LAN 312: NEH Enduring Questions Course: What is Empathy?
Cultural & Scientific Understandings of Empathy
Dr. Margarete Landwehr, Dept. of Languages and Cultures:
Main Hall 108; 610-436-2465/Office hours: 12:30-2/3:15-4:15
mlandwehr@wcupa.edu
Course Description: Is empathy an innate human trait, can it be learned or nurtured
through art, or does it consist of nature and nurture? Philosophers, religious leaders and
artists have discussed empathy as charity, compassion, sympathy and fellow-feeling.
Evolutionary biologists, neuroscientists and developmental psychologists explore if
empathy is uniquely human or not. We shall take an interdisciplinary approach by
examining and comparing religious, philosophical, literary, cinematic, psychological and
scientific perspectives. Comparing and contrasting mutually enriching definitions of
empathy of various eras, cultures, and fields constitutes a key interdisciplinary approach
in this course. A final section asks the question: Can empathy be nurtured through art?
We shall analyze theoretical responses in various fields (drama, poetry, prose and film)
and artistic works from various cultures, eras, and perspectives. No prerequisite courses
are required. No technological expertise is needed for this course.
Email policy: It is expected the faculty and students activate and maintain regular access
to university email accounts. Official university communications, including those from
your instructor, will be sent through university email accounts. You are responsible for
accessing that email to obtain official university communications. Failure to access email
accounts will not exempt students from the responsibilities associated with this course.
General Education Statement: LAN 312 is an approved course in the WCU General
Education program. It is designed to help students meet these general education goals:
As a writing emphasis course, its primary goal is Goal #1:Communicate effectively; its
secondary goal is Goal #3. Think critically and analytically. As an interdisciplinary
course, it will meet primary Goal #4: Demonstrate the ability to think across and about
disciplinary boundaries. Its secondary goal is Goal #5: Respond thoughtfully to diversity.
Assessment/Grading: #1. 25% Homework assignments: One-page essays with critiques
of readings to be used in classroom discussion and debates.
#2. 25% One classroom presentation and a brief written summary (3-4 pages)
#3. 25% First research paper (8 pages) & five-minute presentation. With data from
your own discipline you will answer the question: What is empathy? OR: You will
formulate a definition of empathy and apply it to a current political or social issue.
#4. 25% Second research paper (8 pages) & presentation: Apply what you’ve learned
about art’s role in eliciting empathic responses in readers/viewers to an analysis of an
optional reading/film. OR:Conduct an approved service learning project or community-based research and write a report on your experience. You will summarize your
findings in a class presentation. *Please note: If you fail to hand in an assignment, your
grade may be lowered. If you anticipate that you cannot hand in an assignment on time,
speak with me before the deadline.
Course Objectives/Desired Outcomes: (For assessment assignments, see above.)
1. Students will learn to apply what they have learned and include this information in a
critical written analysis of a variety of texts. Assessment assignments: #1,2,3,4.
2. Students will practice creating a well-written argument in informal and formal papers.
Assessment: #1,2,3,4
3. Students will practice persuasive speaking in debates, discussions and, most
importantly, presentations. Assessment: #1 and #2.
4.Students will develop compassionate listening and thoughtful responses to opinions.
Assessment: # 1,2,3,4.
5.Students will apply knowledge on empathy to discussion of daily situations and social
issues. Assessment: #1, 4.
6.Students will practice tolerance for ambiguity and unconventional views. Assessment:
#1, 2, 3, 4.
7.Students will develop greater awareness and understanding of alternative life-styles and
different religions, cultures, races, genders, classes, ethnicities and world views.
Assessment: #1, 2, 3, 4.
8. Students will recognize and be sensitive to bias and critically re-examine values and
opinions towards self and others and assumptions about other cultures, races, ethnicities.
Assessment: #1, 2, 3, 4.
9.Students will nurture creativity and original insights towards artistic texts.
Assessment: # 1& 4.
10.Students will develop an ability to distinguish between a (more) objective (fact-based)
view and a (more) biased, subjective point-of-view in discussions and readings.
Assesment: #1,2,3,4.
