient times to the present. In addition, Core Humanities partners with Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities to promote collaboration among humanities fields and to continually broaden perspectives.

Who we are

Central A core part of University of Nevada, Reno education, an engaging introduction to debates about what it means to be human and how to achieve justice

Panoramic view of campus from the Pennington building during summer

Deep Taught by world-class instructors through immersion in scholarship and firsthand accounts

Front of Pennington Achievement Center building during summer

Broad Combining perspectives from art history, English, history, philosophy, political science and world languages and literatures

Useful Students gain cultural capital and acquire skills for their classes, careers and life

Front of Knowledge Center building in the evening

Core Humanities lecture series

Core Humanities Speaker Series

The Core Humanities Speakers Series brings together scholars from across the country to share their research and expertise with Core Humanities students as well as members of the broader University of Nevada, Reno community. Each event focuses on a single theme, which connects to a specific Core Humanities course. These connections ensure that the event will be a useful resource for Core Humanities students – both during this semester and in future – while simultaneously bringing in new voices and ideas to the larger university community.

Thought on Tap

The Core Humanities program at the University of Nevada, Reno has hosted many successful seasons of "Thought on Tap" — a public engagement series that brings together diverse faculty, staff, students and community members for important conversations around timely topics.

"Thought on Tap" is held on the second Thursday of every month during the semester at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Each year is based on a different theme. The theme for 2021 is "Building Legacies of …"

For more information, visit Thought on Tap.