SUBJECT TO REVISION

          

                                    SYLLABUS: ISHU 3020 (HUMANITIES II)

                             ARTS AND LETTERS IN THE MODERN WORLD

 

ISHU 3020: Humanities II                                                                           Place: TBA

Fall Semester 2013                                                                                   Day and Time: Tuesday 7:00-9:45

                                                                                                                          Leo Daugherty   <ld8t@virginia.edu>

                               

Special Note:  Attendance at first class meeting on 27 August is required for entry.

 

Required Books (please buy and use only these editions): 

 

Witt, Brown, et al., The Humanities, vol. 2, 7th ed.

Gombrich. E.H., The Story of Art, 16th ed.

Petrarch, Selections from the Canzoniere and Other Works,

            ed. and trans. by M. Musa (Oxford U Press ed.)

Machiavelli, The Prince, ed. and trans. by D. Donno  (Bantam ed.)

Montaigne, Essays, ed. and trans. by J.M. Cohen (Penguin ed.)

********Bacon, Novum Organum, ed. and trans. P. Urbach and J. Gibson. OPEN COURT PRESS

              EDITION.  The instructor strongly advises that you get a used copy from a source such as

             Amazon.com or Amazon.uk for the price break.

Wollstonecraft, Mary, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Norton ed.)

 

Student Responsibilities:

 

1.  Faithful attendance at class, careful preparation of weekly  readings, vigorous participation in discussion.  Completion of each week’s reading, in the order in which the assigments are listed, with each reading to be completed by the date of the meeting for which it is listed.

 

2.  Submission of three essays of around 5 pages each (double- spaced).  Each essay must be based on one of the readings.

    

      Each essay should either make an interesting argument or pose an interesting, hard question which the student cannot yet answer. (Although no additional research is required for these essays, students will sometimes find it helpful. It is encouraged, simply because it almost always contributes to better understanding.)  Personal responses to readings, if done as final-draft-quality essays, are welcome.

 

   Each essay will be carefully critiqued, in writing, in detail  -- the aim always being not to pronounce a judgment but rather to provide constructive criticism that helps in the work of making future writing better.

 

3.  Journal keeping.   

 

Additional details on essay writing and journal keeping will be provided at the second meeting.

 

4.  Completion of a mid-term and a final examination.  These examinations will consist of long and short essay questions.  Both examinations will be take-home exercises.

 

 

Some Course Themes and Issues:

 

      Power v. Personal Vulnerability

      Public v. Private (Example: Public v. Personal writing)

      My Rights v. My Responsibilities to Other People

 

Grading System:

 

      Class participation and journal keeping: approximately one-third

      Essays: approximately one-third

         (Only the two best essays of the three will be counted in grading; thus each graded essay will count as one-sixth of the final grade.  Students may elect to write more than three essays total in order to get critiues, if they wish. Extra essays will be critiqued in detail, just as “regular” essays, and they will be graded; extra essays will not produce “extra credit,” but students may elect to include the grade for any extra essay as one of the two grades to be counted toward the overall course grade.)

      Mid-term examination: approximately one-sixth

      Final examination: approximately one-sixth

 

Schedule of Classes and Reading:

 

    [Note: Although all readings in The Humanities are required, you may find the subtitles in CAPS bespecially useful for seminar discussions.]

 

1. 8/27 Introduction and Orientation Meeting:

         Witt, “Introduction.” [NOTE: At some point in the first

         week or two, when you have the time, read Gombrich’s

         justly famous “Introduction,” p. 15.]

 

2. 9/3 Witt, Chs. 16 and 17 (HUMANISM CIVIC HUMANISM, PETRARCH,

         MEDICI AND NEOPLATONISM, all READINGS, CITY OF FLORENCE,

         FLORENTINE ARCHITECTURE); Gombrich, Chs. 12 and 13).

 

3. 9/10 Petrarch,Canzoniere: Required are Musa’s “Introduction,”

        Petrarch’s “Letter,” “Ascent,” and “Selections from the

        Canzoniere.”  (You might find the “Explanatory Notes” at

        the end helpful.)

 

4. 9/17 Witt, Ch. 18 (END OF FLORENTINE RENAISSANCE;

        MACHIAVELLI (skip excerpts from THE PRINCE); Gombrich, Chs.

        14, 15 and 16.

 

5. 9/24 Machiavelli, The Prince, pp. 1-90.  (“Discourses,” pp.

        91-122, is not required, but will be fun for students

        interested in Machiavelli’s thinking.)  Read the very

        short bio of Machiavelli on pp. 123-24.  (Again, as with

        Petrarch, above, the editor’s notes will be helpful --

        pp. 125 ff.)

 

6. 9/30 Witt, Ch. 19 (ERASMUS, PROTESTANT REFORMATION,

        REFORM and COUNTER-REFORM, CULTURAL RELATIVISM,

        Shakespeare’ The Tempest, all of CONTINUITIES); Gombrich,

        Chs. 17 and 18.

 

7. 1/8 Montaigne, Essays.

 

[1/15 University-wide reading day.  No classes.]

 

8.  1/22 Witt, Ch. 20 (THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION, THE AGE OF

        ABSOLUTISM, DESCARTES, LOCKE, HOBBES); Gombrich, Chs.  19

        and 20.

 

9.  1/28 Bacon, Novum Organum

         Required reading is:

        “Introduction”; pp 7-30; pp. 37-87 (through par. 1 of

        #78); pp. 90-93 (through #84); pp. 101-102 (#90);

        pp. 104-105 (#93, #94, #95); pp. 109-112 (#100 through

        #106); pp. 115-17 (#111 through #114); pp. 118-19

        (#116-117); pp. 122-25 (#121-#122-#123); pp. 129-

        132 (#129); pp. 136-37 (#4); pp. 143-47 (#11); pp.

        168-69 (#14, #15, #16); pp. 173 (#19); pp. 289-93); pp.

        297-313 (through par. 1 of #4).

    Mid-Term Examination handed out, to be completed and

               returned at the meeting of 11/5.

 

10. 11/5 Witt, Chs. 21 and 22 (BAROQUE IN VISUAL ARTS,

        BAROQUE PAINTING, BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE

        IN ROME, SAINT TERESA, DE LA CRUZ, DONNE POEMS,

        CONTINUITIES); Gombrich, Ch.  21.

 

11.  ll/12 Witt, Ch.  23 (LOUIS XIV AND ABSOLUTISM, VERSAILLES,

        Moliere’s TARTUFFE; CONTINUITIES); Gombrich, Ch.  22.    

   

12.  11/19 Witt, Ch.  24 (PHILOSOPHES, LOCKE, VOLTAIRE,

        MONTESQUIEU, ROUSSEAU, all READINGS selections except

        WOLLSTONECRAFT); Gombrich, Ch. 23.

   

13. 11/28  Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the Rights of Woman:

        A.  From the actual text of Wollstonecraft's books:  pp.

                3-92; 121-152; 157-194.

        B.  Brief chronology of MW's life:  pp. 357-360.

        C.  Background:  pp. 213-219.

        D.  "The Wollstonecraft Debate:  pp.  223-242; 249-256;

                268-276.

        E.  Criticism Section (pp. 280-355):  Any, all, or none,

                as you wish or have time/interest for.Witt, Ch.  25

 

 

 

 

 

 

14. 12/2 Consolidation and Synthesis Meeting. (AFRICAN-AMERICAN

        VOICES, WALKER, WHEATLEY, JEFFERSON, all READINGS; 

        Gombrich, Ch.  24.

    

      Final Examination handed out, to be completed and returned

      to the BIS Office no later than noon of  12/19 (Thursday). The

      exam should be HAND-DELIVERED rather than mailed or emailed,

      and it should be delivered to a person, not merely left off.

 

Standard UVa Policies

 

    University Email Policies:

    Students are expected to check their official U.Va. email addresses on a     

      frequent and consistent basis to remain informed of University

      communications, as certain communications may be time sensitive.

        Students who fail to check their email on a regular basis are

        Responsible for any resulting consequences.

 

University of Virginia Honor System: 

   All work should be pledged in the spirit of the Honor System at the

      University of Virginia.

     The instructor will indicate which assignments and activities are to be

        done individually and which permit collaboration.

     The following pledge should be written out at the end of all quizzes,

       examinations, individual assignments and papers:  “I pledge that I

       have neither given nor received help on this examination (quiz,

       assignment, etc.)”. The pledge must be signed by the student. For

       more information please visit Honor System

 

Special Needs: It is the policy of the University of Virginia to accommodate students with disabilities in accordance with federal and state laws. Any SCPS student with a disability who needs accommodation (e.g., in arrangements for seating, extended time for examinations, or note-taking, etc.), should contact the Learning Needs and Evaluation Center (LNEC) and provide them with appropriate medical or psychological documentation of his/her condition.

 Once accommodations are approved, it is the student’s responsibility to follow up with the instructor about logistics and implementation of accommodations. Accommodations for test taking should be arranged at least 14 business days in advance of the date of the test(s). Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the LNEC:

   434-243-5180/Voice, 434-465-6579/Video Phone, 434-243-5188/Fax

   For more information visit U.Va. Special Needs Website

 

For further policies and statements about student rights and responsibilities, please see U.Va  Website (http://www.scps.virginia.edu/audience/students)

 

 

 

ISHU 3020 (Humanities II) is an advanced-level introduction to the art, literature, philosophy, history, and history of scientific thinking from the beginnings of the Renaissance in Italy through Thomas Jefferson in America.