Summary of General Education Narrative: The primary educational goals of this
course are: #1: To communicate effectively both in speaking and writing. This includes
speaking and writing clearly without any major grammar, spelling, or stylistic errors and
presenting a persuasive viewpoint or argument and #4: To Demonstrate the ability to think
across and about disciplinary boundaries. We shall analyze our own and other responses to the
question: What is empathy? We shall compare and contrast various modes of thinking and shall explore
various methods of approaching this question. Secondary educational goals include: #3. To think
critically and analytically and to formulate a persuasive viewpoint that draws upon facts or quotations
from the text under discussion and Goal #5: To respond thoughtfully to diversity by learning about and
discussing various cultures and eras. Through a variety of texts, students shall be exposed to a diversity of
different perspectives on human beings, their innate nature, and the role that culture, specifically art,
plays, if any, in the development of empathy towards others. Students shall develop an open-minded
acceptance of other viewpoints and engage in empathic listening during class debates and discussions.
Summary of Diversity Course Statement on Integration of Disciplines: Through
examining selective texts from various disciplines, cultures and eras, we shall compare
similarities and distinguish differences among diverse definitions of empathy and devise
our own definition of empathy and its implications for society and our personal lives. We
shall integrate the insights from our readings and discussions in Parts I, II and III into our
interpretations of literary and cinematic works. We shall draw upon what we have learned
philosophy, religions, the sciences and psychology in our analysis of aesthetic texts.
Course Structure & Evaluation: The course will have a seminar format with brief
lectures and a focus on collaborative learning through student-centered discussions,
small-group work, debates and presentations. Weekly reading assignments will vary from
50 to 150 pages; the amount of reading depends upon the texts’ difficulty. Informal
written assignments include answers to questions on texts, essays and a presentation
summary. Formal written assignments include two research papers. The class shall go on
a field trip either to a performance (a film, play, etc.) or to an appropriate museum.
Attendance Policy: Regular class attendance is crucial and required. As per the student
catalogue, students may have two unexcused absences. Excused absences include serious
illnesses, a family emergency, or a religious holiday. Please comply with the absence
policy in the WCU Undergraduate Catalog for university sanctioned events. If you
have special circumstances, please speak with me. Cell-phone use is not allowed in class.
Required Texts: Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. (Indian novel, New York, Penguin)
de Waal, Frans. The Age of Empathy:Nature’s Lessons for a Kinder Society
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun (American play, New York: Random House)
Livaneli, O. Z. Bliss (Turkish novel, New York: St. Martin’s Griffin)
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman (American play, Arthur Miller)
Sebald, W. G. The Emigrants (German fiction: short story: “Paul Bereyter”)
Readers with poems, essays, articles, stories (Student Dynamic Bookstore and on D2L)
Recommended Text: Empathy: Philosophical & Psychological Perspectives Eds. Amy
Coplan & Peter Goldie (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2011).
ACADEMIC POLICIES
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: It is the responsibility of each student to adhere to the
university’s standards for academic integrity. Violations of academic integrity include
any act that violates the rights of another student in academic work, that involves
misrepresentation of your own work or that disrupts the instruction of the course. Other
violations include, but are not limited to: cheating on assignments or examinations;
plagiarizing, which means copying any part of another’s work and/or using ideas of
another and presenting them as one’s own without giving proper credit to the source;
selling, purchasing, or exchanging of term papers; falsifying of information; and using
your own work from one class to fulfill the assignment for another class without
significant modification. Proof of academic misconduct can result in automatic failure
and removal from the course. For questions regarding Academic Integrity, the No-Grade
Policy, Sexual Harassment or the Student Code of Conduct, students are encouraged to
refer to the department’s Undergraduate Handbook, the Undergraduate Catalogue, the
Ram’s Eye View, and the University website at www.wcupa.edu
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT:If you have a disability that requires
accommo-dations under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), please meet with me
as soon as possible so that I can support your success in an informed manner. If you
would like to know more about West Chester University’s services for students with
disabilities, please contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities which is
located at 223 Lawrence Center and can be reached at 610-436-3217 and at
ossd@wcupa.edu.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: Students are encouraged to sign up for the
University’s free WCU ALERT service, which delivers official WCU emergency text
messages to your cell phone. For information and to sign up visit
www.wcupa.edu/wcualert. For emergencies: call Dept. of Public Safety at 610-436-3311.
