Lawler, Aaron, PhD

Dr. Aaron Lawler is an assistant professor of humanities at Waubonsee Community College, and has had nearly 20 years of experience as an educator. He earned his doctorate from Concordia University, two master's degrees from North Central College and Concordia University, respectively, and a bachelor's degree from North Central College. He serves on two elected boards: The Kaneland District 302 School Board, and the WTTW Channel 11 Community Board. He is a researcher at Chicago's Field Museum, and a lifelong member of the National Geographic Society. He has published two peer-reviewed articles, a young adult novel, and is a classically trained painter. He was recently named Faculty of the Year at Waubonsee Community College, earned the Dale P. Parnell Faculty Distinction Recognition Award and the NISOD Excellence Award, and was nominated for Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Member by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association.

PhD Candidate - Educational Philosophy, Concordia University - River Forest, IL
Dissertation: The Cult of Ignorance: A Visual Inquiry into Anti-intellectualism in American Culture

MEd - Curriculum and Instruction, Concordia University - River Forest, IL
Focus: eLearning and Technology

MA - Liberals Studies, North Central College - Naperville, IL
Focus: Interdisciplinary Humanities

BA - Arts and Education, North Central College - Naperville, IL
Double Major: Illustration and K-12 Education

Humanities Program 
The study of humanities opens the door to understanding and appreciating environmental, social, cultural, political and economic relations. By studying philosophy, history, religion, culture, social sciences and the arts, students and instructors explore what it means to be human in an interactive, collaborative environment that promotes diversity and expression. Only by asking questions, thinking creatively, critically analyzing information, and solving problems through innovation will we develop multifaceted solutions for different situations.

HUM 101: Survey of the Humanities - IAI: HF 900
This is a broad course which introduces students to a view of their inherited culture through the examination of literature, art, music, architecture, philosophy, drama, film, and religion. The emphasis is twofold: on cultural history and on the present in a civilized society. Students will critique and assess the meaning, purpose or function of major artworks. Materials are organized in terms of issues and ideas.

HUM 102: The Global Village - IAI: HF 904N
This general humanities course introduces the student to the literature, art, music, religion, and film of several continents of the world. The emphasis is on a world-wide understanding of the humanities through arts, philosophies or religions among different Western and non-Western traditions. Methods for recording the human experience including humanistic, qualitative, theoretical, or philosophical methods as well as creative, historical, or cultural expressions that examine the uniqueness of societies are also discussed.

HUM 112: Greek and Roman Mythology - IAI: H9 901
In this introductory course, students will explore the significant myths of Greece and Rome through the study of legendary narratives, themes, archetypal figures/situations, symbolism, and figurative language. These myths and their main ideas will be studied in relation to modern culture and as a source of universal themes and values expressed through the various disciplines within the humanities.

HUM 108: World Mythology - IAI: H9 901
This course is a comparative introduction to mythology throughout the world, with a specific emphasis on non-Classical mythology. The nature of mythology will be examined through the study of themes in folklore, myth, and legendary narratives as well as the representation of those themes through the humanities. There is also a focus on archetypal figures/situations, symbolism, and figurative language found in creation stories, heroic legends and/or other traditional narratives.

HUM 201: Modern Culture and the Arts - IAI: HF 903
This course provides experiences in modern, post-modern and contemporary art forms in literature, music, and graphics and discusses the historical, social and cultural forces influencing these arts in the 20th and 21st centuries. An investigation of the values of a culture inundated by changing technology is also included at both a societal and personal level. Artworks are examined through changes of philosophies, beliefs, social, cultural and art movements.

HUM 202: Current Trends in Digital Humanities - IAI: H9 900
This course explores current and future media technologies used to design new content in the arts and humanities. Digital humanities are emphasized in the private and public sectors using sociological, psychological and cultural research. The emphasis is on key digital humanities concepts such as: video game design, data/information visualization, user interaction, gamification, and mobile media in terms of usability, utility and desirability. Using a game-based learning model, the coursework is interdisciplinary, integrating the sciences, technology, engineering, education, training, marketing, and healthcare as they intersect with the arts.

Students for a Diverse Society
We believe that a school must make a major commitment to diversity and has a duty to promote diversity in ways that are authentic, and those ways must be perceived, as such by the student body. Students for a Diverse Society is a place for students to share and experience cultures from around the world through food, stories, customs, and traditions. We hold multicultural celebrations and hope to help increase students' cultural capital.

Phi Theta Kappa
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, also ΦΘΚ or sometimes PTK, is the international honor society of two-year colleges and academic programs, specifically community colleges. Phi Theta Kappa is the world's largest and most prestigious honor society for two-year college students.

Alpha Sigma Lambda
Alpha Sigma Lambda, also AΣΛ or sometimes ASL, is an honor society which celebrates the scholarship and leadership of adult students. Alpha Sigma Lambda is the oldest and largest national honor society for Non-traditional students who achieve and maintain outstanding scholastic standards.