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This course takes us from the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the Romantic period. We will be exploring each of the key terms in its title-colloquium, modern, and civilization-so please come prepared to inquire deeply as well as broadly.

This course is a colloquium, which means its purpose is to investigate through the discussion of ideas. Your professors will certainly expound frequently and enthusiastically, but we also expect and prize student collaboration in our studies this semester. Speak! Ask questions! And don't just talk to us. Talk to each other. We also will be using and challenging the notions of "modernity" and of  "civilization" this semester. Using a wide variety of methods and materials, we will trace the development of "civilization" as that term is defined broadly: in social, economic, political, ideological, religious, philosophical, geographical, material, scientific, artistic, architectural, and literary terms. And perhaps some others not mentioned here.... The best way to take this course is to come every day having done the assignment, with an open mind and lively curiosity, and with a readiness to speak, challenge, inquire, doubt, endorse, enthuse, or think aloud.

Like the other Honors Colloquia, this course is team-taught. Your lead instructors are Dr. Dermot Quinn of the History Dept. and Dr. Karen Gevirtz of the English Dept. Please don't hesitate to contact us in person, by phone, or by email whenever an issue arises. Be aware as well that we will have a number of guest instructors as well, who are also an integral part of the course. They will let you know how they can be reached.

Professors:

Dr. Dermot Quinn:

Office: Fahy 337                                   Office hours: T., Th. 4-6:00.

Tel. x2774                                             Email: Quinnder@shu.edu

Dr. Karen Gevirtz:

Office: Fahy 365                                  Office hours: T, Th. 12:30-2:00, Fr. 9:30-11:30 and by appointment

Tel. x5151-2                                          Email: Gevirtka@shu.edu (best way)

Dr. Marian Glenn:

Office: Fahy 304                                  Hours: M. 2:15-3:15

Tel. x9052                                             Email: Glenmar@shu.edu

Dr. Peter Ahr:
Office: Fahy 305                                   Office hours: T., Th.  1-2, and by appointment

Tel. x9741                                              Email: ahrpeter@shu.edu

Required Texts:

Beaumarchais, The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro (Penguin)

Harvey, On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals (Prometheus Books)

Tocqueville, Democracy in America (Hackett Publishing)

Voltaire, Candide (Penguin)

Introduction to Contemporary Civilization in the West ("ICCW")

Longman Anthology of British Literature, 8^th edition, vols. 1b and 1c ("Longman")

We will also use a variety of website available through external links. Other materials will be assigned as we go.

Attendance and Participation

You will need a pen, a notebook, and the assigned text every day in class. There are no exceptions. Do not bring your computers unless specifically requested to do so, or unless you need it to present. Participation means contributing to discussion, whether in class or in small groups during class.

            Cellphones must be turned off prior to the start of class. Each time your phone goes off in class will negatively affect your Attendance and Participation grade.

Safe Space. Our classroom is safe space, which means that everyone is obliged to listen and respond respectfully to everyone in the class. You do not have to agree with everything you hear, but we are all expected to direct disagreement as well as agreement to the ideas and not the person addressing them. That applies to comments written on papers as well as spoken in class.

Computers. You will not need your computer during class unless otherwise notified, and you are asked not to open your laptops during class time. Nevertheless, computers are still a part of this course. Much of our written business will be conducted by email. Our syllabus and other documents, such as web links, will be available under the appropriate headings.

Disability Services Statement: Students at Seton Hall University who have a physical, medical, learning or psychiatric disability, either temporary or permanent, may be eligible for reasonable accommodations at the University as per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. In order to receive such accommodations, students must identify themselves at the Office of Disability Support Services (DSS), provide appropriate documentation and collaborate with the development of an accommodation plan. The DSS phone number is 973-313-6003. For further information, please go to http://studentaffairs.shu.edu/health/DisabilitySupportServices.html.

Grading

Class participation -15% (10% contributing to class discussion, 5% attending)

Research presentation -20%

Research paper -25%

Midterm Exam -20%

Final Exam -20%

Details of specific assignments, such as the research presentation, appear on a separate handout in the Course Information section of our blackboard site. You are responsible from this moment for the material covered on that handout. More on specific assignments also will be given you in class.

COURSE ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE

Please note that assignments may change, so watch the Announcements section of our blackboard site and your email, and listen and make note of any changes as they are announced in class.

Where the syllabus says we will be using a website, please check the External Links section of our blackboard course for this site.

Abbreviations on the syllabus: ICCW - Introduction to Contemporary Civilization in the West

