Western Cultural Heritage 3303
Modern Period
UTEP Spring 2005
t/th 9:00-10:20
Dr. Jules Simon
Worrell 109
747-7912
jsimon@utep.edu
Women Respond to Men in Modernity
One way to gain a better understanding of the development of our human societies in our
modern epoch is by learning of that development through the eyes and hands and writings
of women, that is, by experiencing a selection of their productions during this period.
Although this is a survey course, this is also a writing and reading intensive course so you
should be prepared from day one to do an extensive amount of critical reading and
expository writing. As part of the Western Cultural Heritage series, this course
presupposes some familiarity with the intellectual tradition generally referred to as
“Western” but it is not limited to that tradition. From this course, you should become
more acquainted with several major movements in the intellectual and cultural traditions
of humans, such as modern political forms of government--totalitarian, communist, and
democratic—as well as select issues in science and social relations. Primarily, though, we
will focus on the ways in which women asserted—and continue to assert—their voices,
and worked—and continue to work—to change the world by changing their roles and the
role of men in male-dominated societies.
Required texts:
Locke, Second Treatise of Government
Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Darwin, On the Origin of Species
Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents
Toni Morrison, Beloved
Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran
Additionally, you must purchase a packet of readings from the Library Copy Center that
includes selections from Jefferson, The Seneca Falls Women, Dickinson, Beauvoir, and
Irigaray
Finally, you will be required to view the movie, Frida, outside of class as part of
preparation for one of our class sessions
COURSE POLICIES AND EVALUATION
Prerequisites: Western Cultural Heritage 3301 or 3302
Attendance: Role will be taken only at the beginning of the semester in order for me to
familiarize myself with your names and faces, but regular and timely attendance is
expected. Repeated lateness is unacceptable because it is disruptive. You are required to
bring the relevant text to class every day.
Class Participation and Presentations: 10%
Your participation is essential for our class to be effective, so join in early and frequently.
Not only is your point of view important, but voicing your ideas helps others and yourself
to become more aware of, and involved in, the issues. You will be asked to make two
short oral presentations on the assigned material that, with your level of participation,
will affect your final grade.
Papers: 40% (#1 10%, #2 15%, #3 15%)
Three short papers are required and will vary in length from four to six pages. Specific
instructions and topics will be given well in advance of the due date for each paper. The
papers are to be typed, double-spaced, and grammatically clean. Your writing will be
graded for both quality of ideas and quality of writing, that is, for the relative
effectiveness of your ideas and for how well you structure and express those ideas. I will
schedule a mandatory individual conference to discuss my evaluation of your first paper
and for you to voice any concerns that you may be having about the course.
Exams: 40% (20% each)
There will be a midterm and semi-cumulative final exam. The exams will contain some
objective questions but will primarily follow the short answer and essay format. You will
be allowed to bring a 5 X 8 notecard with you to the exam to help answer the questions.
Notecards: 10%
In lieu of quizzes and other assignments, you will be expected to bring a 3 X 5 notecard
to class every day. The notecard will consist of your observations of, and questions
about, the textual material that you read for class. Your cards should not be merely
summaries of the assigned text or of class discussions. Moreover, each card should be
done before you come to class and about the reading, thus facilitating a livelier discussion
based on your more detailed and concrete engagement with the text. Additionally, the
notecards will take the place of attendance and will be returned on the last day of class.
Honors Students must also develop an independent project that they will present to the
rest of the class on the final day of the term.
Dateline
January
11
Introduction and assignments
13
(1) Locke – Second Treatise of Government
18
(2) Locke
20
(3) Locke/Jefferson/Rousseau – American and French Revolutions
25
(4) Seneca Falls Women/Wollstonecraft “Vindication of the Rights of Women”
paper #1 assigned
27
(5) Shelley -- Frankenstein
February
1
(6) Shelley
3
(7) Marx – The Communist Manifesto
4
pass/fail deadline
8
(8) Marx
10
(9) Darwin – On the Origin of Species
15
(10) Darwin
17
(11) Dickinson – selected poems
22
(12) Dickinson
24
Midterm
March
1
(13) (review midterm) slide show—modern art
3
(14) Freud – Civilization and Its Discontents
8
(15) Freud
10
(16) Freud
15
(17) Beauvoir, Introduction to The Second Sex;
17
(18) Iragaray, “The Sex Which is not One” and Schutte, “Feminist Theory”
paper #2 assigned
18
drop course deadline
22
SPRING BREAK
24
SPRING BREAK
29
guest lecture: Dr. Magee-Deutsch, “Latin American Women”
paper #2 due
31
CESAR CHAVEZ DAY – no class
April
5
(19) Morrison -- Beloved
7
(20) Morrison
12
(21) Morrison; Nafisi -- Reading Lolita in Tehran
19
(22) Nafisi
21
(23) Nafisi; paper #3 assigned
26
slide show & discuss film “Frida” (on Frida Kahlo)
28
continue discussion of slides and film; Honors presentations
29
dead-day; paper #3 due (by noon)