HR100B: Ideas that Shaped the West

Fall 2010

Monday and Thursday 12:30-1:45

Wednesday 12:00-12:50

The Dying of Transcendence

 

Syllabus

(Subject to revision)

 

Wednesday, September 1: Introduction

 

Thursday, September 2: Medieval Morality Play “Everyman

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (75 minutes)

 

Monday, September 6: Labor Day—University Holiday

 

Wednesday, September 8: Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 1

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (25 minutes)

Discussion: (25 minutes)

 

Thursday, September 9: Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 2

Discussion: (75 minutes)

 

Monday, September 13: Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 3

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (75 minutes)

 

Wednesday, September 15: Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 4

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (25 minutes)

Discussion: (25 minutes- Student leaders)

 

Thursday, September 16: Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 5

Discussion: (75 minutes)

 

Monday, September 20: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy; Spinoza, Ethics

Lecture: Dr. Epstein & Dr. Keenan (75 minutes)

 

Wednesday, September 22: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy; Spinoza, Ethics

Lecture: Dr. Epstein & Dr. Keenan (25 minutes)

Discussion: (25 minutes- Student leaders)

 

Thursday, September 23: Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy; Spinoza, Ethics

Discussion: (75 minutes)

 

Monday, September 27: Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (75 minutes)

 

Wednesday, September 29: Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 2-3

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (25 minutes)

Discussion: (25 minutes)

 

Thursday, September 30: Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 4

Discussion: (75 minutes)

 

Monday, October 4: Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 5-6

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (75 minutes)

 

Wednesday, October 6: Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 7-8

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (25 minutes)

Discussion: (25 minutes- Student leaders)

 

Thursday, October 7: Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 9

Discussion: (75 minutes)

 

Monday, October 11: Columbus Day—University Holiday

 

Tuesday, October 12 [Monday classes meet]: Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 10

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (75 minutes)

 

Wednesday, October 13: Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 11-12

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (25 minutes)

Discussion: (25 minutes- Student leaders)

 

Thursday, October 14: Locke, Selections from Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (75 minutes)

 

Monday, October 18: Locke, Selections from Essay Concerning Human Understanding; Pope, "Essay on Man"

Discussion: (75 minutes)

 

Wednesday, October 20: Pope, "Essay on Man"

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (25 minutes)

Discussion: (25 minutes- Student leaders)

 

Thursday, October 21: Marx and Engels, “Manifesto of the Communist Party”; Schmitt, "Introduction to Marx and Engels"

Lecture: Dr. Keenan (75 minutes)

 

Monday, October 25: Marx and Engels, “Manifesto of the Communist Party”; Schmitt, "Introduction to Marx and Engels"

Discussion: (75 minutes)

PAPER I DUE

 

Wednesday, October 27: Marx and Engels, “Manifesto of the Communist Party”; Schmitt, "Introduction to Marx and Engels"

Lecture: Dr. Keenan (50 minutes)

 

Thursday, October 28: Marx and Engels, “Manifesto of the Communist Party”; Schmitt, "Introduction to Marx and Engels"

Discussion: (75 minutes- Student leaders)

 

Monday, November 1: Marx and Engels, “Manifesto of the Communist Party”; Schmitt, "Introduction to Marx and Engels"

Lecture: Dr. Keenan (75 minutes)

 

Wednesday, November 3: Darwin, "Natural Selection" (from Origin of Species); Gould, "The Panda's Thumb"

Discussion: (50 minutes)

 

Thursday, November 4: Darwin, "Natural Selection" (from Origin of Species); Gould, "The Panda's Thumb"

Discussion: (75 minutes)

 

Monday, November 8: Levins and Lewontin, “Adaptation” (from The Dialectical Biologist)

Lecture: Dr. Keenan (50 minutes)

Discussion: (25 minutes- Student leaders)

 

Wednesday, November 10: Sober, “Evolution, Population Thinking, and Essentialism”

Lecture: Dr. Keenan (50 minutes)

 

Thursday, November 11: Sober, “Evolution, Population Thinking, and Essentialism”

Discussion: (75 minutes)

 

Monday, November 15: Gray, "Death of the Gene: Developmental Systems Strike Back"

Lecture: Dr. Keenan (50 minutes)

Discussion: (25 minutes- Student leaders)

 

Wednesday, November 17: Gray, "Death of the Gene: Developmental Systems Strike Back"

Discussion: (50 minutes)

 

Thursday, November 19: Poetic Responses - Tennyson

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (40 minutes)

Discussion: (35 minutes)

 

Monday, November 22 Poetic Responses - Dickinson

Lecture: Dr. Epstein (40 minutes)

Discussion: (35 minutes)

 

Wednesday, November 24 Thanksgiving Recess

 

Thursday, November 25 Thanksgiving Recess

 

Monday, November 29: Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals and The Anti-Christ

Lecture: Dr. Keenan (75 minutes)

 

Wednesday, December 1: Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals and The Anti-Christ

Discussion: (50 minutes)

 

Thursday, December 2: Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals and The Anti-Christ

Lecture: Dr. Keenan (25 minutes)

Discussion: (50 minutes)

 

Monday, December 6: Tolstoy, "The Death of Ivan Ilyich"

Lecture: Dr. Keenan (25 minutes)

Discussion: (50 minutes)

 

Wednesday, December 8: Tolstoy, "The Death of Ivan Ilyich"

Discussion: (50 minutes- Student leaders)

 

Thursday, December 9: Conclusion: Ingmar Bergman,“The Seventh Seal

PAPER II DUE

Tuesday, December 14, 8:00 AM: Final Oral Exams