2010-2011 Courses
Quantitative Reasoning Fall 2010 Spring 2011Natural Science I Fall 2010 Spring 2011
Natural Science II Fall 2010 Spring 2011
Texts and Ideas Fall 2010 Spring 2011
Cultures and Contexts Fall 2010 Spring 2011
Societies and the Social Sciences department courses
Expressive Culture Fall 2010 Spring 2011 department courses
Study Abroad Spring Spring 2011
**Syllabus is subject to change
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Quantitative Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning courses are intended for first-year and sophomore students. Approved substitute courses are available for other students still needing to satisfy the Quantitative Reasoning component of the MAP.
FALL 2010 V55.0101 Quantitative Reasoning: Math Patterns in Nature
Prof. Hanhart (Mathematics)
Examines the role of mathematics as the language of science through case studies selected from the natural sciences and economics. Topics include the scale of things in the natural world; the art of making estimates; cross-cultural views of knowledge about the natural world; growth laws, including the growth of money and the concept of "constant dollars"; radioactivity and its role in unraveling the history of the earth and solar system; the notion of randomness and basic ideas from statistics; scaling laws and why things are the size they are; the cosmic distance ladder; and the meaning of "infinity." This calculator-based course is designed to help you use mathematics with some confidence in applications.
FALL 2010 V55.0105 Quantitative Reasoning: Elementary Statistics
Prof. Hanhart (Mathematics)
Introduction to statistics and probability appropriate for students who may require such for their chosen field of study. Actual survey and experimental data are analyzed. Topics include the description of data, elementary probability, random sampling, mean, variance, standard deviation, statistical tests, and estimation. For a less rigorous introduction to such topics, students are encouraged to register for another QR course.
FALL 2010 V55.0107 Quantitative Reasoning: Probability, Statistics & Decision-Making
Prof. Hanhart (Mathematics)
This course examines the role in mathematics in making ``correct'' decisions. Special attention is devoted to quantifying the notions of "correct," "fair," and "best" and using these ideas to establish optimal decisions and algorithms to problems of incomplete information and uncertain outcomes. The mathematical tools used include a selection of topics in statistics, probability, game theory, division strategies, and optimization.
FALL 2010 V55.0109 Quantitative Reasoning: Math & Computations Using Python
Prof. Marateck (Computer Science)
This course teaches key mathematical concepts using the new Python programming language. The first part of the course teaches students how to use the basic features of Python: operations with numbers and strings, variables, Boolean logic, control structures, loops and functions. The second part of the course focuses on the phenomena of growth and decay: geometric progressions, compound interest, exponentials and logarithms. The third part of the course introduces three key mathematical concepts: trigonometry, counting problems and probability. Students use Python to explore the mathematical concepts in labs and homework assignments. No prior knowledge of programming is required.
Prof. Hanhart (Mathematics) syllabus
Examines the role of mathematics as the language of science through case studies selected from the natural and social sciences. Topics include growth laws, including the growth of money and the concept of "constant dollars"; radioactivity and its role in unraveling the history of the earth and solar system; the notion of randomness and basic ideas from probability and statistics; scaling principles and trigonometry and its role in determining measurements from antiquity to today. This calculator-based course is designed to help you use mathematics with some confidence in applications.
SPRING 2011 V55.0105 Quantitative Reasoning: Elementary Statistics
Prof. Kalaycioglu (Mathematics) syllabus
Introduction to statistics and probability appropriate for students who may require such for their chosen field of study. Actual survey and experimental data are analyzed. Topics include the description of data, elementary probability, random sampling, mean, variance, standard deviation, statistical tests, and estimation. For a less rigorous introduction to such topics, students are encouraged to register for another QR course.
SPRING 2011 V55.0107 Quantitative Reasoning: Probability, Statistics & Decision-Making
Prof. Hanhart (Mathematics) syllabus
This course examines the role in mathematics in making ``correct'' decisions. Special attention is devoted to quantifying the notions of "correct,'' "fair,'' and "best'' and using these ideas to establish optimal decisions and algorithms to problems of incomplete information and uncertain outcomes. The mathematical tools used include a selection of topics in statistics, probability, optimization, and geometric growth.
Spring 2011 V55.0109 Quantitative Reasoning: Math & Computations Using Python
Prof. Marateck (Computer Science) syllabus
This course teaches key mathematical concepts using the new Python programming language. The first part of the course teaches students how to use the basic features of Python: operations with numbers and strings, variables, Boolean logic, control structures, loops and functions. The second part of the course focuses on the phenomena of growth and decay: geometric progressions, compound interest, exponentials and logarithms. The third part of the course introduces three key mathematical concepts: trigonometry, counting problems and probability. Students use Python to explore the mathematical concepts in labs and homework assignments. No prior knowledge of programming is required.
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Natural Science I
The prerequisite for all Natural Science I courses is completion of or exemption from Quantitative Reasoning, or completion of an approved substitute course.
FALL 2010 V55.0203 Natural Science I: Energy and the Environment
Prof. Jordan (MAP) syllabus
This course explores the scientific foundations of current environmental issues and the impact of this knowledge on public policy. One goal of the course is to examine several topics of pressing importance and lively debate in our society – e.g., global warming, the quest for clean air and water, atmospheric ozone depletion, and the continuing search for viable sources of energy. A parallel goal is to develop the chemical, physical, and quantitative principles that are necessary for a deeper understanding of these environmental issues. The relevant topics include the structure of atoms and molecules, the interaction of light with matter, energy relationships in chemical reactions, and the properties of acids and bases. Throughout the course we also examine how scientific studies of the environment are connected to political, economic and policy concerns. The laboratory experiments are closely integrated with the lecture topics and provide hands-on explorations of central course themes. Overall, this course will provide you with the foundation to carefully evaluate environmental issues and make informed decisions about them.
FALL 2010 V55.0203 Natural Science I: Energy and the Environment
Prof. Brenner (Chemistry) syllabus
This course explores the scientific foundations of current environmental issues and the impact of this knowledge on public policy. One goal of the course is to examine several topics of pressing importance and lively debate in our society – e.g., global warming, the quest for clean air and water, atmospheric ozone depletion, and the continuing search for viable sources of energy. A parallel goal is to develop the chemical, physical, and quantitative principles that are necessary for a deeper understanding of these environmental issues. The relevant topics include the structure of atoms and molecules, the interaction of light with matter, energy relationships in chemical reactions, and the properties of acids and bases. Throughout the course we also examine how scientific studies of the environment are connected to political, economic and policy concerns. The laboratory experiments are closely integrated with the lecture topics and provide hands-on explorations of central course themes. Overall, this course will provide you with the foundation to carefully evaluate environmental issues and make informed decisions about them.
FALL 2010 V55.0205 Natural Science I: Exploration of Light and Color
Prof. Stroke (Physics) syllabus
Color science is an interdisciplinary endeavor that incorporates both the physics and the perception of light and color. It provides an understanding of visual effects that dramatically enhances our appreciation of what we see. The study of color, light, and optics has applications to photography, art, natural phenomena, and technology. We also study the eye as both an optical and an image processing instrument. Topics include how color is classified and measured (colorimetry), how light is produced, how atoms and molecules affect light, how the human retina detects light, and how lenses are used in cameras.
FALL 2010 V55.0209 Natural Science I: Quarks to Cosmos
Prof. Gabadadze (Physics) syllabus
Modern science has provided us with some understanding of age-old fundamental questions, while at the same time opening up many new areas of investigation. How old is the Universe? How did galaxies, stars, and planets form? What are the fundamental constituents of matter and how do they combine to form the contents of the Universe? The course will cover measurements and chains of scientific reasoning that have allowed us to reconstruct the Big Bang by measuring little wisps of light reaching the Earth, to learn about sub-atomic particles by use of many-mile long machines, and to combine the two to understand the Universe as a whole from the sub-atomic particles of which it is composed.
FALL 2010 V55.0214 Natural Science I: How Things Work
Prof. Stein (Physics) syllabus
Do you know how electricity is generated? How instruments create music? What makes refrigerator magnets stick? For that matter, why is ice skating possible, how do wheels use friction and why can someone quickly remove a tablecloth without moving any dishes? All of the devices that define contemporary living are applications of basic scientific discoveries. The principles underlying these devices are fascinating as well as useful, and help to explain many of the features of the world around us. This course familiarizes you with some basic principles of physics by examining selected devices such as CD and DVD players, microwave ovens, the basic electronic components of computers, lasers and LEDs, magnetic resonance imaging as used in medicine, and even nuclear weapons. In learning the basic physics behind these modern inventions, you will develop a deeper understanding of how the physical world works and gain a new appreciation of everyday phenomena that are ordinarily taken for granted. The course is designed for non-science students with an interest in the natural world. The basic physical ideas needed to understand how things operate are presented using some mathematics, but none beyond elementary high school-level algebra.
