This course is a survey of the social, intellectual, philosophical, religious, political, military, scientific, artistic, and literary history of ancient Greece, from its prehistory through classical antiquity to the rise of Christianity, the Byzantine Empire, and the emergence of a country called Greece. Our study will emphasize the so-called Golden Age of Athens (5th century BC, or more precisely 480-404). This is what we might normally think of when we hear the phrase “ancient Greece,” since it is the period of democracy and cultural flourishing we tend to consider the “foundation of Western civilization.” But this “Golden Age” is really just a blip in time and space, and to focus solely on it would be a disservice to our understanding of what the ancient Greek world was about. So we will expand our range, both chronologically and geographically, to cover an historical period from roughly 3,000 BC to 1453 AD and beyond, studying several different Greek cultures (there were dozens of them) as well as the foreign cultures with whom they interacted (including the Akkadians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Etruscans, Phoenicians, Scythians, Persians, Bactrians, Parthians, Jews, Romans, Arabs, and Turks). We will find that the ancient Greek world was far more complex and diverse than one might think. And, by examining not only the similarities but also (and in many ways more importantly) the differences between their cultures and our own, we will better understand how we definitely are and definitely are not related to them.

One of our focuses will be on what is called “the history of ideas,” or how thoughts, worldviews, and beliefs—whether good or bad—change and develop over time. In particular, we will emphasize the development of religious, philosophical, and scientific ideas and see how they influence (and are influenced by) art, literature, and politics. We will also study conceptions of ethnicity and identity. These conceptions tend to develop and be defined in contrast to adversaries, or “others.” Throughout most of antiquity, there was no sense of a Greek culture (in fact, “Greece” is a Roman concept, not a Greek one). In a Texan context, Houston, Dallas, and Austin would all be distinct “nations,” and an ancient Greek would call us all barbarians because, among other things, we wear pants and wash ourselves with soap. Insofar as we can, we will get into the minds of the Greeks themselves and study their world as they saw it. We will do the same with the various ways the modern world has interpreted this ancient history, for history is created by those who look back on it as much as it is by those who live it. Thus, this course offers a unique opportunity to understand not only who the ancient Greeks were but also who we think we are now in light of them.

This course is a survey of the social, intellectual, philosophical, religious, political, military, scientific, artistic, and literary history of ancient Greece, from its prehistory through classical antiquity to the rise of Christianity, the Byzantine Empire, and the emergence of a country called Greece. Our study will emphasize the so-called Golden Age of Athens (5th century BC, or more precisely 480-404). This is what we might normally think of when we hear the phrase “ancient Greece,” since it is the period of democracy and cultural flourishing we tend to consider the “foundation of Western civilization.” But this “Golden Age” is really just a blip in time and space, and to focus solely on it would be a disservice to our understanding of what the ancient Greek world was about. So we will expand our range, both chronologically and geographically, to cover an historical period from roughly 3,000 BC to 1453 AD and beyond, studying several different Greek cultures (there were dozens of them) as well as the foreign cultures with whom they interacted (including the Akkadians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Etruscans, Phoenicians, Scythians, Persians, Bactrians, Parthians, Jews, Romans, Arabs, and Turks). We will find that the ancient Greek world was far more complex and diverse than one might think. And, by examining not only the similarities but also (and in many ways more importantly) the differences between their cultures and our own, we will better understand how we definitely are and definitely are not related to them.

One of our focuses will be on what is called “the history of ideas,” or how thoughts, worldviews, and beliefs—whether good or bad—change and develop over time. In particular, we will emphasize the development of religious, philosophical, and scientific ideas and see how they influence (and are influenced by) art, literature, and politics. We will also study conceptions of ethnicity and identity. These conceptions tend to develop and be defined in contrast to adversaries, or “others.” Throughout most of antiquity, there was no sense of a Greek culture (in fact, “Greece” is a Roman concept, not a Greek one). In a Texan context, Houston, Dallas, and Austin would all be distinct “nations,” and an ancient Greek would call us all barbarians because, among other things, we wear pants and wash ourselves with soap. Insofar as we can, we will get into the minds of the Greeks themselves and study their world as they saw it. We will do the same with the various ways the modern world has interpreted this ancient history, for history is created by those who look back on it as much as it is by those who live it. Thus, this course offers a unique opportunity to understand not only who the ancient Greeks were but also who we think we are now in light of them.

