Instructors:
Claire Curtis (CC)
David Kowal (DK)
Amy McCandless (AM)
Philosophy/Poli. Sci.
Art History
History
114 Wentworth St., #101
Simons Center (304)
Maybank (327)
953-6510
953-8225
953-8025
curtisc@cofc.edu
kowald@cofc.edu
mccandlessa@cofc.edu
M, W 12:30-1:30
M, W, F 1:00-2:00*
M,W, F 1:00-2:00
T 10:00-12 noon*
T, R 11:00-12 noon*
John Newell (JN)
Darryl Phillips (DP)
Trish Ward (TW)
History
Classics
English
Honors Center
306C Randolph
22A Glebe (104)
953-7154
953-8205
953-5648
newellj@cofc.edu
phillipsd@cofc.edu
wardp@cofc.edu
M 1:30-3:00,
TR 11:00-12 noon
M, W, F 1:30-2:30,
T 10:00-11:30*
W 1:00-2:30*
T, R 12 noon-2:00*
*Other office times available by appointment.
Required Texts:
Marvin Perry, et al., Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics,
& Society (6th ed.)
Sarah Lawall, et al., Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces,
Vol. I
H.W. Janson and Anthony Janson, A Basic History
of Art (5th ed.)
Betty Radice, ed., The Letters of Heloise and Abelard
(Penguin, 1974).
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (Bantam)
Readings on the Web (One copy is available for you to make copies from
at the reserve desk of the library if you are computer-challenged.)
Supplemental Texts: You will purchase
one of the following for group presentations (11/13 and 11/17; do not buy
any of these until you have been assigned to a group). Recommended
editions are in parentheses.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (Hackett)
Thomas More, Utopia (Hackett)
Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine (St. Martin's)
Desiderius Erasmus, Praise of Folly (Penguin)
Course Description:
By examining some of the most influential literary, philosophical,
scientific and religious texts, together with visual artwork, from the
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Reformation periods, we will explore
the ways that people lived during each of these historical epochs, and
the ways they thought about themselves and about their relations with one
another, God, the State, and the physical world.
The Perry and Janson texts will provide us with a general historical
background for each period we cover, but the bulk of all the other texts
consists of primary sources translated into modern English. The main focus
of class discussions will be on the primary source readings, as these provide
the most direct windows into the periods we will be studying, as well as
an opportunity to develop your own skills of critical analysis, synthesis,
and communication. Your active (and regular) participation in class discussions
is expected.
Course Structure:
Lectures and Discussion Sections: During the first class hour
each morning, when the entire class convenes together, material will typically
be presented in a lecture format, with opportunities for questions and
brief discussion throughout. The second hour each day, during which only
20 students will meet together at a time, will be conducted as a discussion--i.e.,
students are expected to help sustain the exploration of the assigned material
through their own contributions in a more informal setting. Lecture and
discussion sections will have distinct reading assignments, usually but
not necessarily related.
Films: Over the course of the semester, approximately three films will be shown outside of class. These are optional but recommended and will enable you to answer extra-credit questions on the exams. Times and places of showing will be announced early in the semester. When possible, the videos will also be made available for viewing in the Honors Center for a few days afterwards.
Student Group Presentations: Early in the semester you will be assigned (based on your own choices) one of the four "Supplemental Texts" (see above). As part of a group of ten students, you will read this text and devise a 15-20 minute group presentation in whatever form your group chooses. The texts will be paired, so that two groups will give presentations during the same class. Both pairings will involve texts on various issues of Renaissance humanism.
Quizzes: There will be roughly a dozen unannounced short reading quizzes interspersed throughout the course, devoted to the material assigned for either the lecture or the discussion for that day. There will be no make-up quizzes under any circumstances. We will, however, drop the two lowest quiz grades (or missed quizzes) in computing a semester quiz average.
Examinations: There will be two (2) two-hour exams during the semester, plus a final exam. Although the individual exams will not be cumulative, some comparative questions may be included. All exams will be primarily essay questions, with matching, definitional, or multiple choice questions comprising no more than a fourth of the total grade. A short handout on potential exam topics will be distributed a week in advance of each exam.