Summary of Writing Activities and Objectives:
A: Informal Writing Assignments:
25%: Discussion questions/essays:Written assignments for required readings will be
given in class and posted on D2L and may consist of questions on readings and/or essay
topics. Essays will require one typed, double-spaced page. Answers to questions & essays
are subject to peer review in small group class discussions. Essays will have written
feedback and be graded and returned to students. (The first essay will be written
collaboratively between two or more students, will have written comments, but will not
be graded.) Students may revise essays and must hand revisions to the instructor no later
than one week after graded 1st versions are returned. Objectives/Rationale:Questions &
essay topics should provoke students to read and think critically about texts, to formulate
convincing opinions, to apply their insights to their own lives or fields of study, and to
prepare them to share discoveries with fellow students in class discussions and debates.
25%: Classroom presentation & written summary:Students will choose a research
topic that is related to their fields of study, that will be shared with the class and that will
serve as a springboard for discussion and/or debate. A three to five page typed, doublespaced summary with at least two scholarly sources will serve as the foundation of the
presentation and will be due the day of the presentation. Scholarly sources must include
one source not taken from the internet and can include journal articles or scholarly books.
(Wikipedia and similar online sources do not count as a scholarly source.) Presentations
must be given on assigned dates. Late presentations and delays in handing-in summaries
may lower your grade. Summaries may be revised after the instructor has returned them
with comments. Revised summaries are due a week after the instructor has returned a
graded summary. Students must discuss a topic and scholarly sources with the
instructor at least one week before the presentation.* Presentations should last no
longer than five minutes, should supply new information that has not been discussed
previously in class, and should spur questions and classroom discussion. Another five
minutes shall be allowed for questions and discussions. Powerpoint presen-tations and
You-Tube video clips are encouraged, but not required. Your grade will not be impacted
with such additions to presentations. Grading is based on the organization, clarity, and
originality of the presentation. Well-researched and clearly presented talks and wellwritten summaries with new material will receive high grades. Objectives/Rationale:
The research project allows the student to apply what has been learned in class to his or
her field of study and to deepen his/her knowledge of empathy in his/her area of
expertise. The written assignment allows the student to learn how to write a succinct and
eloquent summary of the student’s findings and should prepare the student to research
and write his/her formal research papers. Presentation allow students to practice public
speaking and to prepare for presentations of research papers. Students are encouraged to
confer with the instructor about their topic and to share a rough draft of their presentation.
B. Formal Writing Assignments: (MLA, Chicago Manual or AP Style may be used.)
Papers shall consist of 8 typed, double-spaced pages of 12 pt. with one-inch margins and
at least three scholarly sources. A cover page does not constitute one of the 8 pages. At
least one source should not be from the internet. Scholarly sources are articles or books
from sources such as university presses. Research topics/projects must be discussed
with the instructor at least two weeks before deadlines.* I encourage all students to
confer with me on the progress of their papers--drafting, writing, editing. Students may
show me rough drafts. A grading rubric & sample model papers will be provided in
class during the 5th week of class. Papers shall be graded on content and style and should
consist of original research, be clearly organized with no punctuation, grammar, or
spelling mistakes. Students shall share their findings in presentations, which should focus
on new information that has not already been discussed. Sources of specific information
should be indicated in footnotes/endnotes and a bibliography. Objectives/Rationale:
Assignments shall help students refine their writing and public speaking skills by
organizing their thoughts & reformulating what they have learned in their own words.
25% First Research Paper: With data from their own discipline (psychology,
philosophy, etc.) students will answer the question: What is empathy? They may
incorporate class material, but must also include original findings. OR: A definition of
empathy from their discipline can be applied to a current political or social issue. OR:
Students may combine the two options. Papers are due the 8th week of the semester.
Research papers may be revised and handed in a week after first versions are returned.
Objectives/Rationale: This assignment has both intellectual & practical goals as it
allows students to deepen their knowledge of their discipline by expanding what they
have learned in their area of expertise and/or applying this knowledge to a current event.
25% Second Research Paper:Students may examine the role of art in eliciting
empathic responses in readers/viewers in a discussion of an optional reading or film.
OR: They may conduct a service learning project or community based research
approved by the instructor, advisors, and administrators that should begin no later than
the 4th week of the semester. They will write up a report on their experience and apply
relevant research material (ex.theories of the role of empathy in pedagogy for teaching
volunteers or psychological theories of empathy for those in social work) to their
findings. Papers are due the time/date of the scheduled exam time.
Objectives/Rationale: This assignment enables students to apply what they have learned
to a deeper understanding of an artistic text or to a situation in which they are interacting
with others.