Please check back for updates.

GOALS OF THE COURSE

This course will consist of a survey of the history of political philosophy, with an emphasis on human psychology, its bearing on politics, and vice-versa. We will proceed chronologically from classical to medieval to early modern and finally to late modern political philosophy, studying a key philosopher or theologian from each period—Plato, Augustine, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, respectively. We will conclude the semester by turning to the originator of evolutionary psychology, Charles Darwin. Throughout, our method will consist of careful readings and discussions of primary texts.

Despite the chronological structure of the course, our leading concern in turning to these long-dead thinkers is not historical. Our aim is to learn from them rather than about them. Our premises are that there are certain basic questions about how to live that confront all human beings in all times and places, that these thinkers offer powerful alternative answers to these questions, and that however much their circumstances may differ from our own, it is possible for them to teach us things of the highest import. In order that we might learn as much as we can from them, we will strive to understand them as they understood themselves, reading them sympathetically but not uncritically.

Questions to be addressed include: What is the best way of life for a human being? What do we most need or long for? What does happiness consist of? Can we attain happiness? How do morality, love, friendship, politics, and piety figure in a well lived human life? What is the character of the concerns that underlie these features of human life? What political arrangement best promotes the human good? What are the possibilities and limits of politics in promoting the human good?

The thinkers we will study are united in taking these questions seriously, but diverge widely in how they answer them. In discerning and beginning to evaluate their answers, on their own terms, and in comparison and contrast to one another, we will become more thoughtful human beings and citizens.

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS

ONLY the editions specified below are acceptable. Assure that you use them. • Plato, The Republic of Plato, trans. Allan Bloom (New York: Basic Books, 1968). ISBN 0465069347. • Plato, Plato’s “Symposium,” trans. Seth Benardete (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001). ISBN 0226042758. • Augustine, City of God, trans. Henry Bettenson (London: Penguin Classics, 2003). ISBN 0140448948. • Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. Edwin Curley (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1994). ISBN 0872201775. • Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Major Political Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, trans. and ed. John T. Scott (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014). ISBN 0226151311. • Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (London: Penguin Classics, 2004). ISBN 0140436316.

Among all the influential texts found in the Bible, none has had such an enormous impact on world history and culture as the Book of Genesis has. This may be somewhat surprising: given the fact that Christianity is the world’s largest religion, one might expect that one of the Gospels of the New Testament would be the most influential. Yet Genesis, with its tales of the strange world that existed before the Flood and its recounting of the exploits—sometimes morally questionable—of Israel’s patriarchs, exercised such a hold on the imagination of the earliest Christians that many New Testament writings can actually be seen as extended ruminations on the implications of the Genesis narrative…as can many other great works of literature and art from antiquity to the present. This course will explore the incredibly diverse ways that human beings have sought to make meaning out of this book. We will begin by devoting more than a month to a close reading of Genesis in its entirety—just us and the text (mostly). We will then proceed to some of the most significant interpretations of Genesis. These will include retellings of parts of Genesis from early Jewish and Christian apocryphal writings; creative and influential readings of Genesis from ancient interpreters the Apostle Paul and Augustine of Hippo; and the use of Genesis narrative in the Quran, the foundational scripture of Islam. We will conclude in the early modern period with one of the greatest works of poetry in English, John Milton’s Paradise Lost.

The figure of Moses looms large in biblical tradition, in the religions that revere him (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and in Western thought. In this section of the Bible and its Interpreters, we will examine the figure of Moses in the Bible (with a focus on Exodus and Deuteronomy), the various roles he plays in the biblical tradition including prophet, priest, king, and legislator, and the reception of Moses in Second Temple Judaism (Philo, Dead Sea Scrolls), Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and Islam. The later part of the course will explore the way this variegated tradition has been used to inform Western thought through reading selections from representative works such as Machiavelli’s The Prince, Baruch Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise, and Sigmund Freud’s Moses and Monotheism. We will conclude our study of Moses by examining how Moses has been portrayed in American history.

