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Western Experiences in the Era of Modernity
HNRS 136
Cristofer Scarboro
Spring, 2013
MWF 10:00 HM 511 (Section H)
MWF 11:00 HM 511 (Section H1)
Office: Hafey-Marian 314
Office Hours: MWF 2:00-3:00; TTH 10:00-12:00
E-mail:
cristoferscarboro@kings.edu
Phone: (570) 208-5900 ext. 5637
Moodle:
http://kings.mrooms2.net/course/view.php?id=804#section-0
Webpage: staff.kings.edu/cristoferscarboro |
I. Introduction:
This course will survey Western Civilizations since the three great
modern revolutions--the Scientific, Industrial and French--with an emphasis on
the social and cultural forces and ideas that have shaped Western societies. In
coordination with other honors classes on Art, Literature, Philosophy and
Theology, this class will emphasize the political, social cultural and economic
perils and possibilities encountered by the “Western World” since the 17th
century. Subjects
discussed in the class will include such topics as, the
invention of the "West" and "Western Civilization;" the revolutionary
transformation of daily life by new science and technologies; visions of a
global economic interdependence arising out of rapid industrialization and
urbanization; new understandings of the world created and mirrored by
revolutions in art and literature; the rise of a mass consumer culture; socialism and
socialist humanism; feminism; colonialism, decolonialization and the collapse of
European Empires; evolutions in understandings of sex and leisure; the creation
and disintegration of the Soviet Union and socialist regimes in Eastern Europe; conflicts among evolving, ascendant
and declining social classes and interest groups; contestation over cultural
forms; liberal democracy and its discontents.
II. Purpose:
Civilization courses are designed to explore in some depth the
complex dimensions of our world and the cumulative experience of the past, to
provide an understanding of how yesterday influences today and the outlook for
tomorrow. We study the major developments of Western peoples because most
of the problems and institutions of contemporary society have distinguishable
roots in the historical past. Moreover, because of the physical and
material expansion of the West in the modern period, many of these forms have,
for good or ill, become global in nature. Understanding and critiquing the
place of western civilization is a fundamental to making sense of the world
today.
Writing and reading history are political acts that are about
framing the world in a particular way. How to come to terms with history,
how to glean its role in shaping us as human beings, are fundamental questions
that strike at the heart of our very notion of ourselves as individuals.
How we understand history is, at its root, an act of self-definition. As
such, History is fundamental to liberal arts education. The discipline of
history gives us better understanding of ourselves and culture, of the cultures
and practices of others while honing academic skills and the ability to think
critically. History resides in the knotty interplay of countless cultural
forces—the charge of this class is to enable our students to understand and
convey the complexity of historical events clearly. While we understand that not
all of our students will become academic historians or even history majors, the
skills they develop and hone in our history courses: to analyze insightfully,
think critically, and express ideas clearly and persuasively, will serve them
well in any field that they choose to enter.
III. Course Objectives:
Objectives for the student:
·
To understand history as a series of competing and reinforcing
historiograhical narratives.
·
To understand and participate in the production of historical
narratives and to evaluate competing historical and historiographical claims.
·
To develop a familiarity with the use of historical sources (both
primary and secondary).
·
To develop critical reading skills through demonstrated through
class participation, written assignments and group presentations.
Goals for the student:
·
To improve understanding of the major events which have influenced
the modern world.
·
To understand the influence of the past on contemporary events and
problems, or, in other words, to develop Historical Mindedness.
·
To be an intelligent consumer and evaluator of information about
events in the world.
General Learning Outcomes for the student:
·
To manage information, which involves sorting data, ranking data
for significance, synthesizing facts, concepts and principles.
·
To understand and use organizing principles or key concepts against
which miscellaneous data can be evaluated.
·
To differentiate between facts, opinions and inferences.
·
To frame questions so as to more clearly clarify a problem, topic
or issue.
·
To compare and contrast the relative merits of opposing arguments
and interpretations, moving between the main points of each position.
·
To organize your thoughts and communicate them clearly and
concisely in written form.
·
To obtain practice in selecting and presenting information and
arguments within a restricted environment, especially the limitations of time in
exams.
IV. General Course Requirements:
A. Course Readings:
Alloula,
Malek, The Colonial Harem, University of Minnesota Press, 1986.