Course Schedule

9/6 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	First class: What's modern about the modern world?  Let's look.     Image: Galileo's telescope
9/11 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Religious Revolutions This period opens with tremendous upheaval in Europe, as people throughout the continent begin questioning in exciting, frightening, new ways the relationship among humanity, the divine, and the human institutions meant to bridge the gap between them.   Read ICCW: Martin Luther, "Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation" (699-730); Calvin (731-751); The Council of Trent (770-773). Websites: Luther’s 95 Theses, Luther’s Preface to Romans, The Heidelberg Catechism, The 39 Articles, The Council of Trent on Original Sin, The Council of Trent on the Sacraments. Image: Martin Luther
9/13 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	"I Pledge Allegiance..." Questions about religious beliefs and behaviors catalyzed and were catalyzed by questions about secular relations  among people. What is a state? How should it be run? By whom?  What can a government do? What should a government do? What are the obligations of the government to its citizens...and vice-versa?   Royal Power in France   Read before class:   ICCW: 867-901: Richelieu, Political Testament; Bossuet, Politics Drawn from...; Fenelon, Letter to Louis XIV Count de Saint-Simon, Description of Louis XIV Colbert, Letters French West India Company, Edict Providing for the Establishment of...     Website: The Chateau of Versailles
9/18 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Royal Power in England and Scotland   ICCW: James I, "The True Law of Free Monarchies (923-939), Hobbes, Leviathan (961-993). Longman 1b: Elizabeth I's speeches (1117-1125).     Image: James I and VI
9/20 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Who Am I? Who Are You? Our semester continues moving inward to explore how thinkers of the period investigated the nature of the human self and how humans construct their notion of identity.   Philosophy Attempts Some Answers   ICCW: Descartes, "Discourse on Method" (812-835); John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1057-1069).       Image: René Descartes
9/25 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn Dr. Eissenstadt	John Locke   ICCW: Locke, Of Civil Government (1010-1053). John Locke website Glorious Revolution website. Image: John Locke, by Sir Godfrey Kneller
9/27 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Who Am I? Who Are You? Our semester continues moving inward to explore how thinkers of the period investigated the nature of the human self and how humans construct their notion of identity.   Science Attempts Some Answers     Harvey, Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals.     Image: William Harvey
10/2 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Francis Bacon   ICCW: Francis Bacon, Novum Organum (779-791).     Image: Francis Bacon
10/4 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn Drs. Saccoman	Newton, Leibnitz, Calculus and Physics   Read before class: ICCW: Newton, Preface of Roger Coates... (836). Isaac Newton website Leibnitz website Longman 1c: The Royal Society and the New Science (2174-2192).   Topic for research paper due. Image: Sir Isaac Newton by Sir Godfrey Kneller
10/9 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	The Bedford Handbook: Ch. 1c, 1d, 47, 51 Please bring your computer and power cord to class.  Make sure the battery is fully charged as well.
10/11 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Who Am I? Who Are You? Our semester continues moving inward to explore how thinkers of the period investigated the nature of the human self and how humans construct their notion of identity.   The Arts Attempt Some Answers   Longman 1c: Behn, Oroonoko (2278-2320).   Image: Aphra Behn
10/16 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	John Milton   Longman 1b: Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 1, 12 (p. 1823 on); Areopagitica (1814-1822). Uncollected sonnet #16            Image: John Milton
10/18 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Midterm Exam
10/23 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn Dr. Levine	The Marriage of Figaro as social criticism   Read Beaumarchais, Marriage of Figaro. Review Mozart's libretto to the opera.   Image: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
10/25 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Jean-Jacques Rousseau ICCW: Rousseau, The Social Contract (1269). Rousseau, The Confessions, ch. 1 Rousseau website     Image: Rousseau
10/30 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Remapping The interactions among cultures, and between cultures and technologies, challenged established maps (literal and figurative) of human existence. Just like today, the more different groups encountered each other, the more questions each group had to answer, or live without an answer.   Longitude, time readings on external links. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.355         Image: Willem Blaeu, Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica et Hydrographica Tabula.  Amsterdam, c. 1640
11/1 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Voltaire, Candide         Image: Voltaire
11/6 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn Dr. Eissenstadt Dr. Weisl	The Orient as a critique of Europe Read before class: Longman 1c: Montagu, Turkish Embassy letters (2707-2710) Hasidic stories: http://www.hasidicstories.com/stories1.html  Read Stories of the Baal Shem Tov: "The Baal Shem Tov and the Werewolf," "How do we Know?," "The Last Temptation of the Kabbalist," "Rabbi Gershon's Dream," and "The Three Laughs." Stories of Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav: "The King and the Emperor," "The King and the Wise Man," "The Turkey Prince," "The Sword of Wood." Stories of Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev: "The Cantor who Lost his Voice," "The Rabbi's Blessing," "The Rabbi's Smile," and "Reb Baruch's Talit."   Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
11/8 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Ruins of one of the Jesuit Reductions Missions in the Americas   ICCW: Letter of Paolo Toscanelli to Columbus, Columbus' journals, Sepulveda and Las Casas (515-543). Selections from The Jesuit Relations (photocopies). Jesuit Reductions in Paraguay; Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises.                                Outline and bibliography for research paper due today.
11/13 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn Dr. Balkun	Previously unheard voices   Phyllis Wheatley Equiano, The Interesting Narrative... (See the directions for downloading under "Assignments" in Blackboard.)     Image: Phyllis Wheatley
11/15 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Rough draft of your research paper due at the start of class. We will be working with the rough drafts in class. Please bring a hard copy with you.
11/20 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Film: Danton
11/22 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Thanksgiving; University closed
11/27 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Living in a Material World Tempting as it is to ignore, much of the engine driving the shrinking of the world was and is economic. In this section, we will see how some thinkers struggled with the issues generated by the rise of global capitalism, and that we still face today. What is the value of an individual? How should that value be recognized, protected, employed? Is the value of human life an absolute, or is it relative?     Read before class:   ICCW: Smith, Wealth of Nations (1314). Longman 1c: Addison, Spectator 69 and Spectator 11 (2476-2480).     Image: Alexander Pope
11/29 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Kant and Hume ICCW: Hume, Enquiry...Concerning Morals (1145); Kant, Fundamental Principles of...Morals (1165).   Image: Immanuel Kant
12/4 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	ICCW: Jean A.N.C. de Condorcet, "The Influence of the American Revolution on Europe" (1334).           Research paper due.     The Signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Trumbull
12/6 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	TBA
12/11 Dr. Quinn Dr. Gevirtz Dr. Glenn	Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America.   Please bring a #2 pencil to class.       Image: Alexis de Tocqueville
12/14 (Friday)	Final Examination  12:45 p.m.

Image at top of page: "The Cannon Shot" by Willem van de Velde, c. 1670.  Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam