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HNRS HU/SS 2120 Intellectual Traditions — Great Ideas of the West in the Modern Era
SYLLABUS

This reading schedule (as well as the section titles) is meant to be suggestive only. In the event we find that we need to spend more time on a text/section than originally allocated (or allow more time for oral reports), we can adjust our syllabus accordingly. You should also know that one of the signs of a good class discussion is that we will not have time to address all the reading that has been assigned for a certain day. Commonly, I will announce at the end of each class the assignment for the next session.



What you should know up front:

  • Please be aware that our two textbooks are encyclopedic in reach; we will only be a able to dip into them, really.  The rest of the discovery is up to you.
  • To be honest in Honors: E. L. Doctorow's Homer & Langley (2009) is not centrally connected to the themes and ideas informing our class. Nevertheless, in view of his visit to our campus, we have decided to include his most current novel as well (and will have to cut down our other readings accordingly).
      
Week 1–2 Getting Up to Speed: The Beginnings of Western Civilization (in 5,000 words or less)
  • The Dual Legacy of the Greek World, Tarnas 69-72
  • The Emergence of Christianity 89-93
  • A Summing Up 165-70
  • The Rebirth of Classical Humanism 209-19
  • Film recommendations:
  • — The World: Greece and Rome
  • — Jean-Jacques Annaud, The Name of the Rose (1986)
Week 2–3The Da Vinci Code: Western Modernity & Modernism
  • The Renaissance 223-32
  • Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Dude from Stratford
  • Film recommendations:
  • — The Artist — Part of Da Vinci & Mysteries of the Renaissance
  • — Florence: Birthplace of the Renaissance
  • — Landmarks of Western Art: The Renaissance (2)
  • Michelangelo ____________________________________________________
  • Leonardo _____________________________________________________
Week 3–5 Knocking at the Gates of the Modern: The Reformation and the Scientific Revolution
  • The Reformation 233-47
  • Film recommendations:
  • — The Dissenter — Part of Mysteries of the Renaissance
  • — Reformation: Luther and the Protestant Revolt
  • — Martin Luther ____________________________________________________
  • — Henry VIII ____________________________________________________

*** Week 4, Notebook # 1 due ***
Excursus:
Week 4–5		 Clutter and Consumption—E. L. Doctorow's Homer & Langley, campus visit 21-23 September
(We will shorten our readings on Knocking at the Gates accordingly, and certainly other sections as well)
  • The Scientific Revolution  248-71
  • Foundation of the Modern World View 282-290
  • The Triumph of Secularism 298-308
  • Film recommendations:
  • — The Scientist  -- Part of Mysteries of the Renaissance
  • — Galileo Galilei ______________________________________________________
  • — Isaac Newton ______________________________________________________
Week 5–8 The Modern Triumvirate, or, The Usual Suspects
  • The Human from Copernicus to Freud 326-32
  • Karl Marx--Capitalizing on the Culture of Cash readings of Karl Marx TBA
  • Charles Darwin's Heart of Darkness, Watson, ch. 3 readings of Charles Darwin TBA
  • Knowledge and the Unconscious, 422-28
  • Charles Darwin _______________________________________________________
  • Sigmund Freud _______________________________________________________

*** Week 8, Notebook # 2 due ***
Week 8–10 Part II of the Supermarket of Ideas: Freud To Wittgenstein
  • Disturbing the Peace, Watson, chapter 1
  • Les Demoiselles de Modernisme, ch. 4
  • E = mc2, ch.6
  • Counter-Attack, ch. 9
  • Pablo Picasso ________________________________________________________
  • Albert Einstein ________________________________________________________
  • The Pragmatic Mind of America, ch. 5 ______________________________________
W 10–13From O to O: Oswald Spengler to George Orwell
  • The Golden Age of Physics, ch. 15
  • Civilization and Their Discontents, ch. 16
  • Michael Frayn, Copenhagen, special film screening, time permitting
  • Student project presentations
  • The Acquisitive Wasteland, ch. 11 __________________________________________ 
  • Cold Comfort, ch. 18 ____________________________________________________
  • Colossus, ch. 20 ________________________________________________________

*** Week 12, Notebook # 3 due ***
Week 13–15 Sartre to the Sea of Tranquility
  • Daughters and Lovers, ch. 24
  • Cracks in the Canon, ch. 26
  • Mind minus Metaphysics, ch. 28
  • Heaven and Earth, ch. 32
  • Frantz Fanon _____________________________________________________________
  • [                  ] ___________________________________________________________

Selective = Eclectic Web Sources

In synch with the ethos of the Web, the list below is always in the making, and I will add to it when appropriate. Please check it frequently.  As well, please let us know if you've made new discoveries as you make your excursions into cyberia. Note as well that, while many web sites may be informative and useful, they are typically no substitute for the more sustained scholarly discussion of a book.
As your time and interest permit, please look around in these useful companion sites: European Studies: From Fourier to Futurism

Videos/DVDs in Stewart Library

  • The World: Greece and Rome (5 of ??), D23.W67 1986
  • Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, N 6915.M37 1990
  • The Life of Leonardo da Vinci, NC623.L5L54 2003
  • Da Vinci & Mysteries of the Renaissance CB361.D38 2005 (6)
  • Landmarks of Western Art (1-6), N 5300 .L355 1999
  • Renaissance Art and Music, NX 450.5.R655 1986
  • Florence: Birthplace of the Renaissance, N 6921. F7 1993
  • Religion: A World History--Reformation, BR 325. R34 1998
  • Music in Time: Luther and the Reformation (5), ML 160. M872 1990
  • Queen Victoria's Empire, DA 550 .Q43  2001
  • "Topsy": William Morris, NK 1535.M67 T66 2000
  • Equivogue 1900 (Art Nouveau), N 6465 .A7 A78 Video
  • Art Deco/Art Moderne, N 6494. A7 A64 1998
  • The Postimpressionists.  Seurat, ND 553 .S5 S48 1999
  • The Postimpressionists. Cezanne, ND 553 .C33 P6 2000
  • Paris Dances Diaghilev, GV 1790. A1P3 1992
  • Nijinsky, PN 1997, N54P3
  • Picasso, Portrait of an Artist, N 6853 .P52 1986
  • 13 Days in the Life of Picasso, ND 553.P5 T45 2000
  • Pablo Picasso's Guernica, ND 553. P5 .A67 1998
  • 20th-Century Artistic Revolutions, NX 456 .T85 1986
  • Paris Was A Woman, DC 752.R52P3 1996
  • Sigmund Freud: Analysis of a Mind BF 109.F74 S53 1996
  • Richard Strauss ML410 .S93 R53 1996
  • Germany Dada NX 550. G4
  • Wittgenstein B3376.W564W564
  • Expo--Magic of the White City T500.B1E97 2005
  • The World's Greatest Fair T860.B1W93 2004

A concluding note: The only dumb question is the one you don't ask. My door is always open, and if it is not open, please knock; I will answer if I am there. Please don't hesitate to stop by. ))

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