Arendt,
Hannah, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil,
Penguin Classics, 2006
Freud,
Sigmund, Civilization and its Discontents, W. W. Norton, 2005
Robb,
Graham, The Discovery of France A
Historical Geography, Norton, 2008.
B. Course Films:
The films for the course are an intrinsic part of the course--they
will be the centerpiece of class discussion on the week they are shown, and
viewing them is a requirement for the course. The films will be
available on reserve at the King's College Library (please
remember that there are roughly 20 people taking this class so plan
accordingly). A subscription to Netflix <<www.netflix.com>>
(shared or otherwise) is an inexpensive way to watch the films on your own
time.
Chaplin, Charlie, Modern Times, 1936
Kusturica, Emir, Underground, 1995
C. Class Participation:
King’s College regards student participation in class as essential
to the learning process. Therefore, regular class attendance is required
of all students. After three unexcused absences your class participation
grade will drop a letter grade (from A to B). Each subsequent absence will
result in another letter grade deduction. Please see the King’s
College Student Handbook for policies regarding excusing
absences and campus attendance policies.
As well as providing you with the methodological and analytical
tools for engaging in historical thinking, this class will ask you to actively
take part in a larger conversation of historical issues within the class.
I expect this class to allow us to delve deeply into the historical topics of
each week’s readings. To that end you need to make sure that you arrive to
class on time ready to discuss the weekly readings, having carefully read and
thought over the material. You must take an active role in the class
discussions. Thus a portion of your grade will depend on your in-class
performance and presence.
Your class participation component of your final grade will be
assessed on several criteria. You will be responsible for leading class
discussion twice during this semester. This will entail reading the
assigned text, song collection or film closely, arranging a list of topics and
themes to discuss in class and preparing a series of questions to discuss during
class. You will e-mail a list of 8-10 questions to me and your classmates
no later than 5:00 the evening before class so that we will have time to reflect
on them and prepare responses.
In a class of this nature it goes without saying that a classroom
environment in which everyone feels comfortable is essential. You should
treat your fellow classmates with respect, listen carefully to their comments
and respond to them in a polite manner.
Students are responsible for making up any work they miss while
absent from class. Work missed should be turned in the day you return from
an excused absence (unless otherwise agreed to). Late work due to an
unexcused absence will be penalized a 1/3 a grade (from A to A-) for each day
late.
D. Written Assignments:
The primary written assignment in this class is a 10-12 paper that
incorporates both primary and secondary sources. Much of this work will be
done collaboratively within a group. On the first day of class you will chose
three other people with whom you will be working closely together both in
researching your paper and in preparing and presenting your final group project.
Each of your individual papers will be on the same general topic. Your
individual papers will all contribute to the final project so you should be sure
to closely collaborate with your peers. Your paper will be written in several
steps much of it collaboratively:
1)
On Monday, January 28th your group will meet with me to
discuss topics for your individual papers and joint final project.
2)
On Friday, February 22nd you will turn in a group
bibliography of secondary sources. This will consist of a minimum of 30 sources
and be the basis of your first draft of the paper your historiographical essay.
3)
Your historiographical essay is due on Friday, March 27th. This
essay (which will be incorporated into your final paper) will synthesize the
historical scholarship on your topic against which you will situate your own
readings of your primary sources. This essay will need to be a minimum of 5
pages. Besides a hard copy for me turned in in class, you will need to e-mail
copies to each member of your group.
4)
On Monday, April 8th your group will turn in a group
bibliography of primary sources. This will consist of a minimum of 20 sources
and be the basis of the second draft of the paper.
5)
On Friday, April 19th you will turn in your second rough
draft of your paper which will focus on interpreting and integrating primary
sources within the framework of your historiographical understanding.
It should include revisions to your first draft and be at least 8-10
pages. Besides a hard copy for me turned in in class, you will need to e-mail
copies to each member of your group.
6)
Your final paper of 10-12 pages is due the last day of class
Wednesday, May 1st.
E. Final Group Presentations
Each group will be responsible for a final presentation during the
last weeks of the semester. These presentations should present the findings of
the group in an integrated and coherent manner and present a clear thesis
supported by collected evidence (both primary and secondary sources). Your
project will be allotted for 20-25 minutes with a question and answer session to
follow. You project should be multi-media and can include power-point
images, music and video clips.
You will also be responsible for grading your group mates’
performance during your work together this semester. Ten percent of your final
grade will consist of your group mates’ assessment of your work.
