HUM 2052: CIVILIZATION II
European Renaissance to the Modern World
Spring 2010
Dr. Perdigao
class time: M W F 12:00 pm
office hours: M W F 3:00-4:15 pm
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
Marvin Perry, Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, 9th 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:
Quizzes
Responses
Presentation
Final Exam
Final Essay
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
A quiz will focus on the day’s assigned reading(s). The quiz may be announced the day before class or
be a “pop quiz.” As a result, regular attendance is mandatory; make-up quizzes are unlikely.
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 throughout the semester; only the three highest grades
will count toward your final grade.
For the presentation you will choose a text that we are discussing. 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 10-20 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.
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 with margins of approximately 1¼ inches (about 250300 words per page).
For 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 3063537 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. Excessive
absenteeism could lead to failure of the course. You are responsible for all of the work you miss.
1/11
Introduction
I. European Renaissance and Reformation (1400-1648)
1/13
Chapter 13: The Renaissance: Transition to the Modern Age (Perry 292-314)
1/15
Machiavelli, from The Prince (Norton v. 1: 1945-1947; 1949-1961)
Chapter 14: The Reformation: The Shattering of Christian Unity (Perry 316-339)
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1/18
Martin Luther King Jr. Day—no class
1/20
Montaigne, Essays (Norton v. 1: 2178-2199)
Chapter 15: European Expansion: Economic and Social Transformations (Perry 340-368)
1/22
Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton v. 1: 2217-2260)
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1/25
Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton v. 1: 2260-2306)
1/27
Cervantes, from Don Quixote (Norton v. 1: 2307-2349)
Chapter 16: The Rise of Sovereignty: Transition to the Modern State (Perry 370-399)
II. State Building to the Enlightenment (1648-1789)
1/29
The Enlightenment (1-9)
Swift (289-291), A Modest Proposal (341-347)
Voltaire, from Candide (375-403)
Chapter 17: The Scientific Revolution: The Universe Seen as a Mechanism (Perry 400418)
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2/1
Voltaire, from Candide (403-438)
2/3
The Situation of Women (235-236)
“Sophia,” Woman Not Inferior to Man (243-255)
Chapter 18: The Age of Enlightenment: Reason and Reform (Perry 420-451)
2/5
von Hippel, On Improving the Status of Women (263-275)
Woolf, from A Room of One’s Own (1922-1956)
Response #1 due in hard copy in class and to www.turnitin.com
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III. Age of Revolutions: French Revolution and Industrialization (1789-1848)
2/8
The Nineteenth Century: Romanticism (485-495)
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (Introduction: xi-xlvii; Author’s Introduction-Volume One,
Chapter III: 5-50)
Chapter 19: The French Revolution: The Affirmation of Liberty and Equality (Perry 454480)
Chapter 20: Napoleon: Subverter and Preserver of the Revolution (Perry 482-498)
2/10
Shelley, Frankenstein (Volume One, Chapter IV-Volume Two, Chapter II: 51-105)
2/12
Shelley, Frankenstein (Volume Two, Chapter III-Volume Two, Chapter IX: 105-151)
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2/15
Presidents Day—no class
2/17
Shelley, Frankenstein (Volume Three, Chapter I-Volume III, Chapter VII: 155-225)
2/19
Frankenstein
Chapter 21: The Industrial Revolution: The Great Transformation (Perry 500-518)
Chapter 22: Thought and Culture in the Early Nineteenth Century (Perry 520-546)
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IV. Liberalism, Imperialism & The Development of the 19th Century World (1848-1914)
2/22
The Nineteenth Century: Realism and Symbolism (997-1007)
Revolutionary Principles (1369-1370)
Darwin, from The Origin of Species; from The Descent of Man (1370-1381)
Chapter 23: Revolution and Counterrevolution, 1815-1848 (Perry 548-569)
2/24
Marx & Engels, from Manifesto of the Communist Party (1381-1390)
Chapter 24: Thought and Culture in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: Realism and Social
Criticism (Perry 572-596)
2/26
Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground (1250-1293)
Chapter 25: The Surge of Nationalism: From Liberal to Extreme Nationalism (Perry 598620)
Response #2 due in hard copy in class and to www.turnitin.com
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3/1
Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground (1293-1327)
3/3
Twentieth Century: Modernisms and Modernity (1621-1631)
Chapter 26: The Industrial West: Responses to Modernization (Perry 622-648)
3/5
Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1632-1669)
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3/8
Spring Break—no class
3/10
Spring Break—no class
3/12
Spring Break—no class
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3/15
Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1669-1692)
Chapter 27: Imperialism: Western Global Dominance (Perry 650-676)
V. A Disconcerted Modernity (1914-1945)
3/17
Civilization on Trial (1692-1693)
Freud, from The Future of an Illusion; from Civilization and Its
Discontents (1693-1699)
Valéry, The Crisis of the Mind (1701-1705)
Spengler, The Decline of the West (1706-1710)
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1710-14)
3/19
Chapter 28: Modern Consciousness: New Views of Nature, Human Nature, and the Arts
(Perry 678-705)
Chapter 29: World War I: The West in Despair (Perry 708-745)
Response #3 due in hard copy in class and to www.turnitin.com
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3/22
Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author (Act I: 1736-1757)
3/24
Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author (Acts II, III: 1757-1780)
3/26
Freedom and Responsibility at Mid-Century (2096)
Orwell, from The Prevention of Literature (2096-2102)
Sartre, Being and Nothingness (2102-2107)
Chapter 30: An Era of Totalitarianism (Perry 746-789)
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3/29
Arendt, from Organized Guilt and Universal Responsibility (2107-2112)
Chapter 31: Thought and Culture in an Era of World Wars and Totalitarianism (Perry
790-813)
3/31
Tadeusz Borowski, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Gas Chamber (2304-2320)
Chapter 32: World War II: Western Civilization in the Balance (Perry 814-847)
VI. The Contemporary World, 1945-2009
4/2
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (Chapters 1-2: 1-51)
Chapter 33: Europe After World War II: Recovery and Realignment (Perry 850-869)
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4/5
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (Chapters 3-4: 52-86)
4/7
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (Chapter 5: 87-135)
4/9
No class
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4/12
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (Chapters 6-8: 136-181)
4/14
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (Chapters 9-10: 182-215)
4/16
Pleasantville
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4/19
Postmodernism
Borges, The Garden of Forking Paths, Borges and I (2179-2189)
Chapter 34: The Troubled Present (Perry 870-899)
Response #4 due in hard copy in class and to www.turnitin.com
4/21
Postmodernism
Borges, “Library of Babel,” “The Book of Sand” (handouts)
Cortázar, “Continuity of Parks” (handout)
4/23
Robbe-Grillet, The Secret Room (2321-2326)
Epilogue (Perry 900-901)
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4/26
Donnie Darko
4/28
Conclusions
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5/4
Final Exam (8-10 am)
5/6
Final Essay due in hard copy to my office and to www.turnitin.com