Paper: There will be a required analytical essay of approximately 8 pages (double-spaced and typed). This will be mainly an analysis of primary sources, drawing either on assigned readings, additional readings, or a combination of both. Suggested topics will be distributed during the semester. You are encouraged to suggest your own paper topics, but you should consult with one of the instructors about these before writing the paper. Papers are due on or before 16 October.
Class Attendance and Participation: Regular and punctual attendance is expected. Irregular attendance will detract from your class participation grade. A class roster, which will be used for keeping attendance records, will be circulated for you to sign during each lecture and discussion class. It is your responsibility to make sure you sign the attendance roll each time.
Grading:
Your course grade will be computed as follows:
Quizzes 10%
Group presentation 10%
Class Participation 10%
Exams (2) 15% each
Paper 20%
Final exam 20%
CALENDAR OF READING ASSIGNMENTS:
Abbreviations:
L: Lecture section
D: Discussion section
HIST: Perry, Western Civilization
LIT: Lawall, Norton Anthology
of World Masterpieces
ART: Janson,
A Basic History of Art
WEB: Internet site
8/23 Wednesday
L&D: Course Introduction and the Origins of Civilization
HIST 5-11 (Ch 1)
8/25 Friday
L: Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Physical Basis for History (JN)
HIST 11-30 (Ch 1)
D: Near Eastern Religion, Society, and Literature
LIT 16-41 The Epic of Gilgamesh
WEB Hymn to the Nile, c. 2100 BCE
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hymn-nile.html
The Book of the Dead
https://www.wsu.edu/~dee/EGYPT/BOD125.HTM
8/28 Monday
L: Hebrew Covenant and View of History (AM)
HIST 34-48 (Ch 2)
D: The Hebrews and Mesopotamians
LIT 41-61 and 88-91 (Gilgamesh,
Genesis, Psalms)
8/30 Wednesday
L: Greeks and Barbarians: Defining Western Civilization (DP)
HIST 51-57 (Ch 3: Early Aegean Civilizations;
Rise of Hellenic Civilization)
D: Homer's Iliad: The Greek hero and his fate
LIT 98-161: Homer, Introduction; Iliad,
books 1, 6, 9, & 16
9/1 Friday
L: Greek Art and Architecture (DK)
HIST 90(Ch 4)
ART 11-97
D: Homer's Iliad (continued): the Greeks and the gods
LIT 161-209: Homer, Iliad,
books 18, 22, 24
9/4 Monday
L: Athenian Democracy and the Athenian Empire (DP)
HIST 57-72 & 96-99 (Ch 3 & Ch
4)
D: Thucydides
WEB Thucydides
9/6 Wednesday
L&D: Plato: Cities and Souls (CC)
HIST 75-82 (Ch 3)
LIT 726-746: Plato, Apology
9/8 Friday
L : Women in Ancient Greece (AM)
https://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/wlgr/wlgr-index.html
WEB The female role in generation: Aristotle,
On the Generation of Animals
https://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/wlgr/wlgr-medicine339.html
Women's illnesses. Hippocrates, Diseases of Women
https://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/wlgr/wlgr-medicine345.html
Comparison of male and female anatomy: Galen, On the Usefulness of
the Parts of the Body
https://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/wlgr/wlgr-medicine351.html
LIT 515-517 (Sappho)
D: Greek Drama
HIST 91-96
LIT 640-672 (Medea)
9/11 Monday
L: Aristotle: The Greek Cosmos and Living the Good Life (CC)
HIST 82-90 (Ch 4: Plato; Aristotle)
D: Plato and Aristotle on the nature of things
WEB Excerpts
from Plato and Aristotle
9/13 Wednesday
L: Captive Greece Captures Rome: Hellenism in the Roman World (DP)
HIST 103-117 (Ch 5)
LIT 817-818
D: From Greek to Roman Epic: Virgil's Aeneid
LIT 814-816 & 825-886: Virgil, Aeneid
books II, IV, VI
9/15 Friday
L: Roman Art and Architecture (DK)
ART 98-123