FALL 2010 V55.0214 Natural Science I: How Things Work
Prof. Adler (Physics) syllabus
Do you know how electricity is generated? How instruments create music? What makes refrigerator magnets stick? For that matter, why is ice skating possible, how do wheels use friction and why can someone quickly remove a tablecloth without moving any dishes? All of the devices that define contemporary living are applications of basic scientific discoveries. The principles underlying these devices are fascinating as well as useful, and help to explain many of the features of the world around us. This course familiarizes you with some basic principles of physics by examining selected devices such as CD and DVD players, microwave ovens, the basic electronic components of computers, lasers and LEDs, magnetic resonance imaging as used in medicine, and even nuclear weapons. In learning the basic physics behind these modern inventions, you will develop a deeper understanding of how the physical world works and gain a new appreciation of everyday phenomena that are ordinarily taken for granted. The course is designed for non-science students with an interest in the natural world. The basic physical ideas needed to understand how things operate are presented using some mathematics, but none beyond elementary high school-level algebra.
SPRING 2011 V55.0203 Natural Science I: Energy and the Environment
Prof. Brenner (Chemistry) syllabus
This course explores the scientific foundations of current environmental issues and the impact of this knowledge on public policy. One goal of the course is to examine several topics of pressing importance and lively debate in our society – e.g., global warming, the quest for clean air and water, atmospheric ozone depletion, and the continuing search for viable sources of energy. A parallel goal is to develop the chemical, physical, and quantitative principles that are necessary for a deeper understanding of these environmental issues. The relevant topics include the structure of atoms and molecules, the interaction of light with matter, energy relationships in chemical reactions, and the properties of acids and bases. Throughout the course we also examine how scientific studies of the environment are connected to political, economic and policy concerns. The laboratory experiments are closely integrated with the lecture topics and provide hands-on explorations of central course themes. Overall, this course will provide you with the foundation to carefully evaluate environmental issues and make informed decisions about them.
SPRING 2011 V55.0203 Natural Science I: Energy and the Environment
Prof. Jerschow (Chemistry) syllabus
Explores the scientific foundations of current environmental issues and the impact of this knowledge on public policy. One goal is to examine several topics of pressing importance and lively debate in our society—e.g., global warming, the quest for clean air and water, atmospheric ozone depletion, and the continuing search for viable sources of energy. A parallel goal is to develop the chemical, physical, and quantitative principles that are necessary for a deeper understanding of these environmental issues. Relevant topics include the structure of atoms and molecules, the interaction of light with matter, energy relationships in chemical reactions, and the properties of acids and bases. Throughout, we also examine how scientific studies of the environment are connected to political, economic, and policy concerns.
SPRING 2011 V55.0204 Natural Science I: Einstein's Universe
Prof. Schucking (Physics) syllabus
Addresses the science and life of Einstein in the context of 20th-century physics, beginning with 19th-century ideas about light, space, and time in order to understand why Einstein's work was so innovative. Einstein's most influential ideas are contained in his theories of special relativity, which reformulated conceptions of space and time, and general relativity, which extended these ideas to gravitation. Both these theories are explored quantitatively, together with wide-ranging applications of these ideas, from the nuclear energy which powers the sun to black holes and the big bang theory of the birth of the universe.
SPRING 2011 V55.0214 Natural Science I: How Things Work
Prof. Stroke (Physics) syllabus
Do you know how electricity is generated? How instruments create music? What makes refrigerator magnets stick? For that matter, why is ice skating possible, how do wheels use friction and why can someone quickly remove a tablecloth without moving any dishes? All of the devices that define contemporary living are applications of basic scientific discoveries. The principles underlying these devices are fascinating as well as useful, and help to explain many of the features of the world around us. We explore some basic principles of physics by examining selected devices such as CD and DVD players, microwave ovens, the basic electronic components of computers, lasers and LEDs, magnetic resonance imaging as used in medicine, and even nuclear weapons. In learning the basic physics behind these modern inventions, you will develop a deeper understanding of how the physical world works and gain a new appreciation of everyday phenomena that are ordinarily taken for granted. The course is designed for non-science students with an interest in the natural world. The basic physical ideas needed to understand how things operate are presented using some mathematics, but none beyond elementary high school-level algebra.
SPRING 2011 V55.0214 Natural Science I: How Things Work
Prof. Grier (Physics) syllabus
Do you know how electricity is generated? How instruments create music? What makes refrigerator magnets stick? For that matter, why is ice skating possible, how do wheels use friction and why can someone quickly remove a tablecloth without moving any dishes? All of the devices that define contemporary living are applications of basic scientific discoveries. The principles underlying these devices are fascinating as well as useful, and help to explain many of the features of the world around us. This course familiarizes you with some basic principles of physics by examining selected devices such as CD and DVD players, microwave ovens, the basic electronic components of computers, lasers and LEDs, magnetic resonance imaging as used in medicine, and even nuclear weapons. In learning the basic physics behind these modern inventions, you will develop a deeper understanding of how the physical world works and gain a new appreciation of everyday phenomena that are ordinarily taken for granted. The course is designed for non-science students with an interest in the natural world. The basic physical ideas needed to understand how things operate are presented using some mathematics, but none beyond elementary high school-level algebra.
Natural Science II
The prerequisite for all Natural Science II courses is completion of or exemption from Quantitative Reasoning, or completion of an approved substitute course. The completion of Natural Science I is recommended prior to taking Natural Science II.
FALL 2010 V55.0303 Natural Science II: Human Genetics
Prof. Rockman (Biology) syllabus
We are currently witnessing a revolution in human genetics, where the ability to scrutinize and manipulate DNA has allowed scientists to gain unprecedented insights into the role of heredity. Beginning with an overview of the principles of inheritance such as cell division and Mendelian genetics, we explore the foundations and frontiers of modern human genetics, with an emphasis on understanding and evaluating new discoveries. Descending to the molecular level, we investigate how genetic information is encoded in DNA and how mutations affect gene function. These molecular foundations are used to explore the science and social impact of genetic technology, including topics such as genetic testing, genetically modified foods, DNA fingerprinting, and the Human Genome Project. Laboratory projects emphasize the diverse methods that scientists employ to study heredity.
FALL 2010 V55.0306 Natural Science II: Brain and Behavior
Prof. Suzuki (Neural Science) syllabus
The relationship of the brain to behavior, beginning with the basic elements that make up the nervous system and how electrical and chemical signals in the brain work to effect behavior. Using this foundation, we examine how the brain learns and how it creates new behaviors, together with the brain mechanisms that are involved in sensory experience, movement, hunger and thirst, sexual behaviors, the experience of emotions, perception and cognition, memory and the brain's plasticity. Other key topics include whether certain behavioral disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can be accounted for by changes in the function of the brain, and how drugs can alter behavior and brain function.
Note: Handling of animals and animal brain tissue is required in some labs.
FALL 2010 V55.0309 Natural Science II: The Body - How It Works
Prof. Goldberg (Chemistry) syllabus
The human body is a complex system of mutually interdependent molecules, cells, tissues, organs and organ systems. We examine the human body with the goal of understanding how physiological systems operate at these varying levels. Examples include the circulation of blood, the function of our muscles, the utilization of oxygen in respiration, and how our immune system detects and fights foreign invaders. Disturbing the delicate balance of these systems can produce various human diseases, which will also be examined throughout the course. Laboratory work provides firsthand experience with studying molecular processes, cell structures, and physiological systems.
FALL 2010 V55.0310 Natural Science II: The Molecules of Life
Prof. Jordan (MAP) syllabus
Our lives are increasingly influenced by the availability of new pharmaceuticals, ranging from drugs that lower cholesterol to those that influence behavior. We examine the chemistry and biology of biomolecules that make up the molecular machinery of the cell. Critical to the function of such biomolecules is their three-dimensional structure that endows them with a specific function. This information provides the scientific basis for understanding drug action and how new drugs are designed. Beginning with the principles of chemical bonding, molecular structure, and acid-base properties that govern the structure and function of biomolecules, we apply these principles to study the varieties of protein architecture and how proteins serve as enzymes to facilitate biochemical reactions. We conclude with a study of molecular genetics and how recent information from the Human Genome Project is stimulating new approaches to diagnosing disease and designing drug treatments.
