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HUMANITIES 513A-D: THE MODERN WORLD:
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY INTRODUCTION
This class examines selected topics in the arts, philosophy, literature, and science in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach to
understanding the ideas and creative works of the period that have contributed to making the
modern world. This was the age of Newton, Voltaire, David, Kant, Dickens, Marx, and Darwin.
It was the age of the Enlightenment, of political and industrial revolutions, and of the rise of
Romanticism. It gave us our belief in science and progress, our experience of modern
technology and social change, and our ideas about the role of the artist and the creative thinker in
modern society.
The course is team-taught by four professors who are experts in art history (section A),
literature (section B), history (section C), and philosophy (section D). Regardless of which
section a student signs up for, she or he attends the same lectures as students in the other
sections. Lectures are taught by each of the four professors in rotation. Students also attend the
discussion sessions appropriate to the section in which they are enrolled, as shown in the class
schedule. Because the professors leading each section emphasize different disciplinary
approaches to the material, students earn a different General Education/Discovery credit
depending on which section they are in.
Lectures: MWF, 1.10-2.00, PCAC A218.
Section Instructors and Rooms for Discussions:
Prof. Rebecca Karo (514A): PCAC A 204 [Gen Ed 6/Discovery Arts].
Prof. Michael Ferber (514B): Ham Smith 141 [Gen Ed 8/Discovery Foreign Cultures].
Prof. Jan Golinski (514C): Ham Smith 19 [Gen Ed 4/Discovery Historical Perspectives].
Prof. Jennifer Armstrong (514D): Morrill 103 [Gen Ed 7/Discovery Humanities].
Books required for purchase (available at UNH Bookstore or Durham Book Exchange):
Michael Ferber, Romanticism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, ISBN: 019956891X).
Voltaire, Candide (Oxford World Classics, ISBN: 0199535612).
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818 text, Oxford World Classics, ISBN: 0199537151).
Dickens, Hard Times (Oxford World Classics, ISBN: 0199536279).
Karl Marx, Selected Writings (Hackett, ISBN: 0872202186).
Other required readings for the class will be posted on the Blackboard system. Make sure you
can access the Blackboard site throughout the semester. Your section instructor will tell you
about the requirement to bring copies of the readings to section meetings.
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Assignments:
Half of the overall grade for the course will be assigned for the three tests, which are
taken by all students together at the times listed in the schedule (below). The remaining half of
the grade will be given for assignments set by your section instructor. Attendance at discussion
section meetings is required. Your instructor will tell you about his/her attendance policy and
the penalties to be applied for absences.
Accommodations:
If you feel you may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability, please
contact your section instructor privately to discuss your specific needs. Students with a
documented disability should register with the Access Office in the Memorial Union Building,
room 118 (862-2607) for assistance. Students who are already registered with the Access Office
and wish to receive accommodations in this course should share their Accommodation Letter
with their instructor in a timely manner.
Academic honesty:
In this class, a zero-tolerance approach will apply to infringements of academic honesty,
including any cases of plagiarism. This is consistent with the university policy on these issues.
If you have any questions about the policy, please ask your instructor or refer to the handbook,
Student Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities, available online in PDF format at: www.unh.edu/
student/rights (especially pages 21-23 on “Academic Honesty”).
Schedule:
Wed 25 Jan
Fri 27 Jan
Mon 30 Jan
Wed 1 Feb
Fri 3 Feb
Mon 6 Feb
Wed 8 Feb
Fri 10 Feb
Mon 13 Feb
Wed 15 Feb
Fri 17 Feb
Mon 20 Feb
Wed 22 Feb
Fri 24 Feb
Mon 27 Feb
Wed 29 Feb
Fri 2 Mar
Introduction to the period (JG)
Newton (JG)
Leibniz (JA)
Voltaire, Candide (MF)
SECTION MEETING
Voltaire, Candide (MF)
Rococo art (RK)
Rococo art (RK)
Locke and Kant (JA)
Locke and Kant (JA)
SECTION MEETING
The French Revolution (JG)
Film on David (RK)
TEST #1
Burke, Paine, and Wollstonecraft (JG)
German Idealism (JA)
SECTION MEETING
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Mon 5 Mar
Wed 7 Mar
Fri 9 Mar
12-16 Mar
Mon 19 Mar
Wed 21 Mar
Fri 23 Mar
Mon 26 Mar
Wed 28 Mar
Fri 30 Mar
Mon 2 Apr
Wed 4 Apr
Fri 6 Apr
Mon 9 Apr
Wed 11 Apr
Fri 13 Apr
Mon 16 Apr
Wed 18 Apr
Fri 20 Apr
Mon 23 Apr
Wed 25 Apr
Fri 27 Apr
Mon 30 Apr
Wed 2 May
Fri 4 May
Mon 7 May
German Idealism (JA)
Romantic poetry (MF)
Romantic poetry (MF)
SPRING BREAK
Romantic art (RK)
Romantic art (RK)
SECTION MEETING
Romantic art (RK)
Shelley, Frankenstein (JG)
Shelley, Frankenstein (JG)
Shelley, Frankenstein (JG)
TEST #2
NO CLASS: Reading Day
Dickens, Hard Times (MF)
Dickens, Hard Times (MF)
Marx (JA)
Marx (JA)
Dickens, Hard Times (MF)
SECTION MEETING
Darwin (JG)
Darwin (JG)
Realist art (RK)
Realist art (RK)
Nietzsche (JA)
SECTION MEETING
Nietzsche (JA)
Fri 11 May
TEST #3 (10:30-12:30)