The Modern and the Postmodern
HIST 214
Fall 2011
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
COL 214, CHUM 214 |
| Certificates: Social, Cultural and Critical Theory |
In this course we shall examine how the idea of "the modern" develops at the end of the 18th century and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change during the last two hundred years. Our readings shall be drawn from a variety of areas--philosophy, the novel, music, painting, and photography--and we shall be concerned with the relations between culture and historical change. Finally, we shall try to determine what it means to be modern today, and whether it makes sense to go beyond the modern to the postmodern. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Ethical Reasoning, Interpretation |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA HIST |
| Course Format: Lecture | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSCT)(HIST-MN)(STS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
This course covers a lot of ground, historically, conceptually, and aesthetically. There is much to read, and very different kinds of reading: from philosophy to novels, from art criticism to political manifestos, from theory to poetry. Few students will like all the reading, but if you digest it all, you should have a clearer sense of the cultural history of our present. There will also be musical and visual material presented in class.
Texts for purchase:
Flaubert, MADAME BOVARY
Baudelaire, PARIS SPLEEN
Woolf, TO THE LIGHTHOUSE
Freud, CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS
Additional readings by the following authors will be available on electronic reserve: Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, Darwin, Benjamin, Zizek, West, Butler, Appiah.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two exams and one medium-length paper that reflects and builds upon the readings and lectures. |
| Instructor(s): Roth,Michael S. Times: .M.W... 11:00AM-12:20PM; Location: CFS190; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 90 | | SR major: 8 | JR major: 7 | | |
| Seats Available: 1 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 7 | JR non-major: 8 | SO: 20 | FR: 40 |
| Web Resources: Syllabus |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 2 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 2 |
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