HUM 2052: CIVILIZATION II
European Renaissance to the Modern World
Spring 2013
Dr. Perdigao
class time: M W F 1:00 pm
office hours: M W 4:00-5:30 pm
and by appointment
office: 626 Crawford
phone: 321-674-8370
email: lperdiga@fit.edu
website: my.fit.edu/~lperdiga
Required Texts:
The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, Volumes 1 & 2, 8th edition
Marvin Perry, Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, 10th edition
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
Course Objectives:
The course presents a historical and literary survey of the career of western civilization from the European
Renaissance and Reformation to the 20th century and the modern world. Emphasis is given to the close
reading and interpretation of primary sources that reflect the intellectual and historical changes in society
while giving the student the academic tools to understand the western world and their place in it.
Policies and Procedures
Grading:
Responses
Presentation
Quizzes
Midterm exam
Final exam (Thursday, May 2 from 1-3 pm)
Final essay
20%
10%
10%
20%
20%
20%
A response consists of a 1-2 page reflection on a section of the course. While the responses are not
formal essays, you must demonstrate knowledge of the readings and the relationships between the texts
we are discussing. There will be four responses to choose from throughout the semester; you must write
three responses.
For the presentation, you will choose a text that we are discussing in class. Your task is to provide a new
way of reading that text, either by offering another text as a lens through which you can highlight the
text’s main issues or by developing an approach to the text via research into the historical moment or
ideas. Ultimately, you are to go beyond summarizing the text to offer a more comprehensive approach.
You will have 10-15 minutes (for an individual or a pair) for your presentation. If you select a scene from
a film as a companion text, keep the scene to about 5 minutes so that you have time to discuss your close
reading.
A quiz will focus on the day’s assigned reading(s). As regular attendance is mandatory, make-up quizzes
are unlikely.
The final essay consists of at least 4 pages written in MLA format and includes a works cited page. The
essay must be typed; use a standard 12-point font (about 250-300 words per page).
For the responses and the final essay, students are required to submit their papers to
www.turnitin.com on the assigned date; failure to submit the paper to turnitin.com and/or to turn
in the hard copy in class on the due date will lead to a failure of the assignment. Our class ID is
5930420 and the password is Angel.
Academic Dishonesty will be handled in accordance with Humanities and Communication Department
policy. Cheating and plagiarism will result in failure of assignment and/or failure of course and will be
reported to the Dean of Students and recorded in your permanent student file. Dishonest conduct may
lead to formal disciplinary proceedings. Be certain that you are familiar with Florida Tech’s academic
dishonesty policy (http://www.fit.edu/current/documents/plagiarism.pdf).
Cell phone policy: If your phone rings, if you try to make an outgoing call or text messages are sent or
received (translation: basically any variation of playing with your phone when you should be paying
attention), you are responsible for bringing pizza (or an acceptable alternative) to the following class.
Attendance is required. Absenteeism and tardiness will adversely affect your final grade. If you miss
more than 25% of the classes, you run the risk of failing the course. You are responsible for all of the
work that you miss.
1/7
Introduction
I. European Renaissance and Reformation (1400-1648)
1/9
The Renaissance (Norton v. 1: 1883-1893)
1/11
Chapter 13: The Renaissance: Transition to the Modern Age (Perry 290-314)
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1/14
Machiavelli, from The Prince (Norton v. 1: 1945-1947; 1949-1961)
Chapter 14: The Reformation: The Shattering of Christian Unity (Perry 315-339)
1/16
Montaigne, “Of Cannibals” (Norton v. 1: 2178-2181; 2190-2199)
Chapter 15: European Expansion: Economic and Social Transformations (Perry 340-367)
1/18
Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton v. 1: 2217-2260)
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1/21
Martin Luther King Jr. Day—no class
1/23
Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton v. 1: 2260-2306)
1/25
Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton v. 1: 2307-2349)
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1/28
Chapter 16: The Rise of Sovereignty: Transition to the Modern State (Perry 368-398)
II. State Building to the Enlightenment (1648-1789)
1/30
The Enlightenment (1-9)
Chapter 17: The Scientific Revolution: The Universe Seen as a Mechanism (Perry 399418)
Chapter 18: The Age of Enlightenment: Reason and Reform (Perry 419-451)
2/1