What, according to the Bible, is required of us? What is our response to the deity? What is our place in the cosmos? With these questions in mind, this course seeks to cultivate both an understanding of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) and the New Testament and how biblical writers and subsequent interpreters grappled with notions of divine command and human obligation. We pursue this aim through close readings of the biblical texts themselves and the reception of biblical figures, themes, and ideas among its many interpreters. We begin by examining the historical sense of the Hebrew Bible as a product of the ancient Near East. We will then examine the practice of biblical interpretation among the competing Jewish ideologies at the turn of the Common Era, out of which emerged the early Christians and their writings. The later part of the course will highlight some of the major Jewish and Christian interpreters of the Bible in the pre-modern and modern periods and how, through their own view of “scripturalism”, these interpreters understood and formulated responses to questions of human nature, humanity’s relationship to the supernatural, and the meaning of life.

What, according to the Bible, is required of us? What is our response to the deity? What is our place in the cosmos? With these questions in mind, this course seeks to cultivate both an understanding of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) and the New Testament and how biblical writers and subsequent interpreters grappled with notions of divine command and human obligation. We pursue this aim through close readings of the biblical texts themselves and the reception of biblical figures, themes, and ideas among its many interpreters. We begin by examining the historical sense of the Hebrew Bible as a product of the ancient Near East. We will then examine the practice of biblical interpretation among the competing Jewish ideologies at the turn of the Common Era, out of which emerged the early Christians and their writings. The later part of the course will highlight some of the major Jewish and Christian interpreters of the Bible in the pre-modern and modern periods and how, through their own view of “scripturalism”, these interpreters understood and formulated responses to questions of human nature, humanity’s relationship to the supernatural, and the meaning of life.

Check back for updates.

This course will examine the biblical traditions and texts of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament as products of particular historical and cultural communities—namely, ancient Israel and Judah—and as literary and religious documents. It will look at what we know about where the texts of the Hebrew Bible came from, who wrote them, why they were written, and what changes were made to them over time. The course will treat the texts as both pre-Jewish and pre-Christian, since the vast majority of them were written before Judaism and Christianity came into existence. The course will also consider how an understanding of ancient Near Eastern history and culture can illumine biblical texts and ask to what degree these texts and their authors were influenced by historical and cultural factors.

This course offers a survey of major religious traditions of Asia (Hinduism, Buddhism in South and East Asia, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto). It focuses on the historical development of their beliefs, practices, rituals, and customs in social context. The course will combine lectures with class discussions on readings. At the end of the semester, students will have a basic knowledge of the beliefs and practices of those religious traditions, have read important religious texts and discussed issues pertinent to the religions’ adherents, and have a more refined sense of how the category “religion” may be applied. All this enables students to develop a greater awareness of global cultural diversity and will, hopefully, spark the desire to study some of those religions more deeply.

Course materials:

1. Willard G. Oxtoby, Roy C. Amore, Amir Hussain, eds. World Religions: Eastern Traditions. 4^th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
2. R. K. Narayan, The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000.
3. Zhuangzi: Basic Writings, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.
4. Readings provided as PDF files on Canvas.

GOV 351D (CTI 321)

The Theoretical Foundations of Modern Politics

Devin Stauffer

Course Description

This course examines the philosophic origins of modern politics and culture by looking at the works of several authors whose writings played decisive roles in the rise and development of modernity. In our study of Machiavelli’s Prince, Hobbes’ Leviathan, Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, and selected political writings of Rousseau and Nietzsche, we will consider how modern political thought broke with the past and offered a new set of political visions. We will consider the differing views of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Nietzsche on issues such as the aims and limits of politics, the role of morality in the harsh world of political necessity, the proper place of religion and reason in political life, and the nature and basis of justice, freedom, and equality. Throughout the course, we will reflect of the impact that the revolutionary doctrines of modern political philosophy have had on the political world in which we live.

Texts

Machiavelli, The Prince (University of Chicago)

Hobbes, Leviathan (Hackett)

Locke, Two Treatises of Government (Yale)

Rousseau, The First and Second Discourses (St. Martin’s Press)

Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Penguin)

Requirements and Grading

Paper: 20%

First exam: 25%

Second exam: 25%

Attendance: 10%

Participation: 10%

Quizzes: 10%

(Note:  These percentages are approximate, and the paper may be made optional.)

