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HUMANITIES 222: Arts and Ideas: Modern Period – Spring 2009
Sec 01 MWF 10-10:50, Butte 307; Sec 02 MWF 11:00-11:50, Butte 113
Dr. Laura Nice
Office: Trinity Hall 240
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 8:50-9:50 and Thursdays, 12:15-2:15 or by
appointment
Office Phone: 530-898-5108; Email: lnice@csuchico.edu
Course Description:
This course provides an overview of the major movements in Western thought and culture from
the Renaissance to the present by exploring developments in literature, art, music, architecture,
politics, religion and philosophy. Through readings of primary sources as well as in-class slide
presentations and films, we will gain insight into important movements and thinkers within their
cultural and historical contexts. In particular, we will examine the connection between art and
violence; the position of the artist in society; and the significance of gender roles and their
depiction in art and literature.
Required Texts:
- Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, ISBN 9780553212785
- Voltaire, Candide, ISBN 9780143039426
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, ISBN 9780743487580
- Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, ISBN 9780156628709
- Art Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History / Here My Troubles
Began, ISBN 9780679748403
- Seamus Heaney, The Cure at Troy, ISBN 9780374522896
- Course packet, available at the Associated Students Bookstore
There is also an optional textbook for this course, available for purchase: Janetta Rebold Benton
and Robert DiYanni, Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities, Volume Two (ISBN:
0132321718). I will put a copy of the textbook on reserve at the library.
Course Requirements and Grades: A 100-93
-Essay # 1 (3-4 pages) 15% A- 92-90
-Essay # 2 (5-6 pages) 20% B+ 89-87
-Participation/Attendance/ B 86-83
In-class Assignments 20% B- 82-80
-Midterm Exam 20% C+ 79-77
-Final Exam 25% C 76-73
C- 72-70
D+ 69-67
D 66-60
F 60-0
Grades will be assigned according to their definition as explained in the “Academic Policies and
Regulations” section of the University Catalog (A = superior work, B = very good work, C +
adequate work, D = minimally acceptable work, F = unacceptable work).
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Plagiarism and cheating are grave violations of the academic integrity policy of California State
University, Chico. This policy (EM 04-36) is posted at http://www.csuchico.edu/prs/EMs/
EM04/em04_a36.htm. We view plagiarism and cheating as serious offenses. The policy of the
Department of Religious Studies, which oversees the Humanities program, is that anyone found
to have blatantly cheated or plagiarized on an assignment will automatically FAIL the course
and be referred to student judicial affairs for further disciplinary action.
Expectations of students:
-Please feel comfortable to ask questions!
-Attend class, complete the required reading by the assigned day, and hand in work on time (my
late policy is explained in the Essay section).
-Always bring your reading with you to class, with the exception of the optional textbook. We
will be doing close readings of passages and poems, and you will need your text in front of you.
-Come prepared to discuss your assigned reading! For most reading assignments, I post
questions on Vista to consider in advance of class, and I expect you to come ready to talk about
these highlighted issues. Occasionally you will need to prepare written discussion questions, and
there will also be a number of in-class writing assignments.
-Turn off phones and audio devices for the duration of class, and arrive on time.
Attendance:
Attendance and participation are important components of this course. You are allowed two
unexcused absences. After two unexcused absences your total possible participation/attendance
grade will be lowered by 10% for each subsequent absence. Thus, if you miss two classes your
total possible grade will be 100%, three unexcused absences would drop your total possible
participation grade to 90%, four to 80% and so on. An excused absence must be due to a family
emergency or a documented health issue. Please do not email other excuses.
Essays:
I will post essay topics on Vista at least two weeks prior to the due date. Essays should be typed
and double-spaced, with attention given to correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. I will be
available during office hours and by appointment to discuss your writing - please come and talk
to me if you have any questions.
LATE POLICY: For every day you are late, including weekends and holidays, your essay grade
will drop by 5%. Failure to turn in both essays by the final day of class will result in automatic
failure of the course.
Exams:
The midterm and final exams are cumulative, and consist of short-answer (identifications) and
essay questions. We will talk more about specifics as the term progresses. Failure to take the
midterm and the final will result in automatic failure of the course.
DSS:
If you have a documented disability that may require reasonable accommodation, please contact
Disability Support Services (DSS). DSS is located in Student Services Center 170. The DSS
phone number is 898-5959. Visit the DSS website at http://www.csuchico.edu/dss/.
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Schedule of Lectures and Readings:
(Readings from Benton/DiYanni are optional, all other assignments are required. Required
readings must be completed before coming to class).
Date Topic Reading assignments
M
1/26
Introduction: Welcome!