FALL 2010 V55.0313 Natural Science II: The Brain: A User's Guide
Prof. Azmitia (Biology) syllabus
The Human Brain is the most complex organ. Despite the central position it has in nearly every aspect of our daily lives, it remains to many a mystery. How does it work? How can we care for it? How long will it function? This MAP course is designed to provide answers to these questions, and many more at an academic level accessible to the non-scientist student, and of interest to the scientist with little exposure to neuroscience. The aims of the course are to provide the student with a firm foundation in what the brain looks like and what each of the parts do. To accomplish this, we will learn about the functions of the cortex in higher learning and memory, as well as discuss the basic work of the brainstem in regulating the internal environment of the body. The importance of nutrition on neurotransmitter synthesis, the function of sleep on memory and why we need so much of it, and the effects of alcohol and drugs on brain harmony and the meaning of addiction will be some of the points covered in this course. We will look at brain development and the special needs of children, as well as brain aging and illness and the difficulty of helping. The laboratories are designed to provide hands-on experience in exploring the structure of the brain as well as learning how to measure brain functioning. We will provide specially prepared slides so the student can recognize a neuron and differentiate a dendrite from an axon. The molecular shape of neurotransmitter will be covered, as well as learning how to measure alcohol and determining its levels in your body. It is expected that by the end of the course, the student will be familiar with the biological basis of brain structure and function, and not only be able to detect how a normal brain works, but also how to help keep it healthy.
SPRING 2011 V55.0305 Natural Science II: Human Origins
Prof. Bailey (Anthropology) syllabus
An introduction to the approaches and methods scientists use to investigate the origins and evolutionary history of our own species. This interdisciplinary study synthesizes research from a number of different areas of science. Topics include reconstructing evolutionary relationships using molecular and morphological data, the mitochondrial Eve hypothesis, ancient DNA, human variation and natural selection, the use of stable isotopes to reconstruct dietary behavior in prehistoric humans, the Neandertal enigma, the importance of studies of chimpanzees for understanding human behavior, and the 6-million-year-old fossil evidence for human evolution.
SPRING 2011 V55.0306 Natural Science II: Brain and Behavior
Prof. Hawken (Neural Science) syllabus
The relationship of the brain to behavior, beginning with the basic elements that make up the nervous system and how electrical and chemical signals in the brain work to effect behavior. Using this foundation, we examine how the brain learns and how it creates new behaviors, together with the brain mechanisms that are involved in sensory experience, movement, hunger and thirst, sexual behaviors, the experience of emotions, perception and cognition, memory and the brain's plasticity. Other key topics include whether certain behavioral disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can be accounted for by changes in the function of the brain, and how drugs can alter behavior and brain function.
Note: Handling of animals and animal brain tissue is required in some labs.
SPRING 2011 V55.0310 Natural Science II: The Molecules of Life
Prof. Jordan (MAP) syllabus
Our lives are increasingly influenced by the availability of new pharmaceuticals, ranging from drugs that lower cholesterol to those that influence behavior. We examine the chemistry and biology of biomolecules that make up the molecular machinery of the cell. Critical to the function of such biomolecules is their three-dimensional structure that endows them with a specific function. This information provides the scientific basis for understanding drug action and how new drugs are designed. Beginning with the principles of chemical bonding, molecular structure, and acid-base properties that govern the structure and function of biomolecules, we apply these principles to study the varieties of protein architecture and how proteins serve as enzymes to facilitate biochemical reactions. We conclude with a study of molecular genetics and how recent information from the Human Genome Project is stimulating new approaches to diagnosing disease and designing drug treatments.
SPRING 2011 V55.0311 Natural Science II: Lessons from the Biosphere
Prof. Volk (Biology) syllabus
Provides a foundation of knowledge about how Earth's biosphere works. This includes the biggest ideas and findings about biology on the global scale-the scale in which we live. Such knowledge is especially crucial today because we humans are perturbing so many systems within the biosphere. We explore four main topics: (1) Evolution of Life: How did life come to be what it is today? (2) Life's Diversity: What is life today on the global scale? (3) Cycles of Matter: How do life and the non-living environment interact? (4) The Human Guild: How are humans changing the biosphere and how might we consider our future within the biosphere? Laboratory experiments are complemented by an exploration at the American Museum of Natural History.
SPRING 2011 V55.0314 Natural Science II: Genomes and Diversity
Prof. Siegal (Biology) syllabus
Millions of species of animals, plants and microbes inhabit our planet. Genomics, the study of all the genes in an organism, is providing new insights into this amazing diversity of life on Earth. We begin with the fundamentals of DNA, genes and genomes. We then explore microbial diversity, with an emphasis on how genomics can reveal many aspects of organisms, from their ancient history to their physiological and ecological habits. We follow with examinations of animal and plant diversity, focusing on domesticated species, such as dogs and tomatoes, as examples of how genomic methods can be used to identify genes that underlie new or otherwise interesting traits. Genomics has also transformed the study of human diversity and human disease. We examine the use of DNA to trace human ancestry, as well as the use of genomics as a diagnostic tool in medicine. With the powerful new technologies to study genomes has come an increased power to manipulate them. We conclude by considering the societal implications of this ability to alter the genomes of crop plants, livestock and potentially humans.
Texts and Ideas
Note: Previously listed as Conversations of the West
Fall 2010 V55.0400 Texts and Ideas: Topics - Animal Humans
Prof. Lezra (Comparative Literature) syllabus
"One might go so far as to define man as a creature that has failed in its effort to keep its animalness…" So writes the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk. What sort of animal were we? Where, how, and by whom has the line between the human and the animal been drawn? With what consequences for our "human" understanding of the world? Of concepts like the "soul," "society," politics, the family? Is the line between the human and the animal drawn differently in different genres--in literary works, theological treatises, natural histories, paintings, films? We come at these questions from different angles, following them from antiquity to early modern responses to these questions, and in essays by contemporary philosophers and advocates. Readings: Genesis, Numbers, Euripides' Bacchae, Plato's Phaedrus, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Apuleius' Golden Ass, Marie de France' Bisclavret, Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Montaigne's "Apology in Defense of Raymond Sebond, Machiavelli's Prince, H. G. Wells's Island of Dr. Moreau and Island of Lost Souls, Derrida's "The Animal that therefore I am," selections from Boccaccio, Peter Singer, Giorgio Agamben, Donna Haraway.
Fall 2010 V55.0400 Texts and Ideas: Topics - Spectatorship—Ethics, Politics, Aesthetics
Prof. Harries (English) syllabus
Are you responsible for what you see? Sometimes? Never? Always? How do you decide? Why do works of art so often represent suffering? Does art allow us to witness suffering without having to take responsibility for that suffering? What happens when we witness real suffering as though it were art? We consider crucial texts on spectatorship from Plato to the present, how various thinkers and artists have approached these and other questions, and how looking from a distance has informed thinking about aesthetics, ethics, and politics. Throughout our discussions of these readings, we ask what it means that thinkers insist that looking has power: power to produce various emotions from desire to sympathy, or power to produce social and even political bonds. These thinkers will, in turn, challenge us to think about the function of images in the present. Readings and films: Plato’s Republic, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Shakespeare’s King Lear, Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments, Rousseau’s Letter to M. d’Alembert on the Theatre, Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy, selections from Freud, Beckett’s Endgame, Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr., Hitchcock’s Rear Window.
FALL 2010 V55.0400 Texts and Ideas: Topics-- The Deliberating Citizen
Prof. Connolly (Classics) syllabus
What do we need to function as citizens of a democracy--capacities of reason, imagination, or eloquence? Skills in analyzing public discourse or habits of historical memory? Is belief in God required, or particular emotional tendencies or sympathies? What kind of humanistic values, if any, can and should a democracy promote? We examine these questions on the assumption that intensive close reading (and listening, in Mozart’s case) promotes the habits of engaged, articulate talking and writing that are the bedrock of civic education. Music of Mozart and readings from Plato, Thucydides, Vergil, Shakespeare, Rousseau, Kant, Adam Smith, John Dewey, Hannah Arendt.
FALL 2010 V55.0402 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the Renaissance
Prof. Bolduc (French) syllabus
Explores how books give shape, meaning, and purpose to the world and human experience. As it reinterprets the Greek and Roman legacy, the Renaissance faces crucial epistemological shifts triggered by new discoveries that call to mind our own struggles: making sense of a world in constant flux where truths are not only put into question but also lead to bloodshed. Grouped under four main themes--epic and the human experience, tales of beginnings and ends, battles for truth, writings of the self--we consider the purpose of this conversation between writers of different epochs and its relevance for understanding our own culture. Reading: Vergil's Aeneid, Cervantes' Don Quixote, Hesiod's Theogony, selections from Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, Machiavelli's Prince, Navarre's Heptameron, Sophocles' Antigone, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Plato's Symposium, Augustine's Confessions, selections from Montaigne's Essays.