Prerequisites

Sophomore standing

Might and Right Among Nations (Fall 2019)

GOV 351J AND CTI 323 (Unique numbers GOV 37750 and CTI 33080)

Lectures in RLP 0.112, MWF 1-2 (except for Fridays of weeks of discussion sections; see below)

Professor Thomas L. Pangle, Mezes Hall 3.154; office tel. 232 1529; tpangle@austin.utexas.edu

Office hours: TUES. 10-1 PM; or by appt

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A study of major alternative approaches, elaborated by the greatest political theorists, to the question of the moral character of international relations.

                  The basic aim of the course is twofold: 1) to gain a better understanding of what kind of justice and law exists among nations; and 2) to gain a better understanding of what justice itself means, in human relations, as its nature is revAealed under the stress of the intensely competitive international arena, always overshadowed by the threat of war.

                  We will examine the original, foundational philosophic arguments for: the classical republican struggle for and against empire (Thucydides); Christian Just War theory (Aquinas and Vitoria); Islamic Jihad Theory (The Koran and Hadith; Shaybani, Alfarabi, Avicenna, Ibn Khaldun); the moral supremacy of independent national sovereignty (Hobbes); globalizing moral community achieved through commercialization (Montesquieu); and world legal order achieved through international legal organization (Kant).

                  We will try to uncover the hidden philosophic foundations of our contemporary ways of thinking, and confront our assumptions with challenges from earlier, alien ways of conceiving the world.

                  While we will not forget contemporary issues, we will try to transcend our passionate biases, and view our own immediate situation from a liberating distance, by taking as our primary empirical focus the philosophic historian Thucydides’s dramatic presentation of The Peloponnesian War—a moral as well as military struggle pitting the imperialism of one of history’s greatest democracies (Athens) against the anti-imperialism of one of the most conservative and pious aristocracies in history (Sparta).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND BASIS OF GRADING: THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS, ONE OF WHICH YOU MUST CHOOSE BY FRI., SEPT. 6.

OPTION ONE—MID-TERM EXAM OPTION

40%—Final Exam, held in the final exam period; format will be questions selected at random from study questions handed out at the end of term covering material from the entire term.

30%—Mid-term closed book exam on Thucydides, administered in class, on questions chosen at random from study questions handed out two weeks before.

15%—Attendance (required) at all lectures; each absence after the second, not excused by a doctor’s note, will subtract 2% from the overall final grade. Attendance at lecture will be recorded by noting empty seats; each student must choose a permanent seat to occupy, by beginning of class Mon., Aug. 30.

15%—Answers to weekly quizzes on the readings (clues for which will be in the weekly study questions).

OPTION TWO—PAPER/DISCUSSION SECTION OPTION

35%—Final Exam, held in the final exam period; format will be questions selected at random from study questions handed out at the end of term covering material from the entire term.

30%—Two short analytical/interpretative essays (each about 1200-1500 words) on topics to be assigned.

10%—Attendance (required) at all lectures and discussion sections; each absence after the second, not excused by a doctor’s note, will subtract 1% from the overall final grade. Attendance at lecture will be recorded by noting empty seats; each student must choose a permanent seat to occupy, by beginning of class Fri. Sept. 4.

10%—Answers to weekly quizzes on the readings (clues for which will be in the weekly study questions).

15%—Attendance and participation in discussion sections, which will meet Fridays. Sept. 13, 27, Oct. 11, 25, Nov. 8, 29. Meeting Times and Places TBA.

REQUIRED TEXTS (be sure to get the correct editions and translations!)

—Some key passages from Thucydides, and major excerpts from Aquinas, Spinoza, Rousseau, and The Federalist as well as readings on the theory of jihad in photocopied booklet (purchase at Co-op).

—The Landmark Thucydides, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0684827905 The translation is not always accurate, and key passages will be found accurately translated in the booklet (see previous).

—Francisco de Vitoria, Political Writings, Cambridge, ISBN 052136714x

—Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, U. of Chicago, Mansfield and Tarcov, eds. and trans. ISBN 978-0226500362

—Thomas Hobbes, On the Citizen, Cambridge, ISBN# 0521437806 Tuck and Silverthorne, eds.

—Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, Cambridge, ISBN# 0521369746 Anne Cohler et al., eds. and trans.

—Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Harper, ISBN# 0061311596 H. J. Paton, ed. and trans.; and Political Writings,

General Description of the Course

Politics is often defined as "the authoritative allocation of values." In the American political system, the Constitution is an important source of authority, and it gives preference to certain values. The Constitution is a document of law, politics, and political theory. Determining what the Constitution means, determining how to determine what it means, and determining who should determine what it means are fundamental tasks for participants in the American political process and for students of it. This course may be of interest to those thinking about attending law school, but it is equally valuable to those who have no such interest. Given the nature of our society, understanding the Constitution and constitutional law is part of a liberal arts education. The course considers some, but not many, of the "civil liberties" provisions in the Constitution; those important subjects are considered in other courses.

One objective of the course is for the student to become a constitutional interpreter who contributes intelligently to this ongoing process. Constitutional interpretation is a prerogative of the judiciary, but it is not its preserve. Judges have never been, nor should be, the only ones engaging in constitutional interpretation. Presidents, members of Congress, and many others engage in constitutional interpretation. A more complete course would examine their statements and actions in greater detail. Judges, however, play a very important role in constitutional interpretation. As such, it is important to learn what judges have said the Constitution means and to understand how they came to such conclusions. This necessitates learning how to read and analyze judicial opinions. The student should develop a sufficient comfort level with legal analysis so that she or he can evaluate intelligently important interpretations of the justices and ask the questions that a student of politics and law should ask. Prominent among such questions are those concerned with the proper role of courts and judges in the American political system. We read some scholarly commentary on interpretation and judicial behavior, but we concentrate on the primary material--the Constitution and cases--so that the student can begin to develop his or her own ideas.

Another objective of this course is to improve reasoning and communication skills. Engaging in constitutional reasoning can assist in developing intellectual precision and political persuasiveness. As in most courses, good writing is demanded; but it is also important to develop the capacity to think and speak on one's feet. Mastering the use of language, orally and in writing, increases the ability to think and communicate clearly. Moving toward such mastery is a vital part of education.

The course requires a substantial time commitment. The time required varies greatly over the course of the semester, and as described below, it is hard for the student to plan ahead.

Format of the Course

Constitutional interpretation lends itself to dialog between professor and student and among students. There are few lectures. I use a combination of the Socratic and case methods. This requires students to come to class prepared and to listen to one another. Too often, students do not benefit from this style of teaching because they ignore the comments of fellow students. The method assumes that, instead of lecturing, I am making points through discussion with students. When your colleagues are making important points, I do not have to. It is also an important skill to be able to learn to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Students are required to attend class and participate. The method of teaching presumes that students heard prior discussions. When a student did not hear earlier discussions and then participates, it generally wastes the time of others. I call on students and expect them to be wellprepared. Lack of preparation or repeated absences will hurt one’s grade. If a student is not prepared, he or she must put a note on the lectern before class. Being prepared means that one has read and thought about the material; it does not mean that one must fully understand the material or have the “right” answers. It is also in one's long-term interest to prepare thoroughly for each class because the material is cumulative, and the workload in this course increases dramatically as the semester proceeds. I encourage study groups.

Computers or other electronic devices may not be used in the classroom. Their use is not compatible with the teaching method. That includes glancing at your phone. Phones must be put away. Exceptions are rarely granted and must be approved by me in advance.

Prerequisites

Set by the Government Department: 6 hours lower division government courses.

Check back for updates.

Liberal democracy is roughly the theory that individual persons are free and equal, and that each must respect and be respected by other people and the government. Freedom and equality are typically connected with the rights of individuals. So liberalism is an individualistic theory in contrast with 'state' theories, which give priority to the state over individual rights. Key concepts to be discussed include liberty, democracy, the social contract, and the nature of authority and obligation.

The theory of Anglo-American liberalism developed from or competed with several traditions such as divine right theory, patriarchy, absolute sovereignty, democracy, and republicanism. These traditions were influenced by various religious, economic, and political beliefs over a long period. The most important period in this development was seventeenth-century (Stuart) England.

This course is interdisciplinary. It covers politics, philosophy, and religion. The course will cover such political and religious events as King Charles I's Personal Rule, the Long Parliament, the English Civil War, the Commonwealth, the Restoration of the Monarchy, the Exclusion Crisis, and the Glorious Revolution. The most important philosophical texts are Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan and John Locke's Two Treatises of Government. Primary texts on divine right theory and republicanism will also be read.

Texts:

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan revised edition, ed., Martinich and Batiste (Broadview)
John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (Cambridge UP)
A. P. Martinich, Philosophical Writing 4th ed. (Wiley-Blackwell)
A. P. Martinich, Origins of Liberalism (available on Canvas)

Grading Policy:

Class Attendance and Participation:              20%
Assignments and Quizzes:                           50%
Midterm test:                                              20%
Final Examination (final exam period):          20%

Dante: Fall 2019

ITC 348, same as E 366D, crosslisted with EUS 347

The Divine Comedy offers a remarkable panorama of the late Middle Ages through one man's poetic vision of the afterlife. However, we continue to read and study the poem not only to learn about the thought and culture of medieval and early modern Europe but also because many of the issues confronting Dante and his age are no less important to individuals and societies today. Personal and civic responsibilities, governmental accountability, church-state relations, economics and social justice, Dante's influence on artists and other writers, benefits and limitations of interdisciplinarity—these are some of the themes that will frame our discussion of the Divine Comedy. Although you will read the poem in English, a bilingual edition will enable you to study and learn famous lines in the original Italian. The course is taught in English and contains flags for Writing and Global Cultures.

Danteworlds (http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/): In addition to detailed entries, audio recordings, and study questions, this Web site contains hundreds of images from works by Sandro Botticelli, an anonymous 16th-century artist, John Flaxman, William Blake, Gustave Dorè, and Suloni Robertson.

Through close reading, class discussion, and the use of Danteworlds, you are expected to identify and explain the significance of major characters, references, and ideas in Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise) and Vita Nuova. You will be tested on this ability in responses to study questions (a low-stakes writing assignment) and two in-class exams. An essay, which you will rewrite and expand based on my feedback, will assess your ability to support an interpretation of a specific aspect of Dante's poetry with detailed textual analysis and scholarly research. A peer-editing activity will help you to revise and edit your own work. I expect you to have read the assigned cantos and reviewed the corresponding material in Danteworlds (including the study questions) before class.

Required Texts: (you must use the editions of these texts ordered for the class)

            Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso (Trans. Allen Mandelbaum)

            Vita Nuova (Trans. Barbara Reynolds)

Recommended Text (also ordered for this class): The Complete Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the "Divine Comedy" (Raffa)

Canvas: We will use the CANVAS learning management system to organize and provide course content on-line. When you log in to Canvas (http://canvas.utexas.edu/) and select the course, you will have access to the syllabus, assignments, lecture presentations, grades, and a discussion forum. You will be required to submit most assignments on-line using Canvas. For assistance, consult the student tutorials (https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028/pages/student-tutorials) or contact support staff (https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028).

Assignments and Computation of Grade:

10%: 1500-word essay on the Inferno (credit for successful completion)

25%: Rewrite and expansion of this essay incorporating scholarly research (graded)

5%:   Annotated bibliography of research sources (credit for successful completion)

5%:   Peer-review (credit for successful completion)

10%: Responses to study questions in Canvas Discussion Forum (credit for successful completion)

30%: Two in-class examinations  (graded: 15% each)

15%: Classwork and participation

Description:

This course explores the dilemmas of homicide, suicide, patricide and redemption in the novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky — Russia’s greatest chronicler of human suffering and triumph. Over the course of the semester we will read a number of Dostoevsky’s greatest works, including Notes From Underground, Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. At the same time, we will look at the contemporary intellectual and social trends relevant to the development of Dostoevsky’s career as a writer and thinker.

Required Texts:

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes From Underground, tr. Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, tr. Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, tr. Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Great Short Works of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Course Description and Objectives

In our media-saturated culture, we encounter drama everyday on the various screens we watch as we live our modern lives. Although these shows and films may seem far removed from the theatrical stage, when we watch these dramas we are participating in a phenomenon that has been a principle means by which Western culture has described and perpetuated itself for over 2,500 years.

