Please note that this syllabus should be regarded as only a general guide to the course. The instructor may have changed
specific course content and requirements subsequent to posting this syllabus. Last Modified: 14:17:46 08/25/2014
The Twentieth Century and the Tradition I (HP330102)
Fall 2014, MW 10:00*
Professor Constas, Stokes Hall S273, constas@bc.edu
Course Description
Why should this course be called "The 20th Century and the Tradition"? Does the "and"
here serve to join the 20th century to the Tradition or to separate it from the Tradition? This
course will investigate developments in the Western cultural tradition during the first half of the
20th century and examine how questions like these oriented some of the most innovative and farreaching achievements in art and architecture, film and literature, science and philosophy during
the first half of the 20th century. This course will explore how artists, writers, scientists, and
philosophers pursued the challenge of re-evaluating the Tradition’s ideas of knowledge, reason,
morality, and progress, within the often shadowy light cast by social and intellectual upheaval and
revolution, world war, runaway economic speculation and failure, the rise of political fascism and
totalitarianism.
The 20th century was a period of rapid-- and almost certainly unprecedented-- transformation
in Western culture. Life was changing, the world was changing, and these changes, while often
beneficial, were causing (and still cause) a great deal of anxiety and confusion. In this course we are
going to focus on how writers, philosophers and artists responded to this complicated period of
renewal, reform, and rejection. As the immediate heirs of this period, we will encounter much that
seems familiar. But looking at the last century with a critical eye may also enable us to see our own
culture in a new light, and equip us to answer more fruitfully the perennial questions of human
existence, chief among them the question of how one ought to live.
Books to Purchase
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land and Other Poems (Penguin, 978-0-14-243731-5)
_______, Four Quartets (Harcourt 978-0156332255)
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Viking Critical, 0140155031)
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (Harvest, 978-0156628709)
Albert Camus, The Plague (Vintage, 978-0679720218)
Other Course Texts
Max Weber, “Science as a Vocation”
José Ortega y Gasset, “The Dehumanization of Art”
Rudolf Bultmann, "New Testament and Mythology"
Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger, selection from Cubism
Guillaume Apollinaire, selection from The Cubist Painters
Igor Stravinsky et alia, Rite of Spring
Jean-Paul Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism”
Simone de Beauvoir, introduction to The Second Sex
Simone de Beauvoir, selection from The Ethics of Ambiguity
Course Requirements and Expectations
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Participation in class discussion is an important requirement of the course.
Members of the class are expected to have read the assigned texts in advance, to
have thought about them, and to be prepared to discuss intelligently the themes
and questions they raise.
Regular and prompt class attendance is, therefore, mandatory. Three unexcused
absences will lower your class participation grade one full step (e.g. from A to B).
More than three will result in a failing class participation grade. A double penalty
will be imposed for an absence on Monday, November 24 (the Monday before
Thanksgiving).
No eating or drinking in class (except for water and/or documented medical
reasons).
Phones must be turned off: phones that ring will be answered by the instructor.
There will be three mandatory field trips, two off-campus.
Each student will make two 10-minute seminar presentations, dates TBD.
Each student will write two 5-7 page essays (approximately 1500-2500 words)
during the course of the semester. For more details, please consult the Essay
Guidelines.
Each student will write a short article (no more than 1000 words) on the Wilfredo
Lam exhibit at the McMullen Museum of Art.
There will be a final exam (nature TBD).
Members of the class should make it a habit to check their BC e-mail accounts
regularly for course news and assignments.
Failure to complete any course requirement will result in a course grade of
Incomplete.
Course grade breakdown: writing (33%), participation (33%), final exam (33%).
Grades
The grading system consists of twelve categories, as follows: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-,
D+, D, D-, F. A is excellent; B is good; C is satisfactory; D is passing but unsatisfactory; F
is failure.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is central to the mission of higher education. Please observe the highest
standards of academic integrity in this course. Please review the standards and procedures
on the web at: (http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/resources/policy/#integrity).
Make sure that the work you submit is in accordance with university policies. If you have
any questions, please consult with me. Violations will be reported to the Deans' Office and
reviewed by the College's Committee on Academic Integrity. This could result in failure in
the course or even more severe sanctions.
Calendar
Wednesday, September 3
First meeting
Sunday, September 7
Field trip! Meet in front of the BPL @ 1:00pm
Sources on the BPL murals*
Monday, September 8
Wednesday, September 10
Class rescheduled to Sept. 7
The Ministry of Justice Against Gustave Flaubert* (1857)
United States v. One Book Entitled Ulysses by James Joyce* (1934)
Monday, September 15
Wednesday, September 17
Max Weber, “Science as a Vocation” (1918)*
“Science as a Vocation,” continued
Monday, September 22
Wednesday, September 24
Rudolf Bultmann, "New Testament and Mythology" (1941), 1-20
"New Testament and Mythology," 20-42
Monday, September 29
Wednesday, October 1
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1914), 1-3
Portrait, 4
Monday, October 6
Wednesday, October 8
Portrait , 5
T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”; “Portrait
of a Lady”; “The ‘Boston Evening Transcript’” (1917)
Monday, October 13
Wednesday, October 15
Columbus Day. No classes.
Eliot, The Waste Land (1922)
Monday, October 20
Wednesday, October 22
The Waste Land, continued
Eliot, Four Quartets (1943)
Monday, October 27
Wednesday, October 29
Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, 1-151 (1925)
Mrs. Dalloway, 151-194
Monday, November 3
Wednesday, November 5
Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger, from Cubism* (1912)
Guillaume Apollinaire, from The Cubist Painters *(1913)
José Ortega y Gasset, “Dehumanization of Art”* (1925)
Essay #1 due
Piet Mondrian, “Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art”* (1937)
Monday, November 10
Wednesday, November 12
Thursday, November 13
Field Trip! Wilfredo Lam exhibit (10am McMullen Museum)
Igor Stravinsky, Vaslav Nijinsky, et alia, Rite of Spring (1913)
Field Trip! Rite of Spring at the BSO (8pm, Symphony Hall)
Monday, November 17
Jean Paul Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism”* (1946)
Article on Wilfredo lam exhibit due
“Existentialism is a Humanism”
Wednesday, November 19
Monday, November 24
Wednesday, November 26
Simone de Beauvoir, introduction to The Second Sex* (1949)
Thanksgiving break. No classes.
Monday, December 1
Wednesday, December 3
Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot* (selection) (1952-3)
Beauvoir, selection from The Ethics of Ambiguity* (1947)
Monday, December 8
Wednesday, December 10
Albert Camus, The Plague (1948)
The Plague
Essay #2 due
Final: Monday, December 15 @ 9:00am