*Students are encouraged to confer with the instructor about their writing performance.
Emphasis is placed on accurate, concise communication to a specified audience. Any student
judged to have serious writing problems (beyond the scope of the corrective capabilities of the
instructor) is strongly advised to seek additional assistance from the Writing Center.
LAN 312: Descriptive Week by Week Course Outline: What is Empathy?
Part I: Answers from Eastern Religions, Philosophy, Poetry, Film: We shall
compare similarities in these answers with their aesthetic depictions in poetry and film,
and through contemporary social engagement such as that of the Dali Lama.
Week 1: Introduction to the course, outline of basic questions on empathy, overview of
definitions of empathy, and of similarities/differences in the works to be discussed.
Chinese Philosophy: Essays, Chinese thinkers: Confucius and his follower Mencius.
Film excerpts:“The Buddha:Story of Siddhartha” (Dir. David Grubin, PBS)
Week 2: Buddhist Philosophy, Indian Poetry & South Korean Film:
Philosophy: Mahayana Buddhism: “Karuna” (compassion)
Dalai Lama: “The Value & Benefits of Compassion” in The Art of Happiness
Poetry: Rabindranath Tagore: “I” and Love Songs.
Film excerpts: “10 Questions for the Dalai Lama” (Dir. Rick Ray, Tibetan Buddhism)
“Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter” (2003, S. Korean, Dir. Kim Ki-duk, Buddhist fable)
Assigned Essay Questions: How does Buddhist philosophy describe “karuna” or
compassion? How do Tagore’s poem and Ki-duk’s film portray Karuna?
Part II: Western Religions, Philosophy, Literature and Film:
We shall compare religious and philosophical answers with their depiction in fiction and
poetry and through social engagement (Mother Theresa; Hannah Arendt).
Week 3: Western Religions (with Epic poetry, fiction & film) :
Jewish Philosopher: Martin Buber: Excerpts from I & thou
Christianity: The Bible: The New Testament: Deuteronomy 6:5; John 13:35;
Corinthians: Chapt. 13 & Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Mother Teresa: “On Love” from No Greater Love
Literature: Parzival (excerpts, medieval German epic on search for the Holy Grail)
Sebald’s “Paul Bereyter” (German short story of Holocaust survivor)
Islam: the Koran & Rumi’s poetry: “Only Breath,“Force of Friendship,” “Say I am You”
Film excerpts: “Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet” (Dir. Michael Schwarz)
Assigned Essay: Compare the Parable of the Good Samaritan with the lesson Parzival
learns in his search for the Holy Grail. Compare these two texts with the lesson that the
narrator learns in Sebald’s short story “Paul Bereyter”.
Week 4: Western Philosophers with history, poetry and film:
Hume, David: Excerpt from A Treatise of Human Nature (English)
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques:Excerpts from Emile, Book IV p.144-49.(French Romanticism)
Smith, Adam: “On the Propriety of Action: Of Sympathy,” The Theory of Moral
Sentiments. pp. 1-7 & 34-37. (English philosopher)
Scheler, Max: (German philosopher) Excerpts from The Nature of Sympathy: “fellowfeeling”: definition: pp.12-19, 39-41; its innate nature & critique of Darwin:130 to 134.
Schopenhauer, Arthur: (German philosopher) “The Virtue of Loving-Kindness,” in
“The Foundation of Ethics,” On the Basis of Morality. (German)
Unamuno, Miguel de: “Love, Suffering, Pity and Personality” & “Faith, Hope &
Charity,” in Tragic Sense of Life. (Spanish/Basque philosopher/writer/poet)
History: The Eichmann Trial & Hannah Arendt: (German/Jewish philosopher)
Eichmann in Jerusalem:banality of evil & sheer thoughtlessness p. 323-4, 339, 365, 379
Film (excerpts): “Hannah Arendt” (Dir. Margarethe von Trotta)
Assigned Essay: Contrast three philosophical definitions of empathy with Arendt’s
definition of “the banality of evil,” embodied in Eichmann. Eli Wiesel said that the
opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. Apply Wiesel’s observation to Eichmann.
Part III: Answers from the Sciences and Social Sciences:
We shall compare the recent discoveries in these fields regarding the evolutionary,
psychological and neurological development of humans, especially children, and how
they enhance our understanding of discoveries in each field and of human motivation.
