HUM 3306 HISTORY OF IDEAS:
FROM THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT TO THE AGE OF ANXIETY

Fall 2009     Tuesday and Thursday 11:00-12:15     Biscayne Bay Campus AC1 229

Bruce A. Harvey: Director of the Humanities Program & Associate Professor of English


Please note: There is a lot of reading for this course, and a lot of writing, as it fulfills a "Humanities with Writing" requirement. The rough rule for college courses is that you spend 3 hours of study outside of class for every hour in class; for the typical 3-credit course, that means about 9 hours of "home" work per week.  
 

You do not need to bring to this course previously-gained historical or literary or philosophic knowledge, but it will demand strong intellectual commitment and academic maturity. Also, as the course is a 3000-level one, it assumes mastery of skills learned in ENC 1101 and 1102 (the Freshman Composition sequence), and so you should not be enrolled in it if you lack the competence acquired in those courses or their equivalent. 

Major changes to the course calendar are not anticipated.  However, you MUST rely upon the online calendar (rather than an initial print out of it) to check due dates and other course matters.

Please email me acknowledging that you have read the entirety of the syllabus before the third class meeting.  Feel free, too, in your email to express any initial concerns or ask questions that you might have about the course.

 

Course Link: is at the top of my Homepage www.fiu.edu/~harveyb/bruceharvey 

Office: AC1 378 Biscayne Bay Campus

Office Hours: Tues. 10:00-11:00, 12:30-1:30, & 5:00-6:00; Thurs. 10:00-11:00 & 12:30-1:30; & by appointment

Office Phone: (305) 919-5254    Home Phone: (954) 920-8938 (for emergency situations)

E-mail: harveyb@fiu.edu

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

I have high ambitions for what you will obtain from enrolling in HUM 3306. Many of you will have signed up with the notion that you're just completing an FIU requirement, but I hope that by the time you conclude the class you will have opened your minds and hearts to fascinating realms of human inquiry as expressed in the works you'll be reading. Ideally, how you see the world, and your identity within that world, will be richly and complexly transformed.

The readings will span political philosophy, economic theory, biology and psychology, as well as fiction and poetry.

We'll be tracking a set of key issues and themes: the confident emergence in the 17th & 18th century (called the "Age of Reason" or the "Age of Enlightenment") of a non-dogmatic, rational approach to social problems and nature's mysteries; the struggle in the 19th century to maximize individuality and interiority (the "Romantic Era") in the face of widespread economic alienation (the "Industrial Age") and de-humancentric discoveries such as Darwinian evolution; and finally, in the 20th century, the persuasive sense of unease--whether from global conflict, the loss of local community, or philosophical angst.

This course primarily studies European intellectual history, but there remains an entire globe of cultures extending beyond that which has developed in the West. And so you are encouraged, once you have taken this course, to take Humanities courses at FIU (either online or classroom-oriented) that will round out your interests in and understanding of other, diverse cultural traditions.

I look forward to an intellectually exciting semester with you!

COURSE OBJECTIVES

·         To increase your knowledge about key thinkers of the post-Renaissance (16th-century) Western world and their historical contexts.

·         To help you understand their significance to our contemporary moment.

·         To improve your ability to analyze and reflect critically on sophisticated, complex texts.

·         To develop your skill and pleasure in communicating ideas via effective, mature prose.

·         To develop your ability to use critically, in analytical argumentation, secondary materials as they relate to primary materials.

TEXTBOOKS

You must use the editions specified, as assignments and review notes will be keyed to their page numbers.

 

1. The Second Treatise of Government, John Locke,
Dover Publications; New Ed edition, August 2002
, ISBN: 0486424642

This is the social-political text that all the Founding Fathers read before devising the U.S. Constitution.



 


2. The Life of Olaudah Equiano, 
Olaudah Equiano,
Dover Publications, January 1999
, ISBN: 048640661X

A marvelous account of one African’s journey from idyllic childhood, through the horrific Middle Passage, to the U.S. and England. Equiano’s story asks: what does it mean to the “self” when the self is defined in economic terms?