F. Exams:
There will be two examinations in this class, a midterm due on
March 15th and a final given during finals week. Both exams
will be taken on the course moodle site. The exams will consist of three
parts: 1) identifications—these terms will be taken from the list of key terms
accompanying the outline for each day; 2) essay questions—these questions will
be assigned randomly from the questions assigned to each class meeting on the
syllabus; 3) source interpretation—you will be asked to interpret (place in time
and assign a historical meaning to) a source (written or visual) that we have
discussed in class.
You may take a missed exam only at the discretion of the
instructor.
G. Grading:
Your final grade will be based on the following percentages
100-95 |
A |
94-92 |
A- |
91-85 |
B+ |
88-85 |
B |
84-83 |
B- |
82-80 |
C+ |
79-77 |
C |
78-75 |
C- |
74-70 |
D |
69< |
F |
Your grade distribution for assignments is as follows:
Group Annotated Bibliography (Primary) |
5% |
Group Annotated Bibliography (Secondary) |
5% |
Group Presentation |
10% |
Group Grade |
5% |
Rough Draft (Historiography) |
5% |
Rough Draft (Synthesis) |
5% |
Final Paper |
15% |
Midterm Exam |
15% |
Final Exam |
15% |
Class Participation |
20% |
H. Academic Integrity:
The Department of History adheres to guidelines on academic
integrity outlined in the Student Conduct Code in the Student Handbook.
Cheating and plagiarism will be penalized in accord with the penalties
and procedures indicated in that source. All students are responsible for
familiarizing themselves with the definition of these infractions of academic
honesty. Please take a moment to
familiarize yourself with the History Department’s plagiarism policy posted
below:
http://departments.kings.edu/history/honesty.html
I. Disabilities:
King’s College and this instructor will make every effort to
accommodate students with a bona-fide disability that impacts on their ability
to learn the course material. Please meet with me privately so that
appropriate arrangements can be made to help in the learning process.
IV. Course Schedule:
I. The Birth of the Modern
Introduction:
Monday, January 14th
What is the “West”? What is “Civilization”? What’s the Point?
Wednesday, January 16th
Question: What is "the West"? What is "civilization"?
What is the point?
**Pavlac, Epilogue, 389-387
The Political, Social and Cultural World of the 18th Century:
Absolutism and Enlightenment
Friday, January 18th
Question: How was Absolutism an answer to the chaos of the
European 16th Century? How did it lead to the development of the European
state system? How did it seek to arrange the word around it? How did
the Enlightenment challenge traditional societal organization? How did it
change the way in which people understood their place in the world?
**Pavlac, Chapter 9, 163-198
**Reading: Immanuel Kant, What is Enlightenment?, 1784 <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~mgamer/Etexts/kant.html>
Discipline and Punish
Monday, January 21st
Question: How does Michel Foucault understand the process of
modernization?
**Reading: Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish, 1976
Part I. "Torture: the Body Condemned" <http://foucault.info/documents/disciplineAndPunish/foucault.disciplineAndPunish.torture.en.html>
Part III. "Panopticism" <http://staff.kings.edu/cristoferscarboro/Panopticism.htm>
Birth of the Modern, Part I: the Scientific Revolution
Wednesday, January 23rd
Question: How does the scientific revolution presage the
arrival of the modern world? How does it transform our understanding of
knowledge and authority? Understandings of time and space?
**Pavlac, Chapter 10, 199-236
**Reading: The Crime of Galileo: Indictment and Abjuration of 1633
<http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1630galileo.html>
Birth of the Modern, Part II: the French Revolution and the Birth
of the Nation
Friday, January 25th
Question: Whose Revolution was the French Revolution? What
were its causes and effects? What role did new social classes have to play
in its development? How did they each seek to organize newly revolutionary
France? What role did nationalism play?
**Reading: Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, 1789 <http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/rightsof.htm>
**Reading: Johann Gottfried von Herder, Materials for the
Philosophy of the History of Mankind (excerpts), 1784 <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1784herder-mankind.html>
No Class: Group Meetings in My Office
Monday, January 28th
Birth of the Modern, Part III: the Industrial Revolution
Wednesday, January 30th
Question: Whose revolution was the Industrial Revolution? How
did the Industrial Revolution remake European Society? How did it change
the place of Europe in the World?