Week 5: Evolutionary Biology:
History of Evolutionary Theory: Excerpts from The Expression of Emotions in Man &
Animals (1862, Charles Darwin) & “A biological Sketch of an Infant” Mind: Quarterly
Review of Psychology & Philosophy Vol. 11 (1877): 286-94. (Charles Darwin)
Biology: The Age of Empathy: Nature’s Lessons for a Kinder Society (Frans de Waal):
Chapter 3: “A Feeling Brain”: the limbic system & emotional contagion: p. 65-69
“Empathy Needs a Face”: mirror neurons: 78-83; Chapter 4: “Someone else’s shoes”
Chapter 5: “The Elephant in the Room”: VEN neurons, elephants, dolphins
Assigned Essay:By drawing upon the discoveries of Darwin, de Waal, and neuroscience,
support the argument that empathy is an innate human trait. Compare these viewpoints to
those of Mencius, the Dalai Lama and one of the western philosophers we have studied.
Week 6: Developmental Psychology and Feminist Psychology:
Ch. 2: “Empathy, its arousal & prosocial functioning” & Ch. 3: “Development of
Empathic Distress” in Empathy & Moral Development (Martin Hoffman)
“Empathy, Imitation & the Social Brain” (Decety/Meltzoff) &“Understanding Empathy:
Features & Effects” (Coplan), in Empathy:Philosophical & Psychological Perspectives
Excerpts:In a Different Voice:Psychological Theory & Women’s Development (Gilligan)
Assigned Essay:Explain the difference between emotional contagion and a more mature
empathy. Do animals have the former or the latter? Compare Hoffmann’s description of
mature empathy to the definitions of one religious leader and one western philosopher.
Week VIII: Midterm Paper presentations
Film:“The Lives of Others” (German, von Donnersmarck, art’s role in inspiring empathy)
OR: “In the House” (French, Francois Ozon; readers’ empathy for fictional characters)
Week 7:Neuroscience:Mirror neurons,emotional contagion & perspective-taking
“Two routes to empathy:Insights from Cognitive Neuroscience”(Alvin Goldman)
“Neural Mechanisms for Empathy in the Primate Brain” (Iacoboni): super mirror neurons
Empathy: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives,Eds.Amy Coplan & Peter Goldie
Assigned Essay: By referring to recent discoveries in neuroscience argue that empathy is
not simply a human trait and compare this viewpoint with those of Darwin and de Waal.
Part IV: Can Empathy be learned? The Arts: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Photography,
Film: We shall apply definitions of empathy from Parts I, II and III in an interpretation of
various texts--dramatic, fictional, poetic, and cinematic and in discussions concerning the
nature/nurture debate regarding empathy and the genetic, familial, historical and cultural
influences on an individual and his/her predisposition for an empathic response to others.
Week 8: African-American Experiences:
History: Lecture on the History of Slavery and Civil Rights in America
Theory of Tragedy:Aristotle, Poetics;Schiller,“Stage Considered as a Moral Institution”
Ancient Greek Tragedy: Excerpts from Philoctetes (tragedy, Sophocles)
A “Middle-Class” Tragedy:Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller)
An African-American Tragedy: A Raisin in the Son ( Lorraine Hansberry)
Film excerpts: “Crash” (Dir. Paul Haggis; Academy Award for Best Picture, 2005)
Optional Film: “A Raisin in the Sun” (Dir. Daniel Petrie)
Optional Readings: Fences (play, August Wilson), Native Son (novel, Richard Wright;
1986 film, dir. Jerrold Freeman) Beloved (novel, Tony Morrison; 1998 film, Demme)
To Kill a Mockingbird (novel, Harper Lee); film (Dir. Robert Mulligan); Uncle Tom’s
Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe); Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemens)
Assigned Essays: 1.Compare and contrast Aristotle’s description of tragedy as evoking
pity and fear to Schiller’s view of theater’s effect on its audience. 2.The key line in Death
of Salesman is “attention must be paid”. How is that statement a plea for empathy?
3.How does a play such as A Raisin in the Sun evoke more empathy than historical
narratives of slavery and of the fight for human rights? Apply Hoffmann’s theory of
various “biases” in empathic responses that we discussed earlier in your answer.