D: Virgil (continued): The Classical Underworld
LIT 886-895: Virgil, Aeneid
book VIII & XII
9/18 Monday
L: Hellenistic and Roman Philosophers (CC)
HIST 153-162 (Ch 7)
D: Epicureans, Stoics, and Skeptics
WEB Epicurus, Principle Doctrines
https://classics.mit.edu/Epicurus/princdoc.html
Epictetus, Enchiridion
https://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html
9/20 Wednesday
L: Roman Law, Government, and Society (DP)
HIST 120-153 (Ch 6 & 7)
D: Petronius
LIT 943-960
9/22 Friday
L: The Rise of Christianity and the Crisis of Paganism (TW)
HIST 172-184 (Ch 8)
D: The New Testament
LIT 960-975 Matthew
WEB Letter of Paul to the Corinthians,
ch. 7, 12, 13
https://www.ccel.org/wwsb/1Corinthians/index.html
9/25 Monday
**First Exam: The Ancient World**
9/27 Wednesday
L: Decline of Rome (JN)
HIST 162-168
D: Barbarians and Romans
WEB Tacitus, Germania
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tacitus1.html
9/29 Friday
L: Augustine's Testimony (CC)
HIST 184-194
D: Augustine's Confessions
LIT 1004-1032
10/2 Monday
L: The heirs of Rome: Islam, Byzantium, and Latin Christendom (DP)
HIST 199-213 (Ch 9)
D: Byzantine Art
ART 124-153
10/4 Wednesday
L: Early Christian and Romanesque Art (DK)
ART 154-187
D: Monasticism and Piety in the Early Church
WEB Rule of Saint Benedict
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/rul-benedict.html
Biblical Exegesis according to Gregory the Great
10/6 Friday
L: Ordering Christendom: Popes, Monks, & Orthodoxy (TW)
HIST 213-221 (Ch 9)
D: Christianizing Ancient Cultural Traditions: Beowulf
LIT 1057-1103: Beowulf
10/9 Monday
L: Vassals and Serfs in Medieval Society (JN)
HIST 221-225 (Ch 9)
D: The Birth of Feudal Ideals: The Song of Roland
LIT 1104-1168: The Song of Roland
10/11 Wednesday
L: Social and Economic Expansion of the Middle Ages (JN)
HIST 229-256 (Ch 10)
D: Arthurian Romance
Handout: Chrétien de Troyes, Perceval
10/13 Friday
L: Women and Gender in the Middle Ages (AM)
WEB Le Menagier [or Goodman] of Paris:
On Ideal Marriage
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/goodman.html
St Augustine: On Marriage and Concupiscence
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/aug-marr.html
D: Heloise and Abelard
The Letters of Heloise and Abelard, pp. 57-136
10/16 Monday
Papers due at 9:00 a.m.
L: Monasteries and Cathedral Schools (JN)
HIST 259-266; box insert on 266-267 (Ch
11)
D: Abelard and the "school" tradition of Christian philosophy
The Letters of Heloise and Abelard, pp. 57-136; 270-271
10/18 Wednesday
L: God and Reason in Thomas Aquinas and Scholasticism (CC)
HIST 266-275 (Ch 11)
D: Scholastic theology and metaphysics: Thomas Aquinas
WEB Anselm, Ontological Argument for the
existence of God
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/anselm.html
Aquinas, Summa theologiae (Proofs of God's existence)
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/aquinas1.html
10/20 Friday
L: Medieval conceptions of order (TW)
D: The flowering of vernacular poetry: Dante's Inferno
LIT 1293-1318: Intro. to Dante; Inferno,
cantos 1-5
10/23 Monday
L: Gothic Art and Architecture (DK)
HIST 275-277
ART 188-233
D: Dante's Inferno (continued)
LIT 1318-27, 1333-45, 1399-1409: Inferno,
cantos 6-8, 11-14, 32-34
10/25 Wednesday
**Second Exam: Medieval Europe**
10/27 Friday
L: Crises of the Fourteenth Century (JN)
HIST 280-295 (Ch 12)
WEB Introduction to Boccaccio's Decameron
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/boccacio2.html
Anonimalle Chronicle: English Peasants' Revolt 1381
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/anon1381.html
D: From medieval to Renaissance literature: Boccaccio