 


3. Frankenstein, 
Mary Shelley,
Pocket; Reissue edition, April 27, 2004
, ISBN: 0743487583

A classic monster story, critiquing techno-obsessions.



 


4. The Communist Manifesto, 
Karl Marx,
Oxford University Press, USA; New Ed edition, July 1998
, ISBN: 0192834371

Karl said, “Workers of the world, unite!” In these days of huge profits for Big Oil, his ideas are provocative.



 


5. The Origin of Species, 
Charles Darwin,
W. W. Norton & Company; 2nd Abridged ed, Feb 2002
, ISBN: 0393978672

You may (or may not) be persuaded that we are descended from monkeys after reading what Darwin wrote in his seminal, iconoclastic scientific volume.



 


6. Civilization and its Discontents, 
Sigmund Freud,
W. W. Norton & Company; Reissue edition, July 1989
, ISBN:0393301583

Another revolutionary thinker who gave a blow to our self-satisfaction by revealing we are not in control of ourselves as much as we may think.



 

 

COMMUNICATING WITH THE PROFESSOR

·         E-mail and phone:  For routine questions, it’s best to email me, harveyb@fiu.edu.  For highly important questions, you may also call, or leave a message on, my office phone #: 305-919-5254.  For something really urgent, you may call me at home: 954-920-8938.  If you email me, please give a non-generic subject line, for otherwise FIU's junkmail filter will trash your message: e.g., "Darwin paper question from John Doe" rather than "urgent" or “question”.

·         Conferences:  I'm always happy to meet with you during office hours (listed above) to talk more about the readings, assignments, or other course matters.  Email me beforehand to set up a specific time, but you are also welcome to just drop by to chat. 

·         Classroom Discussion:  This will be a large class, but let us collectively agree not to make it a mere lecture course.  I invite discussion, and like it when discussion folds within and breaks away from more formal lecturing as the occasion and material dictates.  You should feel free to voice your ideas.  Don't be shy--you can be sure that if you feel nervous about speaking up many sitting next to you do, too, but after the first time it gets easier, and the flow of good discussions will make the course more satisfying for everyone.  That said, I will give “packaged” lectures dedicated to particular subjects and authors; you are welcome to take notes, but many students find it easier to absorb the material if they concentrate on listening and asking questions, and virtually all material presented in lecture fashion will re-appear in Prof. Lecture Notes below for you to print out and review.

Obviously, with a large class, it will be hard for me to get to know you individually: so, please talk to me after class, or see me in conference, etc.

GRADING


 

Course Assignments (all submitted via Turnitin)

Due

Weights

Essay #1 (can be revised) 

Sept. 25

33.3%

Essay #2 (cannot be revised)

Nov. 20

33.3%

Final Essay Exam

Dec. 12

33.3%

Total

 

100%  

All Assignments RequiredThe three assignments above must be turned in to receive a passing grade in the course (a “C” or better).  Grades are calculated (you access them via Turnitin) in the standard 100-0 scale:  100-96=A+/95-93=A/92-90=A-/89-86=B+/85-83=B/82-80=B-/ and so on in 10-point increments.  A not-turned-in assignment will receive a zero.

Incompletes: University policy is that these can only be given in the case of a health or family emergency, and only one outstanding assignment is allowed to permit the incomplete being granted.

Late Submissions:  Late essays will be accepted only under extraordinary, documented emergencies.  Otherwise, for every class day late, an essay will be docked a notch (i.e., B to B-). 

Attendance: Regular, and on time, attendance is required.  You get two absences penalty free.  I won't ask, and you don't need to explain.  For the next two absences, your grade will be lowered a notch, except in the case of true emergencies or religious holy day absences.  If you miss more than five classes, you cannot pass the course.  If you show up late for class repeatedly, such will become equivalent to missing days.

Participation: Because of the size of the class, everyone will not always get air-time.  However, those who show active involvement through discussion or small group projects (if there are any) often get rewarded at the end of the semester with a one-notch boost (and sometimes more) in their final grade, and such can be decisive in borderline grades.