Week 9: The Experiences of the Child in poetry, psychological theory, and film:
Psychology: Child development & a growing capacity for empathy
Romantic theorists: Wordsworth, Coleridge & Shelley: “Defense of Poetry” (excerpts)
Poems:Walt Whitman:“Song of Myself” in Leaves of Grass; Cesar Vallejo (Peru):
“Today a Splinter Entered her”; Maya Angelou: ”The Rock Cries Out to Us Today”
Pablo Neruda (Chile): Fragments of Canto II from “The Heights of Machu Picchu”
Film: “City of God” (Brazil, Rio favelas, Dir. Fernando Meirelles/Katia Lund, 2002)
Optional Readings: Novels: Oliver Twist, Hard Times, “A Christmas Carol” (Dickens)
I know why the caged Bird sings (autobiography, Maya Angelou)
Optional Films: “Oliver Twist” (Dir. R. Polanski, 2005); (Dir. David Lean, 1948)
“Wings of Desire” (Wim Wenders, German); “Central Station” (Brazil, Walter Salles)
“Rabbit-Proof Fence” (2002, Phillip Noyce; aboriginal children in Australia).
Assigned Essay: How do artistic works, evoke a mature empathy as described by
Hoffmann and western philosophers and as discovered by neuroscienctists?
Week 10: Experiences of the Oppressed, the Poor, the Colonized:
Photography: Depression-era photographs from Dorothea Lange
Film Theory: Excerpts, Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others (on media images)
Literary Theory:George Eliot, a selection of her Critical Essays
Henry James (“Preface to ‘The Princess Casamassima” (in The Art of the Novel),
Philosophy:Martha Nussbaum:“The Narrative Imagination,” Cultivating Humanity)
The Novel: Untouchable, Mulk Anand (caste system) Film:“Salaam Bombay,” Mira Nair
Optional Readings:“A Painful Case” & “The Dead” (Dubliners, James Joyce, Irish)
“The Death of Ivan Ilych” and “Master and Man” (short stories, Leo Tolstoy, Russian)
Optional Films: “Red Beard” (Dir. Akira Kurasawa;doctor learns compassion for poor)
“Gandhi” (1982, Attenborough, British colonialism in India)
“Ali, Fear Eats the Soul” (Dir. Fassbinder; love of guest worker & German woman)
“The Constant Gardner” (Fernando Mereilles, UK, the underprivileged in East Africa)
“The Motorcycle Diaries” (W. Salles, Brazil; Che Guevara’s journey in South America)
“The Year of Living Dangerously” (Australian, Peter Weir, poverty in Indonesia)
Assigned Essay: Compare and contrast the empathy evoked by photos and film with that
evoked by the more mediated form of language. Does reading literature require more
imagination than viewing images? Apply Sontag’s theory of images, and ideas of James,
Eliot or Nussbaum on the relationship between literature and readers in your discussion.
Week 11: LBGT (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transsexual) Experiences
History: The Persecution of Gays in 19th c. England and Nazi Germany, Prejudice in
20th Century America and Contemporary Legal Developments in the Right to Marry
Literature: Excerpts from the optional readings (novels listed below)
Film: “Far From Heaven” (Todd Haynes)
Optional Readings: Maurice (E. M. Forster), A Single Man (Christopher Isherwood),
Aimee & Jaguar (German novel about a lesbian couple during the Nazi era in Berlin)
Optional Films: “Maurice” (Dir. James Ivory), “Brokeback Mountain” (Dir. Ang Lee),
“Aimee and Jaguar” (Dir. Max Faerberboeck), “A Single Man” (Dir. Tom Ford).
Assigned Essay: Watch one of the optional films. Drawing upon the instructor’s lecture
on the historical persecution of gays, the literary passages we have read from the optional
readings, and one of the optional films, compare and contrast the mistreatment of gays
and/or lesbians as ostracized minority groups with that of African-Americans, the
untouchables in India and the colonized. What are the similarities and the differences?
What are the social structures and ideologies that maintain or support social inequality?