FALL 2010 V55.0402 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the Renaissance
Prof. Gilman (English) syllabus
The "Renaissance" understands itself as an age bearing witness to the "rebirth" of classical antiquity. In art, philosophy, and literature it also assumes the task of reconciling the cultural inheritance of Greece and Rome with the Christian tradition (itself entering into a moment of crisis as allegiances split between the Catholic church and the "reformed" church of Luther and Calvin). Our first task is to look at antiquity; our second, to explore the ways in which European culture between 1400 and 1700 invents the modern by making itself conversant with the past. Readings: Homer's Odyssey; Sophocles' Antigone; Plato's Phaedo and Symposium; Vergil's Aeneid; Genesis, Exodus, Job, Luke, Acts, John; Augustine's Confessions; Castiglione's Book of the Courtier; Machiavelli's Prince; Erasmus's Praise of Folly; Montaigne's Essays; More's Utopia; Shakespeare's Tempest.
FALL 2010 V55.0403 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the Enlightenment
Prof. Garrett (Philosophy) syllabus
All animals live, but only human beings consider how to live; and only reflective human beings deliberate among different ways to decide how to live. Should one look for guidance to tradition, to religion, to the state, to nature, to feeling, to reason? Versions of this question were raised and addressed repeatedly and with urgency in both Antiquity and the Enlightenment. We examine some of the most important and influential attempts to answer it and some of the dialogue that such attempts have had with one another. Readings include Hebrew and Christian scriptures, Greek tragedy and philosophy, Spinoza, Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Kant, Wollstonecraft.
FALL 2010 V55.0404 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the 19th Century
Prof. Ulfers (German) syllabus
A conversation between two paradigms informing Western culture: the dominant, optimistic one, revolving around notions of historical progress toward absolute knowledge and utopian visions of the world and society; and the subterranean, pessimistic one, which looks on the former as a human construct or fiction that must come to naught. Readings: works from the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, Plato, and Sophocles; Augustine's Confessions; selections from Darwin; Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto; Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy; Freud's Interpretation of Dreams; Kafka's Metamorphosis; Mann's Death in Venice.
FALL 2010 V55.0404 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the 19th Century
Prof. Renzi (MAP) syllabus
Contemporary moral psychology: where it came from, where it’s brought us, how we might move beyond it. Readings: Rosenberg and Bloom's Book of J; Genesis, Exodus, Job; Matthew, Galatians; Gospel of Mary; Euripides' Medea; Aristophanes' Clouds; Plato's Apology, Gorgias, Symposium; Xenophon's Apology; Augustine's Confessions; Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling; Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality, Freud's "Case of Miss Lucy R." and Civilization and Its Discontents; Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto.
FALL 2010 V55.0404 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the 19th Century
Prof. Corradi (Sociology) syllabus
A guide to the intellectual heritage distinctive to the West, with special attention to the nature of the person, freedom, rationality, democracy, and the social order. The works we study continue to shape the way people understand themselves and the world. They are 'classic' in the sense that they have not finished saying what they have to say. We situate them in historical context, looking for ways in which later authors responded to themes introduced by earlier ones. From the particularity of the West, these themes show a vocation for universality. Readings include: Genesis, Exodus, Luke, Corinthians; Sophocles' Oedipus and Antigone; Plato's Apology and Republic; Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics; Pericles' Funeral Oration; Epictetus' Discourses; Augustine's Confessions; Tocqueville's Democracy in America; Mill's On Liberty; Darwin's Origins of the Species; Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto; Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling; Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality; Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; Lincoln's Gettysburg Address; Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents.
FALL 2010 V55.0404 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the 19th Century
Prof. Calhoun (Sociology) syllabus
A guide to the intellectual heritage distinctive to the West, with special attention to the nature of the person, faith, ethics, and the social order. The works we study continue to shape the way people understand themselves and the world. We situate them in historical context, looking for ways in which later authors responded to themes introduced by earlier ones. Readings include: Genesis, Exodus, Luke, 1 Corinthians; Sophocles' Oedipus; Plato's Apology and Crito; Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics; Epictetus' Discourses; Augustine's Confessions; Shelley's Frankenstein; Tocqueville's Democracy in America; Mill's On Liberty; Marx and Engels' The Communist Manifesto; Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling; Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality; Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; and Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.
FALL 2010 V55.0412 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the Renaissance - Writing Intensive
Prof. Gerety (Collegiate Professor) syllabus
What is the soul? Is it the conscious self or something more? Does our identity persist beyond death? What is the relation between the soul and good and evil? Some say that Socrates 'discovered' the human soul, but the idea that we have souls that outlast our bodies is as old as humanity. Our understanding of the nature of our souls often dictates the way we feel we should live. We will explore ideas from Homer and Heraclitus through Socrates himself and then on to Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament (including the Gnostics), Augustine, and Vergil. We look for the elements that make up personal identity and value in the ancient world, both religious and secular, and see how much these change from Homer's world to that of Augustine and the Roman Empire. We then turn to Dante, who provides a bridge to some of the great thinkers and artists of the Renaissance--most notably Shakespeare and DaVinci but also Montaigne and Villon. In all of these, the permanence and even presence of our souls seem more uncertain, more threatened by death and obliteration, than in Plato or Paul, and this threat reaches our morality and values as well. In this way, the Renaissance marks the beginning of the world in which all of us must now find our way.
Note: Offered in conjunction with selected sections of V40.0100, Writing the Essay.
FALL 2010 V55.0414 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the 19th Century - Writing Intensive
Prof. Renzi (MAP) syllabus
Contemporary moral psychology: where it came from, where it’s brought us, how we might move beyond it. Readings: Rosenberg and Bloom's Book of J; Genesis, Exodus, Job; Matthew, Galatians; Gospel of Mary; Euripides' Medea; Aristophanes' Clouds; Plato's Apology, Gorgias, Symposium; Xenophon's Apology; Augustine's Confessions; Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling; Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality, Freud's "Case of Miss Lucy R." and Civilization and Its Discontents; Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto.
Note: Offered in conjunction with selected sections of V40.0100, Writing the Essay.
SPRING 2011 V55.0400 Texts and Ideas: Topics: Justice and Injustice in Biblical Narrative and Western Thought
Prof. Weiler (Law) syllabus
Issue of justice and injustice and other normative concerns. Each week pairs a core reading from the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament with another work in the Western tradition to explore a broad range of complex normative issues. Often God will be “on trial:” Was the Deluge genocide? Is Abraham guilty of attempted murder and child abuse? Was Jesus guilty as charged? Was Socrates? The themes are all of relevance to contemporary issues: communal responsibility vs. individual autonomy, ecological crisis, ethics vs. religion, freedom of speech and thought, genocide, rule of law and civil disobedience, the Other, punishment and retribution, religious intolerance, sanctity of human life, sex and gender. The course will be taught at the Law School in Law School style—rigourous but academically and intellectually rewarding. Primary readings include: Aristophanes’ Clouds; Plato’s Apology; Xenophon’s Apology; Sophocles’ Antigone; selections from Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Aristotle, Maimonides, Aquinas, Luther, Kant, Kierkegaard, Mill, Thoreau, Kafka, Camus.
SPRING 2011 V55.0400 Texts and Ideas: Topics: Free Will in Western Thought
Prof. Krabbenhoft (Spanish and Portuguese) syllabus
The freedom of the human will has been a foundational premise of Western civilization from the early centuries of the Christian era to the present, and yet it has been questioned and even rejected by some of the most influential thinkers of the modern period. We look at the sources of the modern debate in passages from the Hebrew Bible and Greek philosophy, in key texts by Augustine, Luther, and Erasmus, and in the shift toward a deontological view in Kant, Schopenhauer, and nineteenth-century materialism. From this historical overview we move to contemporary theories of freedom and determinism, as well as a discussion of the intersection of neuroscience and the philosophy of free will, and read a number of literary texts in the light of theory: Sophocles’ Philoctetes, Tirso de Molina’s Trickster of Seville, Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyich, and Stanislaw Lem’s Fiasco.
