CHALLENGES IN MODERN CULTURE HUMANITIES 3303 CRN 14941 MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS, AND FRIDAYS @ 10:30 / LIBERAL ARTS 302 Contact Information: Instructor: Diana Martinez E-Mail: Diana@utep.edu Office: LART 223 Office Hours: Tuesdays 3-4pm, or by appointment. Syllabus Course Description: The purpose of this course is to foster in students an appreciation of the complexity and diversity of our Western cultural heritage through a survey of four major revolutions that were instrumental in shaping the modern world from 1650 to the present. These include the scientific, the social, the industrial, and the artistic. Through readings of primary sources, excerpts from major works, reproductions of art and musical works, and lectures, students will be stimulated to develop a capacity for critical assessment of many of the ideas and movements that have helped to shape the world they live in. Required Readings: 1. Knoebel, (Harcourt) 4 th ed. ISBN: 0-15-507684-1 2. Outram, Dorinda. The Enlightenment, vol 6. Cambridge University Press, 1995. 3. Voltaire. Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories. Penguin Group ISBN: 13-9780451528094 4. Beezley, William. Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico. U- Nebraska Press, 1987. ISBN: 0-8032-6117-5 5. Earnest Hemingway. A Moveable Feast. Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, 1996. ISBN-13: 9780684824994 6. Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. Penguin Group, 1971. ISBN-13: 9780140042528 7. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil. Penguin Group, 2003. ISBN- 13: 9780140449235 or ISBN: 014044923 8. Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. Penguin Group ISBN-13:978014008636 9. Anaya,Rodolfo. Bless Me Ultima. Grand Central Publishing, 1994. ISBN- 13: 9780446600255
Attendance: You are allowed five unexcused absences. After the fifth absence, you are dropped from the course. People who come to class extremely late and leave extremely early are not considered present. Important updates on the course requirements such as test information are given the first and last ten minutes of This is true especially for the single paper assignments. If you do not want unexcused absences bring documentation such as a receipt from an auto shop or a doctor s note. Two tardies will count as an absence. If you need to make up work due to an excused absence, tell me. Do not wait for me to ask you about your work. Tests and Papers: Your test will be a mix of essays, short answer, and identifies. An example of an essay question would be the following: How did Voltaire ridicule European society in Candide and the Selected Short Stories? Address several themes and examples from at least four short stories one of which must be Candide. You will have one major paper that will be a minimum of five pages (double spaced). You will connect a collection of work to the cultural and historical context in which it was created. Choose a collection of work that represents a genre or period of work. Discuss how they relate to one another, challenge the norms of society, and their influence on later generations of artist and thinkers. Here is an example of one sample topic: How did the art and the writings of the 1960 s serve as a counter culture to the values of the previous generation? Describe the historical and political context of the collection you have chosen. Discuss the elements, subjects, themes, and perspective of the various works in the collection. You will have participation grades which consist of single page papers (single spaced) that ask you a question over the reading material we cover in The questions for the participation grades are designed to make you think analytically about the readings and also to help exercise your brains before you write your paper. Here is one example of the questions for the participation grade: How did artists, philosophers, and writers use realism to critique bourgeois culture? Include the Communist Manifesto and Alfred Steven s What is called a Vagrant? among three additional pieces of literature and/or art.
Grades: You need to accumulate 1,000 points in the semester. Your grades will be based on participation, a paper, three exams, and the final. The value for each assignment is charted below. Grade Scale: A = 900-1000 B = 800-899 C = 700-799 D = 600-699 F = Below - 599 Grading Chart Assignments and Tests points (Celebrations of Knowledge) Test 1 100 Test 2 100 Test 3 100 Participation 1 50 Participation 2 50 Participation 3 50 Participation 4 50 Participation 5 50 Participation 6 50 Participation 7 50 Participation 8 50 Paper 100 Final Exam 200 Course Schedule 1. Monday- Aug. 23 Topic: What are the humanities? What is modern culture? What are the challenges to modern culture?
2. Aug. 25 Topic: Baroque 3. Aug.27 Topic: Baroque Required reading: Outram, Dorinda. The Enlightenment, 4. Monday- Aug. 30 Topic: The Enlightenment 5. Wednesday- Sept. 1 Topic: The Enlightenment Required reading: Outram, Dorinda. The Enlightenment, Required reading: Voltaire. Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories 6. Friday- Sept. 3 The Enlightenment Required reading: Voltaire. Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories 7. Wednesday- Sept. 8 Imperialism Required Reading: Outram, Dorinda. The Enlightenment, 8. Friday Sept. 10 Imperialism 9. Sept. 13 Humanism and Revolution 10. Sept. 15 Test # 1 Bring Blue Book 11. Sept. 17 Neoclassical Required reading: 12. Sept. 20 Humanism and Revolution
13. Sept.22 Romanticism 14. Sept.24 Romanticism 15. Sept. 27 Orientalism 16. Sept. 29 Orientalism Required reading: 17. Oct. 1 Industrialization Required reading: Karl Marx Communist Manifesto 18. Oct. 4 Test #2 Bring Blue Book 19. Oct. 6 Industrialization Required reading: Karl Marx Communist Manifesto 20. Oct. 8 Liberalism Required reading: Beezley, William. Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico 21. Oct. 11 Liberalism Required reading: Beezley, William. Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico 22. Oct. 13 Bourgeois Culture Required reading: Beezley, William. Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of 23. Oct. 15 France in the late 1800 s Porfirian Mexico Required reading: Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil 24. Oct. 18 Challenges to the Victorian Age
25. Oct. 20 The United Sates at the turn of the Century 26. Oct. 22 Test # 3 Bring a blue book. 27. Oct. 25 Modernism Required reading: Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil 28. Oct. 27 The Great War and the Lost Generation 29. Oct. 29 The Jazz Age Required reading: Earnest Hemingway. A Moveable Feast. 30. Nov. 1 Harlem Renaissance 31. Nov. 3 Film 32. Nov. 5 Economic Depression, Fascism, and Anxiety Major Paper Due 33. Nov. 8 WWII and decolonization Required reading: Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums.
34. Nov. 10 Existentialism and the Beat Generation Required reading: Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. 35. Nov. 12 Beat Generation Required reading: Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. 36. Nov. 15 Civil Rights 37. Nov. 17 Civil Rights 38. Nov. 19 The Hippie Generation and the 1960 s 39. Nov. 22 The Hippie Generation and the 1960 s Required reading: Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. Required reading: Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. 40. Nov. 24 Post Modernism 41. Nov. 29 Multiculturalism Required reading: Anaya,Rodolfo. Bless Me Ultima
42. Dec. 1 Multiculturalism Required reading: Anaya,Rodolfo. Bless Me Ultima December 10 th, 2010. Friday @ 10a.m.-12:45 p.m. Test #4 Final Exam