ASSIGNMENTS

Papers: I will give guidelines for the two essays as the semester progresses, in the right column of the class calendar.  The first essay will be about five pages long, research-free; the second essay will be about eight pages long, and will require you to consult several provided secondary sources. 

Students who get very low grades on their first papers may be asked to use the FIU Learning Center/Writing Center resources.  Occasionally, I give an “NG” (not graded) grade, which means you need to work on your paper more and resubmit it.  An “NG” not resubmitted within two weeks will get an “F”.

Revisions: You may revise the first essay. The standards-bar for a revision goes up somewhat, however, with diligent revision/rethinking being required. The revision must be turned in within two weeks of receiving the initial grade on the essay.  Practically, given the pace of the semester, there will not be time for you to revise the second essay effectively.  Your time will be better spent working on the Final Exam. 

Final Exam: This will be a comprehensive essay, to be completed at home, requiring you to demonstrate your synthesis of all the course materials.  It will consist of one or several questions, and be given roughly one week before the submission date, which will be due on or near the class's otherwise official Final Exam time/date.

Improvement: The three assignment grades are weighted at 33.3% (see above), but I also take improvement under consideration.  I cannot mathematically indicate the positive effect of an upward trend in grades, but a very good second essay or Final Exam definitely impacts my grade “decision” in border-cases and then some.

RELIGIOUS HOLY DAYS

The University's policy on religious holy days as stated in the University Catalog and Student Handbook will be followed in this class. Any student may request to be excused from class to observe a religious holy day of his or her faith.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT POLICY

You will submit your papers via Turnitin, which flags down plagiarism.

By taking this course, you promise to adhere to FIU’s Student Code of Academic Integrity. For details on the policy and procedures go to ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT (Section 2.44). 

It is very easy to detect plagiarism: SO DON'T DO IT: YOU WILL BE CAUGHT!!!  And, when you are caught, the consequences will be severe, such as getting an "F" in the course or worse.

If you are tempted to plagiarize out of desperation to get an assignment in on time, DON'T DO IT; talk to your professor first, in this class and other classes

 

 

COURSE CALENDAR

Assignments due dates are given in the right column.

Prof = lecture notes. These also will often have imbedded within them E-texts which are additional primary texts or artwork or links to material at other websites, which you should print out so that you can read and study them.

E-texts = required reading.  These are also linked separately on the calendar (i.e. you read the E-texts for a particular class period, and then later review my lecture/review notes that will again reference them).

Prof-NOT READY   = link is not ready (i.e. lectures not updated from previous semesters yet)

Go  =  for your curiosity (these are enhancement materials and websites; not "required")

Instructions = guidelines for papers or exams

Week 1

Lecture Notes

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Aug 25

 


Introduction to the course

 

 Aug 27

Prof: Scientific Revolution & Protestant Revolution

Before the Enlightenment: The Scientific Revolution and the Protestant Reformation

 

  

E-text: Great Chain of Being "Wiki" article & illustration


E-text--Encarta: Scientific Revolution

E-text--Wiki: Prot.Reformation


E-text--Encarta: Enlightenment

 

 SOME INITIAL TIPS & REMINDERS:

 

1. If the FIU bookstore is tardy in ordering the first (John Locke’s 2nd Treatise) book, you can find a complete e-text version here:  http://www.liberty1.org/2dtreat.htm#1CHAP

2. CLICK THE GREEN "Prof...." LINKS TO THE FAR LEFT FOR MY LECTURES. YOU SHOULD LOOK AT THESE BEFORE, DURING, AND/OR AFTER YOU READ OUR MAIN AUTHORS, LISTED IN THE MIDDLE COLUMN. WITHIN THE LECTURES ARE LINKS TO E-TEXTS; THE E-TEXTS, FOR CLARITY, ARE ALSO ALWAYS SEPARATED OUT AND GIVEN DIRECTLY IN THE MIDDLE COLUMN IN GRAY. THE E-TEXTS ARE MANDATORY READING.  