SPRING 2011 V55.0400 Texts and Ideas: Topics: Literature in Wonderland
Prof. Momma (English) syllabus
How to Play with Language: We use language every day, and yet we do not seem to know exactly how it works. Communicating with others through language sometimes feels like playing a game. But does this mean we have only one language game to play, or that we follow only one set of rules all the time? Just like Alice, who was constantly frustrated by the logic of the inhabitants of Wonderland, we are often baffled by difficulties in communicating even the simplest idea. We explore issues on language that may be raised by reading literary and philosophical texts written by “language-conscious” authors: Is language the only way to communicate? Do we know anything about the origin of language? Do grammar and rhetoric help us communicate well or persuade others? Do etymology and the history of English tell us anything new about the language we know already? Do our minds work exactly the same way regardless of the language we speak? How do we do things with words? Readings: Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Plato’s Cratylus, Aristotle’s Poetics, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Beowulf, Chaucer’s House of Fame, Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener, Borges’ Library of Babel, Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
SPRING 2011 V55.0400 Texts and Ideas: Topics: Freedom and Oppression
Prof. Kunhardt (History) syllabus
Examines the human quest for freedom—freedom from slavery, from sexual oppression, and from the shackling of the mind—as these three came to a crisis in nineteenth century America. We begin with a critical reading of formative biblical texts and ideas; touch down on the passionate thought-world of the American founders; and culminate in a close look at mid-nineteenth century reform efforts, and the ideas of freedom that animated them. Exploring the dawn of biblical humanism, the embrace of the secular, and efforts to widen the circles of inclusion, we pay particular attention to the writings of Abraham Lincoln and his generation, as he and others, both allies and critics, worked to eradicate slavery from American society. Why did the Bible condone slavery, helping Americans justify continuing the practice? In what ways are competing ideas of freedom to be judged? How is the idea of freedom related to that of human equality? Readings: Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Isaiah, Matthew, Luke; and works by Paine, Jefferson, Madison, Garrison, Douglass, Sumner, Stanton, Anthony, Rose, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Parker, Mill, Ingersoll, Lincoln.
SPRING 2011 V55.0400 Texts and Ideas: Topics: Mortal and Immortal Questions
Professor Mitsis (Classics) syllabus
A wide-ranging selection of works that have framed in memorable, though often contradictory, ways some basic questions about the nature of religion, the successes and failures of rational argument, the justification of social and political obligations, the benefits and dangers of technology and scientific knowledge, and the value of emotions and our attachments to others. Throughout the semester, students have the opportunity to become more practiced in formulating moral, political, and aesthetic arguments and in what used to be characterized as the proper use of one's solitude, that is, examining what it means to be a human being faced with death--or, perhaps, worse, faced with eternal life. Readings: Homer, Sophocles, Euripides, Thucydides, Plato, Epicureans, Stoics, Hebrew and Christian scripture, Augustine, Teresa of Avila, Hume, d'Holbach, Rousseau, Mill, Marx, Tolstoy, Freud, Proust.
SPRING 2011 V55.0402 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the Renaissance
Prof. Gilman (English) syllabus
The "Renaissance" understands itself as an age bearing witness to the "rebirth" of classical antiquity. In art, philosophy, and literature it also assumes the task of reconciling the cultural inheritance of Greece and Rome with the Christian tradition (itself entering into a moment of crisis as allegiances split between the Catholic church and the "reformed" church of Luther and Calvin). Our first task is to look at antiquity; our second, to explore the ways in which European culture between 1400 and 1700 invents the modern by making itself conversant with the past. Readings: Homer's Odyssey; Sophocles' Antigone; Plato's Phaedo and Symposium; Vergil's Aeneid; Genesis, Exodus, Job, Luke, Acts, John; Augustine's Confessions; Castiglione's Book of the Courtier; Machiavelli's Prince; Erasmus's Praise of Folly; Montaigne's Essays; More's Utopia; Shakespeare's Tempest.
SPRING 2011 V55.0403 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the Enlightenment
Prof. Rubenstein (Hebrew & Judaic Studies) syllabus
Beginning with the collision of the "Judeo-Christian" and Hellenistic traditions and their encounter in the Christian Scriptures and Augustine, we see Enlightenment thinkers grapple with the fusion of these traditions they had inherited, subjecting both to serious criticism and revising them as a new tradition—science and technology—rises to prominence. Reading from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, Sophocles, Plato, Augustine, Montesquieu, Pope, Voltaire, and Rousseau.
SPRING 2011 V55.0403 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the Enlightenment
Prof. Deneys-Tunney (French) syllabus
The Enlightenment was a Europe-wide movement, which concerned all aspects of culture of the time: philosophy and literature, the arts (painting, music, architecture), as well as politics and society as a whole. The Enlightenment defined itself as a new birth, a subversive movement that would free mankind of all its prejudices--philosophical, religious, political, sexual, racial. In doing so, the Enlightenment appears today to be indeed the beginning of our modernity, as it invented key concepts that define or frame our contemporary representations of ourselves and the world around us: the concept of the subject or subjectivity, of nature, of origins, of equality, of critical philosophy and democracy, of pleasure, of sexuality, of happiness. It is a unique moment in history, where philosophy aims not only at interpreting the world but also at changing it to make it a better place for mankind. It culminates at the end of the 18th century in France with the French Revolution, which declared for the first time in human history that all men are born free and equal. Readings: Genesis, Plato's Symposium and Phedrus, Epicurus' Maxims and letters, Descartes' Discourse on Method, Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality and Rêveries, Diderot's Indiscreet Jewels and Jacques the Fatalist, Voltaire's Candide and Zadig, Marivaux's Dispute and Double Unfaithfulness, Kant's "What is Enlightenment?"
SPRING 2011 V55.0404 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the 19th Century
Prof. Ertman (Sociology) syllabus
Explores the ancient foundations of traditional Western culture by examining the political and social institutions, religious beliefs, and value systems of the Israelites, Greeks, Romans, and early Christians; then turns to the radical challenges to this traditional culture, in the areas of the economy, politics, religion, and morality, that arose over the course of the 19th century, challenges that continue to reverberate to this day. Readings: Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Luke, Acts, Romans; Thucydides' Peloponnesian War; Plato's Apology and Symposium; Vergil's Aeneid; Augustine's Confessions; Smith's Wealth of Nations; Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto; Mill's On Liberty; Darwin's Origin of Species; Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality; Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents.
SPRING 2011 V55.0404 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the 19th Century
Prof. Renzi (MAP) syllabus
Contemporary moral psychology: where it came from, where it’s brought us, how we might move beyond it. Readings: Rosenberg and Bloom's Book of J; Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, Daniel; Matthew, Galatians; Gospel of Mary; Euripides' Medea; Aristophanes' Clouds; Plato's Apology and Republic; Xenophon's Apology; Augustine's Confessions; Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling; Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality; Freud's "Case of Miss Lucy R." and Civilization and Its Discontents; Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto.
SPRING 2011 V55.0404 Texts and Ideas: Antiquity and the 19th Century
Prof. Renzi (MAP) syllabus
Contemporary
moral psychology: where it came from, where it’s brought us, how we
might move beyond it. Readings: Rosenberg and Bloom's Book of J;
Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, Daniel; Matthew, Galatians; Gospel of Mary;
Euripides' Medea; Aristophanes' Clouds; Plato's Apology and Republic;
Xenophon's Apology; Augustine's Confessions; Kierkegaard's Fear and
Trembling; Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality; Freud's "Case of Miss Lucy
R." and Civilization and Its Discontents; Marx and Engels’ Communist
Manifesto.
Cultures and Contexts
Note: Previously listed as World Cultures
FALL 2010 V55.0502 Cultures and Contexts: Islamic Societies
Prof. Chelkowski (Middle Eastern & Islamic Societies) syllabus
Examines the common base and regional variations of Islamic societies. An "Islamic society" is here understood as one that shares, either as operative present or as historical past, that common religious base called Islam. For Muslims, Islam is not simply a set of beliefs or observances but also includes a history; its study is thus by nature historical, topical, and regional. Here our particular focus is on the society of Shi'i Muslims. Shi'ism has been neglected in the last 200 years of the Western study of Islam, and only since the 1978–79 Islamic Revolution in Iran has it received attention in the West. Now, with American forces in Iraq, Shi'ism is suddenly one of the main topics of interest for the news media. The Shi'is of Iraq are the majority—some 60%—of the population, but historically they have been deprived of power in the government and of access to the political and economic life of the country.
FALL 2010 V55.0505 Cultures and Contexts: Africa
Prof. Gomez (History) syllabus
Major issues and questions relating to Africa's development from early to contemporary times, approached through its literature. While not a formal study of the history of Africa, establishes the historical context for understanding the literary texts in the periods in which they are embedded. Examined regionally and over time are questions concerning the relationship of the production of literature to centers of power, the meaning of literature in societies espousing orality, the problematics of sustaining both content and intent upon the conversion of oral literature into written form, the specific and at times parochial uses of literature, the interplay of gender and voice, and the politics of translation into European modalities.
