Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities: Three Years to Understand How Western Culture Has Conceived the Human Being

19 october 2026

Domuni expands its academic offering with the launch of a new Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities. Designed as a progressive, multidisciplinary university programme, this new course invites students to explore a question that is as ancient as it is relevant today: what does it mean to be human?

From Antiquity to contemporary debates, the Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities invites students to explore the major stages in the development of Western thought. History, philosophy, literature, the arts, religious traditions, anthropology and ancient languages come together over the course of three years, enabling students to understand how societies have conceived the human being, their freedom, their dignity, their relationship with others and their place in the world.

Offered entirely through distance learning, the Bachelor’s Degree is open to holders of the French baccalauréat or an equivalent qualification. Each year carries 60 ECTS credits and can be completed over twelve months, with the flexibility to extend the period of study to up to twenty-four months.

A Programme Built Around a Fundamental Question: How Has Western Culture Conceived the Human Being?

The first year explores the origins of this question: the earliest city-states of the ancient Near East, Greek thought (reason, language, education and virtue), and the Roman conception of citizenship and law, in connection with the history of ancient art.

The second year examines how these legacies, together with that of Jerusalem, came together to form a civilisation: the medieval West, Latin philosophy from Augustine to Duns Scotus and Ockham, Christian anthropology, and the influence of Scripture on European iconography.

The third year explores modernity, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, including the Protestant Reformation and the thought of Descartes, Pascal and Hume, before addressing two approaches that challenge the centrality of classical humanism: Western esotericism and anthropology.

Throughout the programme, students develop a solid grounding in history, philosophy and the arts, alongside skills in reading and analysing foundational texts, formulating research questions and constructing written arguments in accordance with academic standards.

First Year: At the Sources of Western Culture

The first year takes students to the sources of the Western understanding of the human being, exploring a question that runs throughout the entire programme: what does it mean to be human? This question opens up a philosophical, historical and cultural journey that enables students to understand how Western culture has conceived humanity, human dignity, the individual's place in the city and humanity's relationship with the world.

The exploration begins with philosophy, through the study of the human being as one who knows, acts and loves, leading to the concept of the person and the question of human dignity. It continues with an exploration of the earliest city-states of the ancient Near East and an introduction to the sources on which historians of Antiquity rely.

Turning to Greece, the programme examines the legacy of Athens: the human being defined by reason and language, liberated from illusion through education and fulfilling their nature through virtue. The study ranges from the pre-Socratic philosophers to Plato and Aristotle, alongside an artistic tradition that celebrates the human figure.

The study of Rome focuses on the human being as citizen and on the role of law: the res publica, its institutions and magistracies, the transition from oral custom to the written law of the Twelve Tables, and the extension of citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Empire. The legacy of this civilisation remains visible in Roman cities and monuments. Alongside this historical exploration, the programme develops the methods of reading and analysing texts that are essential tools for the study of the humanities.

Second Year: Jerusalem and the Medieval West

The second year enables students to situate the emergence and flourishing of the medieval West within its historical context, from the barbarian kingdoms and the renovatio Carolingiana to the fall of Constantinople. This period provides the setting in which the legacies of Athens and Rome came together to form a civilisation.

The programme then explores the legacy of Jerusalem: the Christian understanding of the human being as created in the image of God, as a unity of body and soul, and as a unique person called to a destiny that does not end with death. Students also discover the philosophy of the Latin West from the sixth to the fifteenth century, from Augustine to Duns Scotus and Ockham, as an endeavour to reconcile faith and reason, two paths through which human beings attain truth.

The study of this period also leads students to interpret the influence of Scripture on European iconography, from the symbols found in the catacombs to icons and the cross, as visual expressions of the relationship between God and humanity. It thus enables them to understand how European humanistic culture represents a considered synthesis of the three legacies of Athens, Rome and Jerusalem.

This year also offers an opportunity to discover major works of European literature and to gain an introduction to ancient languages.

Third Year: From Humanism to Major Transformations

The third year of the Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities explores the transformations of European humanism studied in the second year—this synthesis of Athens, Rome and Jerusalem—as well as the challenges and criticisms it has encountered. The programme spans the three centuries of the early modern period: the Renaissance and Humanism place the human being and reason at the centre of intellectual concerns, leading up to the Enlightenment, while the Protestant Reformation makes individual conscience the decisive locus of the relationship with God.

The study continues with Descartes’ philosophical move, which shifts the question of the human being towards the thinking subject; Pascal’s response, which refuses to reduce the human being to this ego; and Hume’s position, according to which every human idea derives from experience.

Finally, two perspectives offer ways of moving beyond the centrality of classical humanism: Western esotericism, studied as a subject of historical inquiry, and anthropology, which makes the human being, their culture and their religion the objects of scientific study, engages with the debate on cultural relativism and re-examines the secularisation thesis. By the end of the programme, students will be able to formulate their own answer to the question posed in the first year: how has Western culture constructed its understanding of the human being?

A Multidisciplinary Programme That Also Develops Critical Thinking

The originality of this new Bachelor’s Degree lies both in the diversity of the disciplines studied and in the way they are brought together.

History, philosophy, the arts, religious traditions, literature, anthropology and ancient languages provide the different perspectives needed to understand a single reality: the human being in their history and culture.

The programme also places considerable emphasis on methodology. Reading a text, identifying a thesis, formulating a research question, constructing an argument and comparing sources are skills that students progressively develop throughout their studies. The courses are complemented by thematic seminars.

The aim is therefore to provide students not only with knowledge, but also with a genuine capacity for critical reflection, analysis and contextualisation.

A New Bachelor’s Degree Designed for Distance Learning

This new Bachelor’s Degree draws fully on Domuni’s experience in university-level distance education.

All three years are offered entirely online through asynchronous distance learning on the MyDomuni platform. Students can access learning resources at any time, including written course materials, supplementary documents, videos where provided as part of the courses, interactive activities and discussion forums. Each student is also supported throughout their studies and academic work by an academic adviser.

This organisation combines academic rigour with flexibility. Students can enrol at any time of the year, and each year of the Bachelor’s Degree can be completed over twelve months, with the option of extending the period of study to up to twenty-four months.

The Humanities as a Way of Understanding Today's World

With the launch of this new Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities, Domuni offers a programme that embraces depth of thought and a long-term perspective.

In a world marked by rapid technological, cultural and social transformations, returning to the fundamental questions that run throughout human history may be more necessary than ever. What is a person? What is freedom? How is a society formed? What place should be given to reason, faith and culture? How can we understand the different ways in which human beings and societies represent themselves?

The Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities invites students to take these questions seriously by providing them with the historical, philosophical and cultural tools needed to explore them in depth.

With this new programme, Domuni opens up a three-year course of study devoted to understanding the human being, their works and their culture: a journey of learning, analysis and contextualisation, and, above all, of continuing to ask the fundamental questions.

Applications are open throughout the year. To apply, please complete the admission form.