3.
THE TURNITIN site (where you submit your essays) WILL BE EXPLAINED (AND PASSWORD GIVEN) WHEN YOU GET CLOSER TO THE ESSAY DUE DATES

Week 2

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Sept 1

Prof: Enlightenment
 

The Enlightenment I: Putting Nature in the Encyclopedia

 
E-text: Charles W. Peale painting and Ben Franklin perfection chart

E-text: Linnaeus website (read 1st several paragraphs, not bullet-point material)

E-text: Diderot Enlightenment Encyclopedia table of contents image

 

 Sept 3

Prof: Locke
 

The Enlightenment II: Possessive Selfhood, Civil and Political Rights, and the Delights of Property

 
Locke, Second Treatise: Editor’s note & Chapters I-II

FYI, about last class/Tuesday lecture: click the link to see the copying device Jefferson used (he actually didn’t invent it, but suggested improvements to his pal Charles W. Peale): polygraph (Polygraph.mov).

Week 3

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Sept 8

 

Locke, Second Treatise: Chapters III-V, VI (sections 54-58, 60, 70-76), VII (sections 77, 87-91), VIII (sections 95-101, 115-22), IX, & X

Instructions for Essay #1 Due Sept. 25 Midnight (Sept 30 if writing on Equiano)

Sample Paper: For Essay #1

Sept 10 


 

Locke, Second Treatise: Chapters XVIII (199, 203, 204, 207-210) & XIX (211-212, 219-230, 240-243)

 

Week 4

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Sept 15

 

The Enlightenment III: Skepticism, Critique, & the Advancement of Freedom  

Dear students,

As said in last Thursday class, we'll continue with Locke today/Sept 15 (the key section #s I put on the board, plus key sections from the last 2 chapters assigned) and cut the Paine/Wollstonecraft selections below from the syllabus (i.e. you don’t have to read that material).

[[If you didn’t get the list of key sections from the board: 1-4,6,8,13,27,31,32,33,34,37,46,47,50, 73,97,100, 101, 199, 207,208,209,210,219,220,230. You are responsible for all the assigned sections, but above are the ones you should return to/highlight to make sure you understand Locke. They are also the ones, more or less, that I refer to in my lecture notes.]]

Locke is indeed demanding.  It takes reading and re-reading to get use to the non-modern phrasing, but once you unravel the knots of his prose profundity and beauty emerges (well, let's say, 75% or so of the time … there is a lot of repetition to be sure).

Don't casually give up in frustration.  Read patiently, in tandem with my lecture notes, and you'll figure him out.

Also, please keep in mind that one of the big goals in the class is not just to "get" the ideas (in a SparkNotes sort of way), but to understand them palpably in history and in historical texts.  You can't understand/ appreciate jazz by reading the abstracted description of a piece/musician on the album cover… you've got to listen with care and devotion.  This will sound goofy and not immediately make sense, perhaps: but you need to become a connoisseur of meaning, to relish the intellectual art of teasing out meaning, and etc. So saith the professor.

P.S. I place a lot of teacherly faith in students’ willingness to read hard, think hard, and reflect both habits in their essays… without overly being monitored or goaded by quizzes and exams (if you haven’t noticed, I have a very ambivalent relationship to bureaucracy!). I don't plan to lose that faith in your intellectual maturity.

Finally, I want to say I was pleased that some of you frankly spoke of your confusion.  With a class our size, it is hard for me to focus on you as individuals, so you have to let me know when I need to slow down, or explain something again, or give you more of a chance to air your opinions. 




Read the Paine and Wollstonecraft biographies below.  Then sample their writings in the next two e-texts.  You do not need to bring these e-texts to class.  We will discuss their writings based on a quote handout I will provide in class.

E-text: Tom Paine--biography

E-text: Wollstonecraft--biography

E-text: Tom Paine--sample his writing

E-text: Wollstonecraft--sample her writing (click on any of the chapters in the link; you don't need to read all)

Instructions for Essay #1 Due Sept. 25 Midnight (Sept 30 if writing on Equiano)

Sample Paper: For Essay #1

 Sept 17

Prof: Equiano
 


Equiano, The Life of...: Editor’s Note or Introduction (not the Preface written by Equiano himself!!!); Chapters I-III, IV (first several pages), & V

Be sure to read Chapter I, II, etc., not just the sections within the chapters, which are also numbered I, II, etc.

E-text: Equiano--click on several (not all!) of the "next" buttons for the historical context of Equiano's narrative

 

Week 5

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Sept 22

Equiano, The Life of...: Chapters VII-VIII, X-XI, XII (first several pages; last several pages), & Preface (Preface only makes sense after you've read the narrative)

 

 Sept 24

Prof: Enlightenment Big Trends Revisited

Equiano, continued

E-text: a summary of the intriguing "fabrication" issue of the early chapters of Equiano's narrative

Instructions for Essay #1 Due Sept. 25 Midnight (Sept 30 if writing on Equiano)

Sample Paper: For Essay #1

Week 6

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Sept 29

Prof: Romanticism

Bourgeois Spaces and the Sublime: The Romantic Rebellion & the Discovery of Interiority

E-text: Rousseau

E-text: W. Blake--Biography (just quickly note the illustration of Issac Newton on left 1/3rd down!)

E-text: J. Keats--biography (read the "Life" part after opening paragraph)

E-text: Romantic Era Poems: please print this out and bring to class, as we will be discussing one or several of the poems 

 

 Oct 1

 

Romantic era poems: continued

 

Week 7

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Oct 6

 

Shelley, Frankenstein: 1st half.

Read the editor's introduction & chronologies (vii-xxi) before reading the novel. The editor's introduction provides a very tidy cultural history of the shift from the Enlightenment to Romantic periods.  

 

 Oct 8

 


Frankenstein: 2nd half

FYI (not required)--a reading of “Tintern Abbey”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Ki4qR34uM

FYI (not required)--the story of Percy Shelley’s heart being plucked from the funeral pyre: http://doriancope.blogspot.com/2009/07/8th-july-1822-death-of-percy-bysshe.html

 

Week 8

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Oct 13


Prof: Realism

Bourgeois Spaces and the City: The Rise of Realism

We’ll continue with the group insights about, in essence, the problem of having a body and a family (the core of what Frankenstein is about!).   And then have an open discussion.

The only new reading for today = several brief excerpts exemplifying realism in prof. lecture to the left.  We’ll spend about 15 minutes on that.
 
The Enlightenment-thru-Romanticism section of the course forms one macro-unit.  So it would a good time for you to review the Prof. lectures on everything that has preceded.

The readings for Darwin, Marx, and Freud (the next five weeks) constitute another macro-unit.  Please note that you really need to read the Prof. lectures to get the historical/cultural background to understand these authors.

**************
**************
**************
Dear HUM 3306 students, You may now get your feedback/grade for your first essay on Turnitin.

Be sure to read both the margin comments and the overall comment at the end. Please keep in mind that I highlight symptomatic problems, not everything that needs to be "fixed" if you elect to revise your essay. If you revise, you need to potentially revise a lot more than I specifically comment upon. I take, as I've explained before, the Gordon Rule "Writing" part of the course seriously: 3 decently written essays on our materials will assure that you come away from the course understanding a lot more than if I quiz you and test you. What you write upon, you will have for life; what you are tested on... well... here this semester gone the next oftentimes! All this is to say: I think all of you can maximize your capacity for insight thru writing. I didn't read a single essay that didn't have real potential, if you have the care to deliver, thru effort, on that potential.

If you plan to revise, you should have the revision to me, via email, within 2 weeks of getting your Turnitin feedback. As said, your grade for the paper becomes the grade on the revision (I will be stern on improvement, though... real improvement is expected to elevate your grade!).

Finally: we increasingly move into material and authors that we can, for lack of a better phrase, "all relate to." Accordingly, the dynamic of the class will shift a bit--with me lecturing less, and inviting discussion and your insights. Please, in the upcoming weeks, be prepared to discuss Darwin, and Marx, and Freud, etc. They are profound thinkers; and will give you a profound lens to see your own unique worlds. Thus sayeth the professor!