FALL 2010 V55.0506 Cultures and Contexts: Chinese and Japanese Traditions
Prof. Roberts (East Asian Studies) syllabus
Essential aspects of Asian culture—Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Shintoism—studied through careful reading of major works of philosophy and literature. A roughly equal division between Chinese and Japanese works is meant to give a basic understanding of the broad similarities and the less obvious, but all-important, differences among the cultures of Confucian Asia. One reading is a Vietnamese adaptation of a Chinese legend. The last two readings, modern novellas from Japan and China, show the reaction of the traditional cultures to the Western invasions.
FALL 2010 V55.0509 Cultures and Contexts: Caribbean
Prof. Khan (Anthropology) syllabus
Examines the impact of the Caribbean's long colonial history from the perspective of its diverse populations, through race, class, culture, gender, and sexuality. Known for its beauty, cultural vitality, and mix of peoples, cultures, and languages, the Caribbean is where today's global economy began, some 500 years ago. Its sugar economy and history of slave labor and colonialism made it the site of massive transplantations of peoples and cultures from Africa for more than four centuries and from Asia since the mid-19th century, and of a sizable influx of peoples from Europe all along. Readings examine the history of the region's differing forms of colonialism; the present postcolonial economic and political structures; anthropological material on family and community life, religious beliefs and practices, gender roles and ideologies; and ways in which national, community, and group identities are expressed today.
FALL 2010 V55.0514 Cultures and Contexts: Ancient Israel
Prof. D. Fleming (Hebrew & Judaic Studies) syllabus
The people of the Hebrew Bible understood themselves to be united as an ancient tribe called Israel, a name that lay behind even the eventual state. Working backward from the fullest early definition of Israel, when the Hebrew Bible was taking final form, toward the time of older origins, we push back in time, using the Bible as the primary point of reference, while examining various independent evidence. Writing projects focus mainly on interpretation of biblical texts.
Fall 2010 V55.0515 Cultures and Contexts: Latin America
Prof. Abercrombie (Anthropology) syllabus
Spanish, African, and Amerindian Sources of Latin American Identities. Explores the emergence of contemporary Latin America through the past and present doings of its persons and their representations, religious manifestations, song, dance, and literature. Through in-depth treatment of selected cases, and via the perspectives of history, anthropology, and cultural criticism, focusing on texts but also film, dance, music, and performance, the aims is both to uncover the roots of Latin-Americanness (and of global modernity) in the historical confluence of Europe, Africa, and America, and to discover how those roots are continually remade as each generation strives to rise from the ashes of its forebears. Case studies include the samba schools and Candomble religion in Brazilian carnival, the role of Vodou in the Haitian revolution and in New York City, the Mexican burlesques of death in the Day of the Dead, and "Indian" saints whose processions are associated with rites to underworld beings as well as to national integration. At base, we seek to answer more fundamental questions: What does it mean to have an identity, Latin American or Gringo, White, Black, Indian, or Mixed? How are the collectivities called nations, ethnicities, races, and classes brought into being and sustained? How is the vanished past resuscitated to serve the needs of the present? What does it mean to be Latin American in the age of so-called globalization? Includes frank and explicit discussion of race, sex, and religion.
FALL 2010 V55.0534 Cultures and Contexts: The Black Atlantic
Prof. Morgan (Social and Cultural Analysis) syllabus
A range of intersecting questions concerning the African Diaspora and what it produces: What does the trans-Atlantic slave trade create in the early modern and modern world? How is our understanding of trade, culture, capitalism, justice, race, gender, and work shaped by the histories of dispersal that characterize the Atlantic World? What aspects of culture, politics, identity, and social formations are illuminated when we think critically about the African Diaspora and the forces that propel it?
FALL 2010 V55.0537 Cultures and Contexts: Modern Israel
Prof. Zweig (Hebrew & Judaic Studies) syllabus
Modern Israel—Society and Culture: Despite its small size and population, Israel is a diverse, dynamic, and complex society. To understand its ethnic, religious, and political divisions, the different ethnic origins of the Jewish population over the last 150 years will be examined, and the growing role of the Arab population (approaching 20%) in Israeli society will be discussed. The special role of religion in the secular state, the development of Hebrew speaking culture, the political system, the settlement movement and the peace movement, gender issues, and the role of the army in everyday life are all addressed, concluding with a survey of the debate on whether Israel is a Jewish state or a state of all its citizens. Although the controversial issues that keep Israel in the headlines are touched on, the focus is the character of Israeli society and the impact on everyday life of living in the international limelight.
FALL 2010 V55.0539 Cultures and Contexts: Asian Pacific American Cultures
Prof. Tu (Social and Cultural Analysis) syllabus
Major issues in the historical and contemporary experiences of Asian Pacific Americans, including migration, modernization, racial formation, community-building, and political mobilization, among others. Asian Pacific America encompasses a complex, diverse, and rapidly changing population of people. As an expression/reflection of their cultural identities, historical conditions, and political efforts, we pay particular attention to Asian Americans' use of cultural productions-films, literature, art, media, and popular culture.
Fall 2010 V55.0541 Cultures and Contexts: New World Encounters
Prof. Lane (Spanish & Portuguese) syllabus
What was America before it was called America? How did indigenous cultures understand and document their first encounters with Europeans? We focus on peoples, events, and cultural expressions associated with the conquest and colonization of the Americas, concentrating on three key areas: central Mexico, home to a several pre-Columbian societies, most notably the Aztec Empire, and later the seat of Spanish power in northern Latin America (the Viceroyalty of New Spain); the central Andes, home of the Incas and later the site of Spanish power in southern Latin America (the Viceroyalty of Peru); and finally, early plantation societies of the Caribbean, where the violent history of enslaved Africans in the new world unfolded. On one hand, we explore how those subjugated by conquest and colonialism interpreted, resisted, and recorded their experience. On the other, we ask what new cultural forms emerged from these violent encounters, and consider their role in the foundation of "Latin American" cultures. Readings balance a range of primary documents and art created during the "age of encounter," including maps, letters, paintings, and testimonials, along with historical and theoretical texts.
FALL 2010 V55.0545 Cultures and Contexts: Egypt of the Pharaohs
Prof. Morris (ISAW) syllabus
The archaeology, literature, and art of ancient Egypt all offer insights into its culture. Subjects of special interest are ancient Egyptian religious experiences and ethics, as well as constructions of gender, class, and ethnicity. Settlements that are particularly well documented through both archaeological and textual remains—such as Kahun and Deir el-Medina—yield extensive information about the varieties of social experience in these societies. Lives differed tremendously based on gender, profession, and locality (both spatial and temporal). Likewise, we explore how Egyptians, regardless of social standing, attempted to alter their socio-political circumstances through avenues such as concerted political action, magic, revolt, or the construction of well crafted satire. Primary sources include letters, wisdom literature, love poetry, ancient house plans, tomb scenes, physical anthropology.
FALL 2010 V55.0546 Cultures and Contexts: Global Asia
Prof. Ludden (History) syllabus
Explores the expansive transformation of Asian cultures from ancient times to the present, focusing on networks of mobility, interaction, social order, and exchange that form the particularity of Asian cultures through entanglements with others. Beginning in the days of Alexander the Great and the formation of the Afro-Eurasian ecumene, follows tracts of Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu, and Muslim expansion; then turns to the age of early modern landed empires, Ottoman-Safavid-Mughal-Ming/Ching, and their interactions with seaborne European expansion. Studies truly global formations of culture in the flow of goods, ideas, and people among world regions, during the age of modern empires and nationalism, including the rise of the nation as a cultural norm, capitalism in Asia, and Japanese expansion around the Pacific rim. Concludes by considering cultural change attending globalization since the 1950s, focusing on entanglements of Asian cultures with the globalizing culture of the market, consumerism, and wage labor, and transnational labor migration as well as Asian cultural spaces in and around New York City, including our nearby Chinatown.
SPRING 2011 V55.0505 Cultures and Contexts: Africa
Prof. Hull (History) syllabus
Focuses on several major African cultures that influenced each other’s development from the pre-colonial through the postcolonial eras. These multi-dimensional cultures are examined through a variety of films, primary and secondary sources, and museum artifacts, with emphasis on concepts of cultural identity and interchange, modernization, and cosmopolitanism. Africa is examined not only within the context of indigenous cultures but within the context of the world at large. In this vein, we weigh the contributions African cultures made to each other but also to the wider world.
SPRING 2011 V55.0505 Cultures and Contexts: Africa
Prof. Beidelman (Anthropology) syllabus
Key concepts for understanding sub-Saharan African cultures and societies, and ways of thinking critically and consulting sources sensibly when studying non-Western cultures. Topics include: problems in the interpretation of African literature and history, gender issues, the question of whether African thought and values constitute a unique system of thinking, the impact of the slave trade and colonialism on African societies and culture, and the difficulties of and means for translating and interpreting the system of thought and behavior in an African traditional society into terms meaningful to Westerners. Among the readings are novels, current philosophical theory, and feminist interpretations of black and white accounts of African societies.