In this course we will focus our investigation of drama upon a perennial subject of the dramatic arts: the nature and pursuit of justice. We will seek to examine how different playwrights from different eras of Western literature have balanced elements like mercy, vengeance, fairness, due process, authority, altruism, noble character, prejudice, public opinion, and public service in their definitions of justice. Students will consider whether the dramas in selected ancient, Renaissance, and modern plays present idealistic, realistic, or polemical portrayals of how “justice is served.” We will discuss whether these dramas critique or celebrate the courts and other means society uses to define justice, to defend it, and to enforce laws and codes of conduct. We will open the semester by examining the way contemporary popculture dramas portray justice being served in the American criminal justice system (e.g. TV crime dramas in the tradition of Law and Order). Toward the end of the semester we will consider the way drama instruction is used in some American prisons to facilitate rehabilitation among inmates. 

Since no single course can exhaustively cover the subject of “dramatic masterworks in the Western tradition,” we will emphasize two major goals in this class: (1) to develop critical and analytical skills that can be applied to all forms of literary art, (2) to broaden an understanding of drama’s civic value that can be gained from teaching and studying the classics or using drama as a pedagogical tool. To this end, course requirements will include close reading and in-class discussion of plays, light exploration of philosophies of justice and theories of drama, informal acting, written analysis, revision of essays, peer reviews, and at least one small group project.

Course Description and Objectives

In our media-saturated culture, we encounter drama everyday on the various screens we watch as we live our modern lives. Although these shows and films may seem far removed from the theatrical stage, when we watch these dramas we are participating in a phenomenon that has been a principle means by which Western culture has described and perpetuated itself for over 2,500 years.

In this course we will focus our investigation of drama upon a perennial subject of the dramatic arts: the nature and pursuit of justice. We will seek to examine how different playwrights from different eras of Western literature have balanced elements like mercy, vengeance, fairness, due process, authority, altruism, noble character, prejudice, public opinion, and public service in their definitions of justice. Students will consider whether the dramas in selected ancient, Renaissance, and modern plays present idealistic, realistic, or polemical portrayals of how “justice is served.” We will discuss whether these dramas critique or celebrate the courts and other means society uses to define justice, to defend it, and to enforce laws and codes of conduct. We will open the semester by examining the way contemporary popculture dramas portray justice being served in the American criminal justice system (e.g. TV crime dramas in the tradition of Law and Order). Toward the end of the semester we will consider the way drama instruction is used in some American prisons to facilitate rehabilitation among inmates. 

Since no single course can exhaustively cover the subject of “dramatic masterworks in the Western tradition,” we will emphasize two major goals in this class: (1) to develop critical and analytical skills that can be applied to all forms of literary art, (2) to broaden an understanding of drama’s civic value that can be gained from teaching and studying the classics or using drama as a pedagogical tool. To this end, course requirements will include close reading and in-class discussion of plays, light exploration of philosophies of justice and theories of drama, informal acting, written analysis, revision of essays, peer reviews, and at least one small group project.

This course focuses on essential developments in Greek history (social, cultural, and political) during the Archaic and Classical Periods (ca. 750-338 BCE): from the rise of the Greek city-states in the eighth century BCE to the subordination of Greece by Philip II of Macedonia in 338 BCE. We will devote roughly equal time to covering major events and personalities, exploring key developments in culture and society, and examining the various types of evidence available for the era (both written and archeological). We will begin (Weeks 1-3) with a brief look at the geography and climate of Greece and its prehistory, including the Bronze and Early Iron Ages (ca. 1600-800 BCE). Then (Weeks 3-5) we will consider the major developments of the Early Archaic Period (ca. 800-600 BCE), including the rise of the city-state (or polis) and the first forms of (small “d”) democracy, the invention of the Greek alphabet, the introduction of massed infantry (or hoplite) warfare, and the diaspora of Greeks across the Mediterranean. Thereafter (Weeks 6-15), we will focus on the two most famous city-states of Greece, Athens and Sparta, and follow their trajectories from their foundation in the Bronze Age, through the Persian War period (490-478 BCE), the Peloponnesian War (430-404 BCE), and the complex period of unstable hegemonies in the first half of the fourth century BCE, culminating in 338 BCE when Philip II of Macedonia established his control over Greece.

