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Religious, historical, scientific, and political advances from 1900 to the present — communism, free enterprise, and the moral arguments behind both.
HUM 302 closes ACU's four-part humanities sequence by working through the religious, historical, scientific, and political advances from 1900 to the present. Students read The Communist Manifesto and assess the utopian visions of society expressed in Soviet communism, communist China, and the Third Reich.
The course explores Soviet communism in depth through Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago and gives students the opportunity to develop a moral argument — not just an economic one — for free enterprise. Throughout the semester, students wrestle with competing accounts of human nature and the consequences each account has produced. Paired with BIB 322 The King and His Kingdom in the degree pathway.
Offered 2025-2026: Summer 2 · 2026-2027: Fall 2 · 2026-2027: Spring Traditional.
Arturo Gastelum
2025-2026: Summer 2
Kelly Burton
2026-2027: Fall 2
Kristen Rutter
2025-2026: Summer 2
Matthew Diaz
2026-2027: Spring Traditional
Examine 20th-Century Ideologies
Engage The Communist Manifesto and assess the utopian visions of Soviet communism, communist China, and the Third Reich.
Read Solzhenitsyn
Work through The Gulag Archipelago as a window into Soviet communism's lived reality.
Develop a Moral Argument for Free Enterprise
Build a moral case — not just an economic one — for free-market institutions.
Trace Scientific and Political Change
Examine the major scientific and political shifts of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Engage Competing Views of Human Nature
Compare the accounts of human nature that have shaped contemporary ideologies.
A Biblical Worldview treats the 20th century's competing ideologies as deeply moral questions, not just policy ones. HUM 302 takes that seriously, asking students to evaluate utopian visions against what they actually produced — and to articulate the moral foundations of the institutions they support.
HUM 302 closes ACU's four-part humanities sequence with the modern world. Explore the programs that include it.