SPRING 2011 V55.0507 Cultures and Contexts: Japan
Prof. Solt (History) syllabus
Postwar Japan, 1945 to Present. An inquiry into Japan's social, political, and economic transformation since World War II. Examines the role of the Cold War, the U.S. Occupation, the "Peace" Constitution, the symbolic monarchy, the economic "miracle," corporate structure, the gendering of labor, and the legacy of war in shaping the history of postwar Japan. An underlying theme is the connection between political economy and culture. As such, we focus on the geopolitical and economic structures underpinning the visible transformations in everyday life and try to connect these transformations in Japanese history to broader themes in global history.
SPRING 2011 V55.0510 Cultures and Contexts: Russia—between East and West
Prof. Borenstein (Russian & Slavic Studies) syllabus
What is Russia? What does it mean to be "Russian"? These questions have troubled Russians for centuries. Certainly, most nations engage in such soul-searching at one time or another; but Russia, thanks to special historical circumstances, has been obsessed with the problem of its own identity. Central to this concern is an issue that would appear to be more geographical than cultural: Is Russia a part of Europe (the West), or of Asia (the East)? Or, is it some hybrid that must find its own unique destiny? As we trace the development of this problem throughout Russia's history, we also become acquainted with the major characteristics and achievements of Russian culture, from its very beginnings to the present day.
SPRING 2011 V55.0512 Cultures and Contexts: China
Prof. Button (East Asian Studies) syllabus
However one might choose to define the nature of human being, no one is ever merely human. Apart from whatever common essence we may be said to share, we are always also a combination of racial, ethnic, national, and gender differences. Over the course of several millennia Chinese culture has produced different conceptions of human being. We explore the variety of ways those conceptions have changed over time. Central to our inquiry is the question of how contending visions of the human are expressed and contested in different kinds of philosophical and literary texts, as well as artistic works in other media, including visual culture and film. Our guiding focus is on how ideas about human being in China have shaped gender roles and relations, the discourses of spirituality and the supernatural, as well as modern problems of race, nationalism, and revolution.
SPRING 2011 V55.0516 Cultures and Contexts: India
Prof. Ganti (Anthropology) syllabus
Utilizing a variety of sources—novels, films, and academic scholarship—students are introduced to the history, culture, society, and politics of modern India. Home to one billion people, eight major religions, twenty official languages (with hundreds of dialects), histories spanning several millenia, and a tremendous variety of customs, traditions, and ways of life, India is almost iconic for its diversity. We examine the challenges posed by such diversity as well as how this diversity has been understood, represented, and managed, both historically and contemporarily.
SPRING 2011 V55.0529 Cultures and Contexts: Contemporary Latino Cultures
Prof. Rosaldo and Prof. Gaytan (Social and Cultural Analysis) syllabus
Addresses immigration, social movements, figures of resistance, testimonials, identities, popular culture, and language. Using an interdisciplinary approach that draws on readings from imaginative literature to social science, we explore Latino communities in the United States and the issues that divide and unite them.
SPRING 2011 V55.0533 Cultures and Contexts: Iran
Prof. Chelkowski (Middle Eastern & Islamic Societies) syllabus
From Ancient Persia to Contemporary Iran: For 2500 years, the culture and civilization of Iran, (known in the West prior to World War II as Persia), has survived innumerable attacks and vicissitudes, which swept away many other cultures, languages, and nations. The first empire in human history to be multiracial, multicultural, and multi-religious, based on tolerance, expanded ultimately to encompass all the lands from the Hindu Kush to North Africa. Emphasizing the growth of ancient Iranian culture--particularly art, architecture, literature, and their influence--we investigate the traditional myths and religions of ancient Iran, the rebirth of Iranian self-consciousness, the establishment of Shi’i Islam as the state religion, and the conflict of the vision and mysticism of traditional Iranian culture with that of the West. We survey the political organization of the Empire, Alexander the Great’s conquest of Iran and its aftermath, and the impact of the Arab-Islamic conquest. We examine the rebirth of Iranian self-consciousness after World War II, and the transformation of the country during the Islamic Revolution.
SPRING 2011 V55.0545 Cultures and Contexts: Egypt of the Pharaohs
Prof. Roth (Hebrew and Judaic Studies) syllabus
The archaeology, literature, and art of ancient Egypt all offer insights into its culture. Subjects of special interest are ancient Egyptian religious experiences and ethics, as well as constructions of gender, class, and ethnicity. Settlements that are particularly well documented through both archaeological and textual remains—such as Kahun and Deir el-Medina—yield extensive information about the varieties of social experience in these societies. Lives differed tremendously based on gender, profession, and locality (both spatial and temporal). Likewise, we explore how Egyptians, regardless of social standing, attempted to alter their socio-political circumstances through avenues such as concerted political action, magic, revolt, or the construction of well crafted satire. Primary sources include letters, wisdom literature, love poetry, ancient house plans, tomb scenes, physical anthropology.
SPRING 2011 V55.0549 Cultures and Contexts: Multinational Britain
Prof. Ortolano (History) syllabus
Introduces students to the peoples, cultures, and histories of the British Isles. Today home to a pair of European states, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, this grouping of islands off the northwestern coast of Europe has historically been home to an astonishing variety of peoples, kingdoms, religions, nations, and states. Rather than collapsing this diversity into a study of the English people or the British state, we think about the United Kingdom as a multinational formation, produced through the experience of repeated invasions, encounters, and migrations. Our ultimate goals are twofold: to learn about the peoples of the British Isles, and to use this knowledge to think critically about claims regarding national characteristics, ethnic stability, or cultural homogeneity--in Britain, and beyond.
Expressive Culture
FALL 2010 V55.0722 Expressive Culture: Images - Architecture in New York Field Study
Prof. Broderick (Art History) syllabus
New York's rich architectural heritage offers a unique opportunity for firsthand consideration of the concepts and styles of modern urban architecture, as well as its social, financial, and cultural contexts. Meets once a week for an extended period combining on-campus lectures with group excursions to prominent buildings. Attention is given both to individual buildings as examples of 19th- and 20th-century architecture and to phenomena such as the development of the skyscraper and the adaptation of older buildings to new uses.
FALL 2010 V55.0730 Expressive Culture: Sounds
Prof. Schloss (Music) syllabus
Our lives pulsate with patterns of sounds that we call music. We encounter these sounds in our homes, cars, stores, and exercise salons; they accompany us to the grocery store, the dentist's office, and the movies; yet we rarely think consciously about what they mean. Through a series of specific case studies we investigate the function and significance of music and the musician in human life. We raise basic questions about how music has been created, produced, perceived, and evaluated at diverse historical moments, in a variety of geographical locations, and among different cultural groups. Through aural explorations and discussion of how these vivid worlds "sound" in time and space, we assess the value of music in human experience.
FALL 2010 V55.0730 Expressive Culture: Sounds
Prof. Schloss (Music) syllabus
Our lives pulsate with patterns of sounds that we call music. We encounter these sounds in our homes, cars, stores, and exercise salons; they accompany us to the grocery store, the dentist's office, and the movies; yet we rarely think consciously about what they mean. Through a series of specific case studies we investigate the function and significance of music and the musician in human life. We raise basic questions about how music has been created, produced, perceived, and evaluated at diverse historical moments, in a variety of geographical locations, and among different cultural groups. Through aural explorations and discussion of how these vivid worlds "sound" in time and space, we assess the value of music in human experience.
FALL 2010 V55.0751 Expressive Culture: Television
Prof. Polan (Cinema Studies) syllabus
The Twilight Zone and Expressive Culture of the 1950s and 1960s. According to cliché, the 1950s in America were a period of conformity and consensus, but it is clear that there were many signs of discontent with and within the image of cheerful homogeneity. For example, at the end of the decade, the television program The Twilight Zone, showed everyday life as a source of paranoia in which ordinary existence revealed its frightening underside. Then, as the nation engaged with the New Frontier of the Kennedy 1960s, the show used science fiction to represent dreams as American nightmares. We look at The Twilight Zone in terms of its expressive rendition of 1950s and 1960s America. Along the way, we examine the shift in American television from East Coast production of liberal drama to West Coast production of escapism and entertainment and will situate Rod Serling's career within that shift. We also examine other renditions of paranoia (and symbolic resolutions of it) across the popular culture and politics of the moment. Most broadly, we attempt to examine the medium of popular television as an expressive cultural form which enlightened liberals like Serling tried to use as a mode of moral and aesthetic uplift. Critical methods that might help us understand the potentials of television as expressive culture are emphasized.