**Pavlac, Chapter 11, 237-266
**Reading: Engles, Conditions of the Working Class in England
(excerpts) <http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1844engels.asp.>
Birth of the Modern, Part IV: Colonialism
Friday, February 1st
Question: What are the motivations for European colonialism?
How does colonialism as an ideology seek to reorder the world? What
ideological worldviews does it require and create?
**Pavlac, Chapter 12, 267-296
Discussion: Colonial Harems
Monday, February 4th
Question: How does Alloula understand the process of colonialism?
**Reading: Alloula, Colonial
Harem
~Discussant(s):
The Making of the Western Middle Class and the Marxist Critique
Wednesday, February 6th
Question: How did the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat seek to
reorganize the world around them in the 19th Century? How did
they seek to define and organize social class? What were the results of
these processes?
**Reading: Freidrich Engels, Conditions of the Working Class in
England, 1844 (excerpts) <http://www.cis.vt.edu/modernworld/d/Engels.html>
Discussion: From Europe, to Europe
Friday, February 8th
How does Konstantinov understand western civilization?
Where does Bulgaria fit in?
Readings: Konstantinov, Bai
Ganyo
Discussant(s):
Empire in Europe / Europe in Empire and the Rise of European
Nationalism
Monday, February 11th
Question: How are nations created? What factors contributed
to the development of European nationalism? What forms did it take?
What was its impact on the traditional European state system? What impact
did it have across the world? What is the "logic of the nation-state"?
**Reading: Johann Gottlieb Fichte, To the German Nation, 1806 <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1806fichte.html>
Gauguin and Colonial Fantasies
Wednesday, February 13th
Question: How are the work of Gauguin and Van Gogh a reaction to
19th Century bourgeois morality? How does Gauguin illuminate colonial
ideologies of the time?
Discussion: Discovery of France
Friday, February 15th
Question: What does Robb mean by the “discovery of France”?
How is nationalism and nation-building a modern project.
What are the processes under which it is undertaken?
Readings: Robb, Discovery of
France
Discussant(s):
II. Assault on the Modern:
The Modern and the Absurd
W. E. B. Dubois and “Double Consciousness”
Monday, February 18th
Question: What is "double consciousness? How is it a
reflection of modernity? How is it a reflection of the creation of
colonial and nation ideologies? How do Garvey and Dubois understand the
issue?
World War I and the Death of the Modern (?)
Wednesday, February 20th
Question: How did World War I complete the 19th Century
process of creating European nation-states? What was the war’s impact on
the culture of the interwar years? What was the war’s impact on interwar
politics?
**Reading: World War I Posters <<http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/index.htm>>
The Great Depression and the Crisis of the Mind
Wednesday February 22nd
Question: How did the Great Depression and the Destruction of the
First World War Transform the worldview of the west in the 1920s and 1930s?
How was this age of anxiety reflected in art of the time? How was it
reflected in politics?
**Pavlac, Chapter 13, 297-334
**Reading: Tzara, Dada Manifesto, << http://www.ralphmag.org/AR/dada.html>>
***Group Annotated Bibliography of Secondary Sources***
Discussion: Freud, Civilization and its Discontents
Monday, February 25th
Question: What does Freud mean by "civilization and its
discontents"?
**Reading: Freud,
Civilization and its Discontents
~Discussant(s):
Discussion: Modern Times
Wednesday, February 27th
Question: What does Chaplin mean by Modern Times?
**Film: Chaplin, Modern Times, 1936
~Discussant(s):
Discussion: King Kong
Friday, March 1st
Question: How does King Kong reflect the general theme of anxiety?
What are people anxious about?
**Film: Shoedsack, King Kong, 1933
~Discussant(s):
III. The Modern Strikes Back
The Revolutions in Russia
Monday, March 11th
Question: Whose revolution (in theory) was the Russian Revolution?
How did the Russian Revolution seek to reorganize Soviet society? How did
it transform the politics and economy of the Russian Empire? What effect did it
have on society and culture?
Fascism and Degenerate Art
Wednesday, March 13th
Question: What accounts for the rise of Fascism in Europe?
What are its motivating principles? How does fascism as an ideology seek
to order society? How is fascism’s relationship to art a metaphor for its
larger programs?
Socialist Realism / Socialist Reality?
Friday, March 15th
Question: What vision of the good life and the good society
is presented by socialist realism 1917-1953? How does it change over time?