 

 

 Oct 15

Prof: Darwin

Revolutionary Thinkers I: Rewriting the History of Nature

Darwin, Origin of Species: Editor’s Intro. (sections 1,2,3, & 5) & Darwin’s Intro.

It is absolutely crucial that you read the edition ordered for the course; it is a "great hits" of Darwin's much, much longer treatise.

 

Week 9

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

Oct 20 

 


Darwin, Origin of Species: Chapters I-III

 

 Oct 22

 


Darwin, Origin of Species: Chapters IV (46-53top, 61bottom-65top, 72bottom-74), Chapter VI cut, & Chapter XIV (115bottom-121)

 

Week 10

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Oct 27

Revolutionary Thinkers II: Rewriting the History of Social Relations

E-text: Adam Smith

Marx, Communist Manifesto:  Read the editor's introduction vii-viii (Marx biography); and then Parts 1 (Bourgeois and Proletarians), 2 (Proletarians and Communists), & 4 (Position of the Communists...). 

Please note: there aren't many pages to read in the E-text or Communist Manifesto, but they are dense and will require coordinating with the Prof. lecture below!

 

 Oct 29

 Prof: Marx


Marx, Communist Manifesto:  Read the editor's introduction xiii-xvii (summary of Marx's argument); Reread Part 1 
 

 

Week 11

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Nov 3

 


Marx, Communist Manifesto:  Reread Parts 2 & 4 
 
In-class Labor Survey Results-Click

Film: Reds

Instructions: For Essay# 2 Due Midnight Nov 20

Sample First Several Pages: For Essay# 2 Due Nov 20

 Nov 5

Marx, Communist Manifesto continued

Film: Reds continued

 

Week 12

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Nov 10

 

Marx, Communist Manifesto continued


Film: Reds continued

 

Instructions: For Essay# 2 Due Midnight Nov 20

Sample First Several Pages: For Essay# 2 Due Nov 20

 Nov 12

 Prof: Freud

Revolutionary Thinkers III: The Discovery of the Unconscious

 
Freud: Civilization and its Discontents: Editor’s “Freud: A Brief Life” (ix-xxii)
Chapters 1-II

Upon the request of several students, there is a Freud essay#2 option.  See the Essay Instructions.

Week 13

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

     Nov 17


Freud: Civilization and its Discontents: Chapters IV-VII (not Chapter VIII)

Upon the request of several students, there is a Freud essay#2 option.  See the Essay Instructions

 Nov 19

Prof: Big Summary Thus Far

Prof: Modernism in Philosophy and Art

Modernism: Angst, Aesthetics, and the Abysses of Horror



The prof. lecture notes to the left includes references/links to F. Nietzsche and F. Fanon.  You may ignore both, as both authors have been cut from the syllabus and we will have Review Days instead.  Please do otherwise read the lecture notes, though.

Instructions: For Essay# 2 Due Midnight Nov 20

Sample First Several Pages: For Essay# 2 Due Nov 20

Upon the request of several students, there is a Freud essay#2 option.  See the Essay Instructions

Week 14

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Nov 24

 



REVIEW DAY

 

Nov 26 (closed for Thanksgiving Holiday) 

 

No Class

 

Week 15

 

Topic & Readings

Assignment Due

 Dec 1

 

REVIEW DAY

 

Instructions: For Final Exam Due Dec. 12 by Midnight

 Dec 3


Prof: PDF Summary of Course Page One

Prof: PDF Summary of Course Page Two


Course Wrap Up & Tips for Final Exam

 

To the left is a summary of the readings and corresponding issues, for the entire semester, on two PDFs.

These will not provide you with a "cheat sheet" short-cut, but if you read thru them you will be able to test your recognition of the readings/issues.  There are one or two authors referred to on the grids that were not included this semester--ignore them.

Instructions: For Final Exam Due Dec. 12 by Midnight

 DEC 12 FINAL EXAM DUE VIA TURNITIN


 

DEC 12
FINAL EXAM
DUE VIA TURNITIN

Instructions: For Final Exam Due Dec. 12 by Midnight