LIT 1429-1440: Intro. to Boccaccio; Decameron,
days 1-3
WEB Decameron,
Stories 2-4 from day One
https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/dec_ov/day01fr.html
Decameron, Stories 1 & 10 from day Three
https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/dec_ov/day03fr.html
10/30 Monday
L: "Late Gothic" Art in Northern Europe (DK)
ART 234-259
D: Boccaccio (cont'd)
LIT 1440-1457: Decameron, day 4, 5, 9,
10 conclusion
WEB Petrarch on Boccaccio
https://history.hanover.edu/early/petrarch/pet06.htm
11/1 Wednesday
L: Petrarch, Chaucer, and the Beginnings of Renaissance humanism (TW)
Canterbury Tales, pp. 3-41 (General Prologue)
LIT 1653-1673: The Ascent of Mount
Ventoux
D: Chaucer
Canterbury Tales, pp. 43-145 (Miller's Tale)
11/3 Friday
L: Chaucer on God, Women, and the Meaning of Life (TW)
D: Chaucer
Canterbury Tales, pp. 182-295 (Wife of Bath's Tale, Merchant's
Tale)
11/6 Monday
**Fall Break: No Class**
11/8 Wednesday
L: Early Renaissance Art and Architecture in Italy (DK)
D: Renaissance and/or Renascence?
ART 260-285
Handout: Erwin Panofsky, "Renaissance and Renascences"
11/10 Friday
L: Fall of the Byzantine Empire and East/West Division (DP)
D: Mandeville's Travels
WEB Mandeville's
Travels
11/13 Monday
Student Presentations and Discussion
Northern and Southern Humanism: Machiavelli and More
11/15 Wednesday
L: The Protestant Reformation (AM)
HIST 324-34 (Ch 14)
D: Luther and the Problem of Salvation
LIT 1628-1650: Anonymous, Everyman
WEB Martin Luther (1483-1546): On
the Freedom of a Christian
https://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/REFORM/FREEDOM.HTM
Martin Luther's Definition of Faith
https://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/luther-faith.txt
Ninety-five Theses
https://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/ninetyfive.html
11/17 Friday
Student Presentations and Discussion
Northern Humanism: Marlowe and Erasmus
11/20 Monday
L & D: Spread and Consequences of the Reformation (AM)
HIST 334-345 (Ch 14)
WEB John Calvin: Letter to the King, [On
the Clergy]
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/calvin-onclergy.html
The Schleitheim Confession, adopted by a Swiss Brethren Conference,
February 24, 1527
https://www.anabaptists.org/history/schleith.html
Henry VIII (r.1509-1547): The Act of Supremacy 1534
https://www.northpark.edu/acad/history/Classes/Sources/ActSupremacy.html
St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556): The Spiritual Exercises
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/loyola-spirex.html
11/22 Wednesday
L& D: Art of the High Renaissance and Reformation (DK)
HIST 311-315 (Ch 13: Renaissance Art)
ART 286-339
11/24 Friday
**Thanksgiving Break: No Class**
11/27 Monday
L: Custom, Reason, and Uncertainty (CC)
D: Humanism and the Growth of Scepticism
Handout: Pico della Mirandola, "Oration on the Dignity of Man"
LIT 1921-1947: Michel de Montaigne, "Of
the Power of the Imagination," "Of Cannibals"
"Of the Inconsistency of Our Actions"
11/29 Wednesday
L & D: Iconography of Elizabethan England (AM)
https://www.cofc.edu/~mccandla/iconography.htm
HIST 378-397 (Ch.16)
WEB The Speech of Queen Elizabeth to her
Army- Encamped at Tilbury, 1588
https://www.tudorhistory.org/primary/tilbury.html
Portraits of Elizabeth
https://www.tudorhistory.org/elizabeth/gallery.html
Queen Elizabeth I of England Selected Writing and Speeches
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1.html
12/1 Friday
L: English Literature in the Sceptical Age: Shakespeare (TW)
LIT 1822-1859: Othello,
acts I-II
D: Shakespeare
LIT 1859-1888: Othello,
acts III-V
FINAL EXAMINATION: Friday, December 8, 8:00 a.m.