What accounts for this transformation?
***Midterm Exam due <<course moodle site>>***
The Holocaust and the Death of the Modern (?)(!)
Monday, March 18th
Question: How is the Holocaust a reflection of Nazi ideology?
How does it compare to other attempts to create order in Europe and in the
colonial world? How does the Holocaust help us come to terms with the
modernist attempt to create subjects?
**Reading: The Jager Report, 1941 <http://fcit.usf.edu/Holocaust/resource/document/DocJager.htm>
**Reading: Elwira Bauer, Trust no Fox on his Green Heath <<from
the course moodle site>>
Discussion: Spiegelman, Maus I and II
Wednesday, March 20th
Question: What vision of Modernity is presented by Speigelman
in Maus? What are the politics of memory involved in remembering the
Holocaust?
**Reading: Speigelman, Maus
~Discussant(s):
Discussion: Eichmann in Jerusalem
Friday, March 22nd
Question: How does Arendt understand Eichmann's relationship
to the Holocaust? What are the implications of this understanding?
**Reading: Arendt, Eichmann
in Jerusalem
~Discussant(s):
IV. Postmodernism and its Discontents
“Sovietization” and “Normalization” in Europe
Monday, March 25th
Question: What role did ideology play in the development of the
Cold War? How did the United States and the Soviet Union work to
reorganize European societies? How was the "good life" defined in each
camp?
**Pavlac, Chapter 14, 335-364
Cold War and Atomic Civilization
Wednesday, March 27th
Question: How did the Atomic bomb ensure that the cold war was a
"cold" war in Europe? How did the Soviet Union and the United States seek
to demonstrate that they had arrived at (or were approaching) the "good
society"?
***Rough draft Historiography***
The Ironies of Normalcy: Pop Art and Sots Art
Wednesday, April 3rd
Question: How were Pop Art and Sots Art critiques of Soviet and
American visions of the "good life"?
**Pop Art and Sots Art <<from the course moodle site>>
Discussion: Bob Marley and Question of Decolonialization
Friday, April 5th
Question: How does the music of Bob Marley help us understand
the perils and possibilities of living in the colonial and post-colonial era?
**Music: Bob Marley
~Discussant(s):
Discussion: 1968
Monday, April 8th
Question: How do the events of 1968 help us understand the
socialist and capitalist visions of the ‘good life’ and the question of
consumption?
**Primary Sources: Paris 1968 (Graffiti and Posters) <<from the
course moodle site>>
~Discussant(s):
***Group Annotated Bibliography of Primary Sources***
Discussion: I was a Playboy Bunny
Wednesday, April 10th
Question: What insights does Steinem's article give us into
issues of identity and performativity? Gender roles?
**Reading: Steinem, “I was a Playboy Bunny” <<from the course
moodle site>>
~Discussant(s):
Stagnation
Friday, April 12th
Question: How was stagnation an ideological challenge for the
socialist regimes of Eastern Europe? Conversely, how did it legitimate the
regimes?
Discussion: Solzhenitsyn and Harvard
Monday, April 15th
Question: How does Solzhenitsyn understand the conflict
between Liberal democratic Capitalism and Communism?
**Reading: Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Address at Harvard University,
1978 <http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/solzhenitsyn/harvard1978.html>
~Discussant(s):
1989 and 1991
Wednesday, April 17th
Question: What accounts for the collapse of socialist regimes
in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union? Do the revolutions of 1989 and
1991 represent the triumph of liberal democratic capitalism?
**Pavlac, Chapter 15, 365-388
Discussion: The “End of History” (!) (?)
Friday, April 19th
Question: What does Fukuyama mean by the end of history? Are
we there?
**Reading: Francis Fukuyama,"The End of History?" from the National
Interest, 1989 <http://www.wesjones.com/eoh.htm>
~Discussant(s):
***Rough Draft Synthesis***
Yugoslavia
Monday, April 22nd
Question: How does Yugoslavia inform the discussion of the
end of history?
Discussion: Underground
Wednesday, April 24th
Question: How does Kusturica understand the Modern project? The
relationship between history and tragedy? Farce?
**Film: Kusturica, Underground, 1996
~Discussant(s):
Group Presentation
Friday, April 26th
Group Presentation
Monday, April 29th
Group Presentation
Wednesday, May 1st
***Final Paper***