SPRING 2011 V55.0721 Expressive Culture: Images - Painting and Sculpture in New York Field Study
Prof. Broderick (Art History) syllabus
New York's public art collections contain important examples of painting and sculpture from almost every phase of the past, as well as some of the world's foremost works of contemporary art. Meets once a week for an extended period combining on-campus lectures with group excursions to the museums or other locations where these works are exhibited.
Spring 2011 V55.0730 Expressive Cultures: Sounds
Prof. Zayaruzny (Music) syllabus
Our lives pulsate with patterns of sounds that we call music. We encounter these sounds in our homes, cars, stores, and exercise salons; they accompany us to the grocery store, the dentist's office, and the movies; yet we rarely think consciously about what they mean. Through a series of specific case studies we investigate the function and significance of music and the musician in human life. We raise basic questions about how music has been created, produced, perceived, and evaluated at diverse historical moments, in a variety of geographical locations, and among different cultural groups. Through aural explorations and discussion of how these vivid worlds "sound" in time and space, we assess the value of music in human experience.
Spring 2011 V55.0730 Expressive Cultures: Sounds
Prof. Mueller (Music) syllabus
Our lives pulsate with patterns of sounds that we call music. We encounter these sounds in our homes, cars, stores, and exercise salons; they accompany us to the grocery store, the dentist's office, and the movies; yet we rarely think consciously about what they mean. Through a series of specific case studies we investigate the function and significance of music and the musician in human life. We raise basic questions about how music has been created, produced, perceived, and evaluated at diverse historical moments, in a variety of geographical locations, and among different cultural groups. Through aural explorations and discussion of how these vivid worlds "sound" in time and space, we assess the value of music in human experience.
SPRING 2011 V55.0750 Expressive Culture: Film
Prof. Simon (Cinema Studies) syllabus
American narrative films, produced primarily during the period 1965-75, considered as an innovative cycle of filmmaking in dialogue with significant historical, political, and cultural transformations in American society. Examines developments in film genre during this period especially in relation to political and cultural change. Narrative innovations are emphasized, with special attention to the specificity of film form and style (e.g., editing, mise-en-scène, sound). Provides an introduction to the methods and principles of film analysis as well as dealing with this period of filmmaking in depth. Includes films by Kubrick, Coppola, Altman, and Scorsese.
Study Abroad at NYU Global Sites
Spring 2011 V55.9549 Cultures and Contexts: Multinational Britain
Prof. Woods (NYU in London) syllabus
The idea of British national identity has been built around a sense of united statehood within the confines of the four nations comprising the United Kingdom, ruling overseas territories. As such, it conveyed a sense of a multi-national empire ruled by monarchs, but developing over time into a benign, democratic, constitutional monarchy, generally through peaceful, not revolutionary change. The British have seen themselves historically as freedom-loving, independent, industrial, tolerant, Protestant and individualistic. These myths of national image have been forged partly through conflict with other nations over many centuries and reflect a nationalistic pride in military success and the maintenance of the largest empire the world has ever seen. Changes since 1945 have seen the collapse of that empire, membership in the European Union, large-scale immigration, changing gender politics, and the devolution of power to Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. This has inevitably led to major challenges to traditional British views of their national identity. Includes fieldtrips to key sites.
Spring 2011 V55.9505 Cultures and Contexts: Africa
Prof. Adams (NYU in Ghana) syllabus
African culture through autobiography. Texts consist of chronological life histories and memoirs, e. g., by writers of aristocratic birth and those of peasant birth, by individuals accomplished in the arts and others in the sciences, by Nobel laureates and by political leaders, by women and by men. Each narrative provides an intimate acquaintance with the traditions, aspirations, challenges, and strategies from the writer’s own society. Collectively they provide the skeleton of a usefully subjective narrative of modern African history. The depicted lives include an 18th-century enslaved Nigerian child, who, ultimately, as a free man, would become a respected abolitionist; the U.S.-educated leader of Africa’s first nation to gain independence from colonialism; the passionate Kenyan crusader for the preservation of Africa’s environment as the source of its self-development; and the physically and morally courageous exemplar of the battle that overthrew South African apartheid.
Spring 2011 V55.9544 Cultures and Contexts: Spain—At the Crossroads of Europe, North Africa, and America
Prof. Galban (NYU in Madrid) syllabus
Analyzes the ways in which historical, geopolitical, cultural, artistic, and popular views function to constitute and continuously transform a national culture. Concentrates on epistemological constructions of Spain—the idea of Spain—that emerge from competing external and internal perspectives. Students examine how this national culture is constructed, first analyzing Spain from North African perspectives through Sephardic nostalgic poetry and the Hispano-Arabic literary traditions. The American perspective pits notions of Spanish imperial power and grandeur against the Black Legend, a term that Protestant circles in Europe and the United States promoted to attack the legitimacy of Spain’s New World empire. A final focus on European views analyzes the depiction of Spain as the embodiment of German and French Romantic ideals beginning at the end of the 17th century and the reemergence of the same notion during the Spanish Civil War (1933–36). Throughout, students examine principal textual and visual images that contribute to the historical and contemporary construction of a national culture that emerged at geographic and cultural crossroads.
Spring 2011 V55.9547 Cultures and Contexts: Multicultural France
Prof. Epstein (NYU in Paris) syllabus
France and the U.S. have a habit of looking at one another as anti-models when it comes to discussions of assimilation and difference, “race,” identity, community, and diversity. We explore this comparison as a productive means for re-considering these terms. Why is the notion of “ethnic community” so problematic in France? Why do Americans insist on the “homogeneity” of the French nation, even as, at various points throughout modern French history, France has received more immigrants to its shores than the United States? Through readings, film screenings, and site visits we study the movements and encounters that have made Paris a rich, and sometimes controversial, site of cultural exchange. Topics include contemporary polemics on questions such as headscarves, the banlieue, the new Paris museums of immigration and “primitive” art, affirmative action and discrimination positive, historic expressions of exoticism, négritude, and anti-colonialism. Occasional case studies drawn from the American context help provide a comparative framework for these ideas.
Spring 2011 V55.9548 Cultures and Contexts: Prague—In the Heart of Central Europe
Prof. Mucha (NYU in Prague) syllabus
The concept of Central Europe is somewhat elusive and it is difficult to define it by geographical or political categories. Often characterized simply as a space on the edge between the West and East, many scholars see a distinct Central European culture based on historical, social, and cultural characteristics shared by the countries of this geopolitical entity, the result of complicated historical, political, ethnic, cultural, artistic, and religious interactions throughout more then thousand years of history. Identified as having been one of the world’s richest sources of creative talent and thought between the 17th and 20th centuries, Central Europe was represented by many distinguished figures, such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Kant, Goethe, and Hegel; later followed by Kafka, Rilke, Freud, Mendel, and Dvorak, to mention at least some. We explore characteristics of Central Europe primarily from the perspective of Prague and its cultural history, which is so typical and almost archetypal for this region. Students study geopolitical characteristics and various phenomena that co-create the idea of Central Europe. Taking advantage of Prague, students examine primary sources and artifacts (literature, music, art, film) in their contexts and environment.
Spring 2011 V55.9537 Cultures and Contexts: Modern Israel
Prof. Emmerich (NYU in Tel Aviv) syllabus
Explores various aspects of the production of everydayness in Israel as it is manifested in different sites: the arts, the leisure industry, and the spatio-temporal arrangements of daily routines and practices. Given its unique geo-political circumstances and its symbolic position, Israel attracts much media coverage as well as more scholarly treatment of the Israeli-Arab or Israeli-Palestinian conflict. More often than not, Israel is portrayed through the lens of high politics or treated as an exotic anomaly. Whether popular or academic in its orientation, the study of Israeli society has thus tended to neglect everyday life in Israel. We consider aspects of Israeli politics and culture; visit art exhibitions, music venues, and the cinema; and observe street life in Tel Aviv (day and night).
Spring 2011 V55.9730 Expressive Cultures: Sounds
Prof. Cusick (NYU in Florence) syllabus
Our lives pulsate with patterns of sounds that we call music. We encounter these sounds in our homes, cars, stores, and exercise salons; they accompany us to the grocery store, the dentist's office, and the movies; yet we rarely think consciously about what they mean. Through a series of specific case studies we investigate the function and significance of music and the musician in human life. We raise basic questions about how music has been created, produced, perceived, and evaluated at diverse historical moments, in a variety of geographical locations, and among different cultural groups. Through aural explorations and discussion of how these vivid worlds "sound" in time and space, we assess the value of music in human experience.
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