HUM 212
THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD
HUM 212 is a writing and reading intensive course that is designed to inculcate critical thinking. The
readings, art, and musical selections are almost exclusively primary materials. The content focuses upon
cultural history, not political, military, or social history, but these latter areas form part of the context for
the cultural expressions. The historical time frame of the course is approximately the seventeenth century
to mid twentieth century with connections to the present.
Meetings: Tuesday, December 27-30; Tuesday, January 3-6; Monday, January 9-11
Instructor: Rolanne Henry, PhD, J.D.
417 Cullimore
973-596-5608 rolanne.henry@njit.edu Subject: HUM 212
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 1:00-2:00pm
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
The course requirements include: a researched and fully documented analytical paper (MLA in-text
citations and Works Cited) developed in stages on a topic chosen from a list of two. There will be two
quizzes and a final examination. The course culminates in a portfolio required by the Humanities
Department. The portfolio is to have a cover jacket within which the contents are to be bound. The
syllabus is to be the first item, followed by the research paper with the related assignments—Proposal,
Annotated Bibliography, Outline, peer reviewed draft. The quizzes follow.
GRADING—Documented analytical research paper: 30%; Quizzes: 40%; Final exam: 25%; Class
participation and portfolio: 5%. Late research paper assignments may result in a lowered grade for the
completed product.
POLICIES
Attendance is required, and unexcused absences (those other than documented medical, etc.) may result in
a lowered grade. Provisions of the NJIT Academic Honor Code about plagiarism and other violations
will be upheld. Any violations will be brought to the attention of the Dean of Students. See
http://www.njit.edu/academics/honorcode.php. To withdraw from the course, contact the Registrar
directly. See http://www.njit.edu/registgrar/calendars/winter.
Use of cell phones or recording devices is not permitted in the classroom, and all sound from the phone
must be turned off. Computers may be used only as necessary for access to the course material and for
presentations.
TEXTBOOK AND RESOURCES
The required textbook is Arts and Culture Vol. Two. Fourth Edition. 2012.
ISBN 0-205-17598-8 (includes free access to MyHumanitiesKit) or ISBN 13: 978-0-13-213496-5.
Earlier editions may be substituted. These textbooks have been ordered in the NJIT Bookstore. Renting
the book may be an option.
Additionally, web links will be supplied or material posted in our class website in moodle
(http://moodle.njit.edu) or made available in a Wiki or on reserve for our class in the Van Houten Library,
NJIT.
Students will be responsible for checking the Moodle postings. Go to our site in Moodle:
http://moodle.njit.edu. All page numbers refer to readings in Arts and Culture Vol. Two Fourth Edition.
FORMATTING THE RESEARCHED PAPERS (print format)
Double space in size 12 Times New Roman font, one-inch margins all around. Your name, course and
section number, instructor’s name and date are placed on the Title Page. Pages are to be numbered.
Repeat the title on page 1 and your name and page number on each page in the upper right corner.
Current MLA format is to be used for in-text parenthetical citations and the Works Cited page. Include
web URLs in the Works Cited and test them to be certain that a reader will be led directly to the source.
Note whether the source is print, web, or DVD and include the date that you accessed web material. For
MLA format go to http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/.
RESEARCHED PAPER
The research paper of approximately seven pages is to develop a thesis within one of the below listed
topics. The paper is to be researched and fully documented and is to be submitted in stages.
Choice of Topics:
1. Nature in Nineteenth Century Romantic Poetry
2. Nature in Impressionist or Post-Impressionist Painting of the Twentieth Century
The thesis should reflect a limitation to one or two poets or painters.
Sources should be print books, e-books, or journal articles from the NJIT or Rutgers databases. The
NJIT ID permits books to be borrowed from Rutgers Dana Library and The Newark Public Library.
The databases at Rutgers Dana Library can be accessed in that library by obtaining a pass code from
a Dana reference librarian. Other local community libraries may also be helpful.
Proposal due in moodle: Thursday, December 29, 2011
The Proposal should state a preliminary thesis that reflects how the topic will be limited and
should include a Working Bibliography that lists the sources for the poetry or paintings. Do not rely
solely upon the particular selections in Arts and Culture.
Outline and Works Cited (MLA format) due in moodle: Wednesday, January 4.
Update the statement of thesis. The Works Cited should include at least four secondary sources
from reliable and authoritative sources about the topic and the particular poems or paintings.
Draft in print format due in class for peer review on Monday, January 9.
Revised Draft is due in Moodle on Tuesday, January 10.
Final Draft is due in the print PORTFOLIO on Wednesday, January 11 with all the preceding stages.
COURSE OUTLINE
Renaissance Review
Tuesday, December 27
Ch 13, pp. 4-12; pp. 19-24; p. 30
Ch 14, pp. 59-61; pp. 63-64; pp. 71-74
Seventeenth Century: Baroque
Wednesday, December 28—philosophy and poetry
Ch 15, pp. 90-98; pp. 103-107; pp. 109-114; pp. 118-120
Thursday, December 29—drama and painting
*DUE: PROPOSAL for the research paper
Ch 15, pp. 120-122
Moliere, Tartuffe
Friday, December 30
QUIZ I
Eighteenth Century—Enlightenment, Revolutions, Literature
Tuesday, January 3
Ch 16, pp. 142-148; pp. 157-158. Pope, “An Essay on Man,” pp. 172-173;
Swift, “A Modest Proposal,” pp. 173-176; Jefferson, “Declaration of Independence,” pp. 179-180
Wednesday, January 4
Rococo, Neoclassicism, Classical to Romantic
Ch 16, pp. 150-154; pp. 158-164. Ch 17, pp. 191-196
David, Watteau, Hogarth, Goya, Delacroix, Ingres, Turner
Romanticism
Thursday, January 5—philosophy and poetry
*DUE: Research paper OUTLINE and WORKS CITED
Ch 17, pp. 199-204
Jean Jacques Rousseau, William Blake, John Keats, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickenson
Friday, January 6
QUIZ II to 10:30am
Realism
Friday, January 6
Ch 17, pp. 210, 212; pp. 221-222
Charles Darwin, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Manet, Courbet, Winslow Homer
Nineteenth Century
Monday, January 9
*DUE: DRAFT of the research paper in print format for peer review
Philosophy, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism
Ch 18, pp. 236-244; pp. 246-251
Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas
Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud
Paul Cezanne, Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh, Auguste Rodin,
Henrik Ibsen, A Doll House
Twentieth Century
Tuesday, January 10
Ch 22, pp. 348-373; Ch 23, pp. 396-400
Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, T.S. Eliot, William Butler Yeats
Wednesday, January 11
FINAL EXAM
Wednesday, January 11
PORTFOLIO DUE
Wednesday, January 11