Week 12: Life as a Woman (where East meets West):
Religion:The Koran’s teachings on the treatment of & respect for women vs. the Taliban
Fiction: Bliss (Turkish novel, O.Z.Livaneli; “honor” killings) Film:“Bliss” (Oguz)
Optional Readings: Reading Lolita in Tehran (Nafisi Azar); Adam Bede (George Eliot)
Optional Films:“Adam Bede”(Giles Foster), “The Stoning of Soraya M.”(C. Nowrasteh)
“Head-On”/”Gegen die Wand” (Dir. Fatih Akin); “Persepolis” (Marjane Satrapi, Persian)
“A Death in Tehran” (Documentary film, Frontline (PBS)/BBC)
Assigned Essays: 1.Contrast what the Koran teaches about respecting women with the
actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 2. Watch an optional film and
compare the treatment of the protagonist in Bliss to the protagonist in the optional film.
3. How are these fictional stories relevant to current events such as the attack on Malala,
who was defending the rights of girls to have an education?
Week 13: Native American Experiences: History, Prose, Film:
History: Lecture on the mis/treatment of Native Americans in the Conquest of the West
Fiction:“World’s Greatest Fishermen” Love Medicine & “American Horse” (Erdrich)
Films:“Louise Erdrich,” PBS; “Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee” (Simoneau, HBO)
Optional Reading: Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee (Dee Brown)
Optional Film: “The New World” (Dir. Terence Malick)
Assignment: Finish writing paper.
Week 14: Paper presentations and papers due during assigned exam period:
Bibliography of Scholarly Works
Avnon, Dan. Martin Buber: The Hidden Dialogue. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998.
Basch, M.F., M.D. “Empathic Understanding: A Review of the Concept and Some Theoretical
Considerations.” Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Vol. 31 (1983): 101-126.
Bekoff, Marc. The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy,
Sorrow and Empathy and why they matter. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2007.
Beres David, M.D. and Jacob A. Arlow, M.D. “Fantasy and Identification in Empathy.” The
Psychoanalytic Quarterly 43 (1974): 26-50.
Berlant, Lauren, ed. Compassion: The Culture and Politics of an Emotion. NY: Routledge, 2004.
Blakey, Vermeule. Why do we care about literary characters? Baltimore: John Hopkins UP,
2009. (Readers’ empathy for characters.)
Chessick, Richard D. , M.D., Ph.D. “Empathy in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis.” Journal of
the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry. Vol. 26 (1998): 487-502.
Coplan,Amy & Peter Goldie,eds. Empathy:Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives.
Oxford UP, 2011.
Darwin, C. Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals. New York/Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002.
Decety, Jean, ed. Empathy: From Bench to Bedside. Cambridge, MA: MIT UP, 2012.
Decety, Jean and William Ickes, eds. The Social Neuroscience of Empathy. Boston: MIT, 2009.
Davis, Mark. Empathy: A Social, Psychological Approach. New York: Westview, 1996.
DeWaal, Frans. Age of Empathy: Nature’s Lessons for a Kinder Society. NY: Random House,
2009.
Evrard, Henry, Thomas Forro, Nikos Logothetis. “Von Economo Neurons in the Anterior Insula
of the Macaque Monkey.” Neuron 74:3 (2012): 423-426.
Freedberg, David. “Empathy, Motion and Emotion.” In Wie sich Gefuehle Ausdruck
verschaffen: Emotionen in Nahsicht. Eds. K. Herding and A. Krause Wohl. Berlin: Driesen,
2007: 17-51
Gilbert, Paul. Compassion: Conceptualisations, Research and Use in Psychotherapy.
NY:Routledge, 2005.
Goldie, Peter. “Narration, Emotion and Perspective.” Imagination, Philosophy and the Arts. M.
Kieran & D. M. Lopes, eds. London: Routledge, 2003. pp. 54-68. (Empathy, philosophy and the
arts.)
Halpern, Jodi. From Detached Concern to Empathy: Humanizing Medical Practices.
Oxford/New York: Oxford UP, 2011.
Hoffman, Martin L. Empathy and Moral Development: Implications for Caring and Justice.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001 (Reprint: 2007)
Hogan, Patrick Colm. Cognitive Science, Literature and the Arts: A Guide for Humanists.
London/New York: Routledge, 2003.
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Philosophy. Trans. R. Rojcewicz & A Schuwer. Dordrecht: Kluewer Academic Pub., 1989.
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New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2009.
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in evoking empathy in readers.)
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Lipps, Theodor. Zur Einfuehlung (On Empathy). Leipzig: Engelman, 1913.
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Nasfisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran. New York: Random, 2003. (An Iranian professor’s use
of literature to elicit empathy for others.)
