American Utopias in the 19th Century
AMST 330
Spring 2018
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
HIST 330, RELI 330 |
This seminar will examine expressions, both religious and secular, of the utopian impulse in 19th-century American culture. Communitarian experiments launched by Shakers, transcendentalists, perfectionists, and feminists will be studied as manifestations of social and religious turmoil and will be compared with their literary analogues. Utopianism as a philosophical, literary, and literal approach to solving social problems and constructing a more perfect nation-state has been a persistent and recurrent feature in American history. This seminar explores precursors in the long 19th century to more recent utopian theory and experimentation. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward (available on-line)
W. Fitzhugh Brundage, A Socialist Utopia in the New South
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland (available on-line)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance (available on-line)
Paul Ivey, Radiance from Halcyon
Spencer Klaw, Without Sin
Donald Pitzer, America's Communal Utopias
Stephen Stein, The Shaker Experience in America
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly response comments on Moodle site, a class presentation and a substantial research paper will be required of each student. Participation in discussion will be reflected in the final grade. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fulfills the pre-19 requirement for the American Studies major and may be used to meet the Senior Seminar/capstone requirement.
This course fulfills the "Thematic Approach" requirements for the Religion major. |
| Instructor(s): Hill,Patricia R. Times: .....F. 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: CAMS 3; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 7 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 3 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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