Being Human: Exploring Our Boundaries in Literature & Film

Description from DukeHub

What does it mean to be human? How does imaginative work explore the boundaries of being human? This course investigates these questions in three units: animals, dehumanization, and the uncanny valley. In unit 1 we read works that interrogate the boundary between humans and other animals. How do we conceptualize what defines us and how do creative works interrogate the validity of these human concepts by exploring other animals' perspectives? In unit 2, we continue this exploration, focusing only on human-human interactions, especially in terms of migration, concentration camps, and colonialism. In unit 3, we try to understand who is human (not robot) in diverse media. Authors include Kafka, Coetzee, Spiegelman, Primo Levi, Scego, Maaza Mengiste, Asimov, Collodi, and Philip K. Dick.

Skills

• writingdepartment: ENGLISH

AI-resilient: 0 of 5 0/5

• No: Physical, lab or field work
• No: Live work with people
• No: Judgment someone is accountable for
• No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
• No: Small, in-person format

The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works

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• Recognition and Enchantment: The Odyssey and Its After Lives ENGLISH 150CC

All ENGLISH courses · All of Undergraduate