Voltaire, from Candide (375-403)
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2/4
Voltaire, from Candide (403-438)
2/6
The Situation of Women (235-236)
“Sophia,” Woman Not Inferior to Man (243-255)
2/8
von Hippel, On Improving the Status of Women (263-275)
Response #1 due in hard copy in class and to www.turnitin.com
____________________________________________________________________________________
III. Age of Revolutions: French Revolution and Industrialization (1789-1848)
2/11
Chapter 19: The French Revolution: The Affirmation of Liberty and Equality (Perry 454486)
2/13
The Nineteenth Century: Romanticism (485-495)
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (Introduction: xi-xlvii; Author’s Introduction-Volume One,
Chapter III: 5-50)
2/15
Shelley, Frankenstein (Volume One, Chapter IV-Volume Two, Chapter II: 51-105)
____________________________________________________________________________________
2/18
Presidents Day—no class
2/20
Shelley, Frankenstein (Volume Two, Chapter III-Volume Two, Chapter IX: 105-151)
2/22
Shelley, Frankenstein (Volume Three, Chapter I-Volume III, Chapter VII: 155-225)
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2/25
Chapter 20: The Industrial Revolution: The Great Transformation (Perry 487-506)
Chapter 21: Thought and Culture in the Early Nineteenth Century (Perry 507-534)
2/27
Midterm exam
IV. Liberalism, Imperialism & the Development of the 19th Century World (1848-1914)
3/1
The Nineteenth Century: Realism and Symbolism (997-1007)
Revolutionary Principles (1369-1370)
Chapter 22: Revolution and Counterrevolution, 1815-1848 (Perry 535-557)
Chapter 23: Thought and Culture in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: Realism and Social
Criticism (Perry 560-585)
Response #2 due in hard copy in class and to www.turnitin.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3/4
Spring Break—no class
3/6
Spring Break—no class
3/8
Spring Break—no class
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3/11
Darwin, from The Origin of Species; from The Descent of Man (1370-1381)
Marx & Engels, from Manifesto of the Communist Party (1381-1390)
3/13
Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground (1250-1293)
Chapter 24: The Surge of Nationalism: From Liberal to Extreme Nationalism (Perry 586609)
3/15
Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground (1293-1327)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3/18
Twentieth Century: Modernisms and Modernity (1621-1631)
Chapter 25: The Industrial West: Responses to Modernization (Perry 610-637)
3/20
Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1632-1669)
3/22
No class
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3/25
Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1669-1692)
Chapter 26: Imperialism: Western Global Dominance (Perry 638-665)
V. A Disconcerted Modernity (1914-1945)
3/27
Civilization on Trial (1692-1693)
Freud, from The Future of an Illusion; from Civilization and Its
Discontents (1693-1699)
Chapter 27: Modern Consciousness: New Views of Nature, Human Nature, and the Arts
(Perry 666-693)
3/29
Valéry, The Crisis of the Mind (1701-1705)
Spengler, The Decline of the West (1706-1710)
Chapter 28: World War I: The West in Despair (Perry 696-733)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4/1
Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author (Act I: 1736-1757)
Response #3 due in hard copy in class and to www.turnitin.com
4/3
4/5
Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author (Acts II, III: 1757-1780)
Chapter 29: An Era of Totalitarianism (Perry 734-777)
Freedom and Responsibility at Mid-Century (2096)
Sartre, Being and Nothingness (2102-2107)
Chapter 30: Thought and Culture in an Era of World Wars and Totalitarianism (Perry
778-798)
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4/8
Tadeusz Borowski, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Gas Chamber (2304-2320)
Chapter 31: World War II: Western Civilization in the Balance (Perry 799-833)
VI. The Contemporary World, 1945-2011
4/10
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (Chapters 1-3: 1-71)
Chapter 32: Europe After World War II: Recovery and Realignment, 1945-1989 (Perry
836-862)
4/12
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (Chapters 4-5: 72-135)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4/15
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (Chapters 6-8: 136-181)
4/17
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (Chapters 9-10: 182-215)
4/19
Postmodernism
Borges, The Garden of Forking Paths (2179-2188)
Chapter 33: The Troubled Present (Perry 863-885)
Response #4 due in hard copy in class and to www.turnitin.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4/22
Epilogue (Perry 887-888)
Donnie Darko
4/24
Conclusions
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5/2
Final exam (1-3 pm)
Final essay due in hard copy to my office and to www.turnitin.com