W
1/28
Renaissance sense of the
past
- Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1513) (pp. 15-46)
F
1/30
Renaissance selffashioning
-(Benton/DiYanni, “The Renaissance and Mannerism in
Italy,” pp. 1-45)
M
2/2
Renaissance politics -Machiavelli, The Prince (pp. 47-67)
W
2/4
The Prince -Machiavelli, The Prince (pp. 68-97)
F
2/6
Protestant Reformation -Course Packet: Martin Luther, 95 Theses (1517)
-(Benton/DiYanni, “The Renaissance in Northern
Europe,” pp. 58-85)
M
2/9
Luther’s theology:
Guest lecture by HFA
Dean Joel Zimbelman
- Course Packet: selections from Martin Luther, “The
Freedom of a Christian” (1520)
W
2/11
Baroque art and influence -(Benton/DiYanni, “The Baroque Age,” pp. 100-139)
F
2/13
Classicism
M
2/16
Enlightenment thought -Voltaire, Candide (1759) (pp. 1-28)
-(Benton/DiYanni, “The Eighteenth Century,” pp. 160-
189)
W
2/18
Candide -Voltaire, Candide (pp. 28-59)
F
2/20
Candide -Voltaire, Candide (pp. 59-94)
-Hogarth images available on Vista
M
2/23
Coffeehouse culture -William Hogarth images available on Vista
W
2/25
Rights and Revolution -Course Packet: The Declaration of the Rights of Man
(1789) and selections from Mary Wollstonecraft, A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
F
2/27
Romanticism -Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818) (pp. 1-63)
-(Benton and DiYanni, “Romanticism and Realism,” pp.
208-245)
M
3/2
Frankenstein -Shelley, Frankenstein (pp. 64-116)
W
3/4
Frankenstein -Shelley, Frankenstein (pp. 117-214)
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F
3/6
Frankenstein -Shelley, Frankenstein (pp. 215-284)
M
3/9
Volksgeist -Course Packet: selections from Jacob and Wilhelm
Grimm, Fairy Tales and Johann Gottfried von Herder,
“Materials for the Philosophy of the History of Mankind”
(1784)
W
3/11
Midterm
F
3/13
Fin de Siècle -Course Packet: selections from Sigmund Freud, Dora:
An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria (1905)
-(Benton and DiYanni, “Impressionism and Post-
Impressionism,” pp. 260-281)
3/16-
3/20
Spring Break
M
3/23
The Great War: 1914-
1918
W
3/25
Soldier Poets -Course Packet: Siegfried Sassoon, “The Rear-Guard,”
“Glory of Women,” Suicide in the Trenches,” and “On
Passing the New Menin Gate;” Rupert Brooke, “The
Soldier;” Isaac Rosenberg, “Break of Day in the
Trenches,” and “Dead Man’s Dump;” Wilfred Owen,
“Anthem for Doomed Youth,” “Dulce et Decorum Est,”
and “Strange Meeting”
F
3/27
T. S. Eliot and Modernism
Essay # 1 (3-4 pages) due
in class
-Course Packet: T. S. Eliot: “The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock” (1917)
M
3/30
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
(1927)
*Optional Extra Credit: Write a 2-page review of another
Modernist film, with reference to Metropolis. Choose
from: Sergei Eisenstein’s The Battleship Potemkin
(1925); Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949); or Orson
Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941). Extra credit will add up to
10 points to your final exam. (Due 4/6)
W
4/1
Metropolis
F
4/3
Metropolis
M
4/6
Modernist Art
Optional: extra-credit film
review due in class
-Images available on Vista
-(Benton and DiYanni, “Early Twentieth Century,” pp.
336-373)
W
4/8
Modernist Art
-Images available on Vista
F
4/10
Modernist Art -Images available on Vista
M
4/13
Stream of Consciousness -Course Packet: James Joyce, “Araby” (1914)
-Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (1925) (pp. 3-13)
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W
4/15
Mrs. Dalloway -Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (pp. 14-78)
F
4/17
Mrs. Dalloway -Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (pp. 79-139)
M
4/20
Mrs. Dalloway - Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (pp. 140-194)
W
4/22
Art and morality: Leni
Riefenstahl’s Triumph of
the Will (1935)
-(Benton and DiYanni, “Mid-Twentieth Century and
Later,” pp. 418-443)
F
4/24
“No art after Auschwitz?”
M
4/27
Maus I
Essay # 2 (5-6 pages) due
in class
-Art Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father
Bleeds History (1986), all
W
4/29
Maus II
-Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here
My Troubles Began (1991), all
F
5/1
The conclusions of Maus:
Individual and collective
memory
-Persepolis images available on Vista
M
5/4
Holocaust memorials
W
5/6
Commemoration culture? -Course Packet: William Butler Years, “Easter 1916,”
“Sixteen Dead Men,” and “The Rose Tree”
-(Benton and DiYanni, “Diversity in Contemporary
Life,” pp. 452-469)
F
5/8
Reconciling violence:
Seamus Heaney and
Ireland
-Course Packet: Seamus Heaney, “The Tollund Man,”
“The Grauballe Man,” “Punishment” and “Strange Fruit”
-Seamus Heaney, The Cure at Troy (1990) (pp. 1-14)
M
5/11
A return to the classics? -Heaney, The Cure at Troy (pp. 14-81)
-Course Packet: Michael Longley, “Ceasefire”
W
5/13
Conclusions
F
5/15
Final Review
Final exam schedule:
Section 01 (10-10:50): Wednesday 20 May, 10-11:50
Section 02 (11-11:50): Monday 18 May, 12-1:50
This syllabus is subject to revision.