Great Works in the History of Medicine

This course is part of the Thomas Jefferson Center’s Core Texts and Ideas (CTI) program. In keeping with the spirit of Mortimer Adler's Great Books of the Western World and Charles William Eliot's Harvard Universal Classics, this course will thematically examine signature works in the history of medicine. There are numerous reasons for using the great books approach to teaching the history of medicine. In addition to providing professional inspiration, sense of continuity with the past, and an awareness of medicine's unique role in society, this approach can foster a healthy sense of skepticism about the content and durability of medical dogma allowing students to think more critically about the principles and practices of medicine. The great books in the history of medicine provide numerous examples of why one should be prepared to question long-standing views for the sake of progress. Furthermore, the history of medicine can be a "kindly, useful mentor" which not only provides a forum for meaningful exchanges between physicians and historians, but also allows both groups a means to link historical knowledge to contemporary issues in order to reform medicine and bring about change in public policy. The approach taken in this class will be of great use to pre-med students and to students interested in international and public health.

To better understand the unique implications of the different areas of medicine, each week will entail reading a signature work that is representative of a key topic in the history of medicine (e.g. pharmacology, pathology, anatomy, surgery). After performing an analytical reading of the text with respect to its historical context, students will focus on discovering ethical principles in the text that can be used for modern applications.

Flags: The course carries an Ethics Flag and a Writing Flag. Assessment: One long and two short research papers, graded in-class writing activities. No final. Readings: Jacalyn Duffin, History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction, 2010 ISBN 978-0802095565; all other readings will be available on CANVAS or through the library’s electronic resources.

Islamic Theology may be understood as that branch of knowledge that comprises the way that Muslims have conceived the natures of God, humanity and the natural world, as well as the relationships between these three.  Muslim contemplation of these subjects has given rise to a number of debates and doctrines.  Some of these have had to do with issues such as the relationship between human will and the divine will, or the origins of sin.  Other disputes have had to do with the nature of governance and the role of the ruler in effecting salvation.  These disputes led to the formation of the various theological-political sects, such as Sunnism and Shi‘ism.  Yet another area of questioning has had to do with the limits of rational knowledge and possibility of meta-cognitive experience of God, or what is known as Sufism. These three classical areas of inquiry – that is, political theory (including sectarian differences), systematic theology (kalam) and mystical theology (Sufism) – will form the main areas of focus in this course.  This is an upper-division discussion- and writing- based course that assumes a prior understanding of Islam. Thus, a major portion of the grade will be based on class participation and the quality of written work. 

From Michelangelo’s spectacular paintings of the Sistine Chapel and Bernini’s moving sculpture of Apollo and Daphne, to the intense music of Puccini’s Tosca and the fantastic imagination of Fellini’s La dolce vita, Italy has given the world an unparalleled abundance of masterpieces in all the arts. This course will examine some of them in details touching on painting, sculpture, architecture, opera and cinema. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, Caravaggio’s provocative religious paintings, Renato Guttuso’s scenes of Sicily, Lorenzo Bernini’s “Apollo and Daphne” and “The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa,” are only a few of the visual treasures we will study. We will sample the greatest Italian poetry of Dante Alighieri and Giacomo Leopardi’s; the narrative of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and Italo Calvino; and the plays of Nobel prize winner Luigi Pirandello, who revolutionized the theater in the 20^th century. Since the most popular art form in the 19^th century Italy was opera, we shall study selected masterpieces by Italy’s two most renowned opera composers: Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini. The course will conclude with the films La dolce vita by Federico Fellini and Divorce Italian Style by Pietro Germi. The aim of the course is not only to familiarize students with the richness of Italian culture, but also to inspire them to continue exploring it.

Grade Computation: Two exams 60%; Short quizzes 10%; One Research Paper 20%; Class Participation 10%

Texts:

Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, Inferno on line

Giacomo Leopardi: Poems - on Canvas

Italo Calvino: Marcovaldo

Luigi Pirandello: It is so (if you think so), Six Characters in Search of an Author

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa: The Leopard

Giuseppe Verdi: Otello (Libretto on line)

Giacomo Puccini: Tosca (Libretto on line)

Luchino Visconti: The Leopard (link on Canvas)

Pietro Germi: Divorce Italian Style (link on Canvas)

Works of art by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini on Canvas (in Power Point) and some critical essays on Canvas and on line.

This course carries the Global Cultures Flag.  Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. 

Please contact the Jefferson Scholars advisor for more information on how to register for the course.