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Empathy, eds.Lichtenberg; Bornstein & Silver. Hillsdale, NJ:Analytic Press, I. (1984):167-99.
(A healthy development of empathy in the child vs. pathological development and lack of
empathy.)
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Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003.
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van Peer, H. Pander Maat. “Perspectivation and Sympathy: Effects of Narrative Point of View.”
Empirical Approaches to Literature and Aesthetics. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1996.
Documentary and Feature Films on Reserve in the
Audio-Visual Department, Green Library
“Adam Bede” (Giles Foster; single woman ostracized from 19th c. English society)
“Ali, Fear Eats the Soul” (Moroccan guest worker and older woman fight racism in
postwar West Germany; Dir. Fassbinder)
“Aimee and Jaguar” (Dir. Max Faerberboeck; lesbian love story in Nazi Germany)
“Beloved” (Based on Tony Morrison novel; 1998 film, Dir. Demme; slave narrative)
“Bliss” (Abdullah Oguz; honor killings in Anatolia, Turkey)
“Brokeback Mountain” (Dir. Ang Lee; tragic gay relationship in prejudiced US)
“The Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha” (Dir. David Grubin, PBS)
“Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee” (Yves Simoneau, HBO documentary)
“Central Station” (Brazil, Walter Salles, homeless children in Rio)
“The Constant Gardner” (Fernando Mereilles, UK, man’s obliviousness to the plight of
the underprivileged in East Africa develops into compassionate awareness)
“Crash” (Dir. Paul Haggis; violence and acts of compassion in contemporary LA)
“A Death in Tehran” (Frontline (PBS)/BBC; documentary on protests against Iranian
fundamentalist government)
“Gandhi” (1982, Attenborough, Lawyer’s fight for independence from British colonial
rule in postwar India; peaceful protests inspired Martin Luther King Jr.)
“Hannah Arendt” (Margarethe von Trotta, feature film on German-Jewish philosopher)
“Head-On”/”Gegen die Wand” (Dir. Fatih Akin; German/Turkish woman torn between a
western life-style and her traditional, fundamentalist-Islamic family)
“In the House” (French, Francois Ozon; readers’ empathy for fictional characters)
“The Lives of Others” (German, von Donnersmarck, art’s role in inspiring empathy)
“Louise Erdrich,” (PBS documentary on German-American/Native American writer)
“Maurice” (Dir. James Ivory; prejudice against gays in Edwardian England)
“The Motorcycle Diaries” (Dir. Walter Salles, 2004, Brazil, Guevara’s journey through
South America, his confrontation with poverty& development of a political agenda.)
“Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet” (Dir. Michael Schwarz)
“Native Son” (Based on Richard Wright novel; 1986 film, Dir. Jerrold Freeman)
“The New World” (Dir. Terence Malick; Spanish conquest of the New World and
subjugation of Native Americans)
“Oliver Twist” (Based on Dickens novel; Dir. R. Polanski, 2005; Dir. David Lean, 1948)
“Persepolis” (Marjane Satrapi, autobiographical cartoon of Persian woman’s experience
during the Iran/Iraq war and the fundamentalist take-over of Khomeina in Iran)
“Rabbit-Proof Fence” (2002, Phillip Noyce; aboriginal children in Australia)
“A Raisin in the Sun” (Dir. Daniel Petrie; 1950’s urban African-American experience)
“Red Beard” (1965, Dir. Akira Kurasawa; Japanese doctor learns compassion)
“Salaam Bombay,” (Dir. Mira Nair; Indian children living in poverty)
“A Single Man” (Dir. Tom Ford; gay professor’s secret life in 1950’s America)
“Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter” (S. Korean, Dir. Kim Ki-duk, Buddhist fable)
“The Stoning of Soraya M.”(C. Nowrasteh; woman falsely accused of adultery killed)
“Ten Questions for the Dalai Lama” (Dir. Rick Ray; on Buddhist philosophy of life)
“To Kill a Mockingbird” (Based on Harper Lee novel; Dir. Robert Mulligan)
“Walk on Water” (Israel/German; anti-Palestinian, anti-German Israeli Mossad agent
develops friendship with grandchildren of German Nazi)
“Wings of Desire” (Wim Wenders, German docu-fiction on the Berlin Wall)
“The Year of Living Dangerously” (Australian, Peter Weir, journalist develops awareness
of poverty under a dictatorship in Indonesia & compassion for exploited)