LSFY 102 Course Descriptions
Winter 2013
From Leonardo da Vinci to Andy Warhol: The Art of Modernism
Section 01
MWF 8:30-9:45
Instructor: C. Goebel
Bergendoff 12
What is modern art and what does it mean? This class will focus on primary and secondary written texts as well as original
works of art—also primary texts—which offer an ideal historical and multidisciplinary lens through which we can examine
the past as it relates to the various eras and themes under investigation. By studying artwork from a given epoch, we can
learn more about that time. Furthermore, as we trace the development of art along a timeline, we may note places where
traditions and past styles have impacted the present as well as innovations that occur that are particular to a specific period.
Today we often quickly assess a variety of images as we input and access data, yet do we consequently simply settle for the
quick read? This course will critically and creatively explore the origin and meaning of modern art, traced from such
Renaissance masters as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo through others such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Goya, Monet,
Cassatt and Van Gogh toward twentieth-century challenges apparent in the art of Picasso, Matisse, Dali, Pollock and Andy
Warhol. Such investigation will deepen our understanding of the human condition as we consider the meaning of modern art.
From Revolution to Constitution: The Critical Period of American History
Section 02 (pending approval)
MWF 11:30-12:45
Instructor: M. Faber
Evald 113
More than a decade passed between the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. This
period, dubbed by historians the “critical period” of American history, involved closely contested politics, both at the local
level in often strongly majoritarian contexts and at the national level where there were debates over the viability of the first
United States government. The Articles of Confederation bridged this gap; as America’s first constitution it was largely a
failure because it gave so little power to the national government. The debates during this period, often overlooked, had a
substantial impact on the subsequent writing and ratification of the Constitution, and on the development of American
politics. In this course we will begin with the American Revolution and end with the debates over the Constitution, both
generally familiar topics. In the middle, though, we will examine this often neglected critical period, the successes of
establishing stable state governments and organizing the Northwest Territory, the riots and disorders, and the push towards a
stronger American national government.
From Monster to Miracle
Section 03
MWF 2:30-3:45
Instructor: S. Skrainka
Denkmann B3
Has anyone ever told you that you think too much? Do you see yourself as a monster, or as a miracle? When French
magistrate Michel de Montaigne retired from public life, not only could he not stop thinking, but his mind produced
deformed ideas which he likened to strange, mythical creatures. In an effort to control them, he began to write. In this class
we will examine the result. His essays require the reader to view a subject from different perspectives and to evaluate the
merits of competing arguments. At the same time, they establish a dialogue with the works of other influential thinkers.
Finally, we will question not just our text, but our own selves, as we walk around inside Montaigne’s thoughts on such topics
as cannibals, drunkenness, liars, impotence, and prayers.
From Homer to Hawkes: Greek and Roman Epic and Western Film
Section 05
MWF 2:30-3:45
Instructor: L. Day
Old Main 22
This course will look at Western film as a modern counterpart of Greek and Roman epic literature. Students will read from
the canonical epics of Classical antiquity – Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid – and watch representative
examples of 20th century Westerns – films such as Fred Zinneman’s High Noon (1952), George Stevens’ Shane (1953), and
Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992). Aided by scholarly articles on the intersection between these two genres, we will
consider how and why important themes and universal anxieties central to ancient epic reappear in modern films focused on
the myth of the American West, and discuss how these concerns continue to manifest themselves in popular culture and in
today’s society at large.
From Noble Charm to Samurai Valor: Heroes and Heroines from Japanese Literature
Section 06
MWF 2:30-3:45
Denkmann B5
Instructor: M. Nagase
Heroes and heroines often represent the collective ideals of humankind. By exploring representative types of heroes and
heroines in Japanese literature, this course will examine the culture-specific human ideals, values and ethics. The class will
discuss the following questions: How are hero and heroine figures represented in Japanese narratives? How are they different
from or similar to the heroes and heroines represented by other cultures? How did the characteristics of the Japanese heroes
and heroines change and develop throughout history? This course is designed to facilitate an awareness of different cultural
and human ideals.
From the Enlightenment to the French Revolution
Section 07
TTh 8:30-10:20
Old Main 329
Section 09
TTh 12:30-2:20
Old Main 5
Instructor: D. Ellis
Do you truly know what you think you know? What is the basis of that knowledge? If you are certain about your knowledge,
what are the consequences for how you act? In this course we will examine – and critique – the works of some who were
confident enough in their knowledge to endure religious ostracism and to risk public exile, or to decry monarchy and to
behead the king of France, or, regarding reason and knowledge in a different light, to condemn Enlightened thinkers and to
oppose political revolutionaries. We will begin by reading a range of thinkers from the Enlightenment, along with their
critics, who disagreed about the very nature and basis of knowledge. We will then analyze the extent to which figures in the
French Revolution continued or broke with the promise of Enlightened reason. Representative authors include Locke,
Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant, Burke, and Robespierre.
From India to China
Instructor: N. Salgado
Section 10
MWF 11:30-12:45
Old Main 5
Section 19
MWF 1:00-2:15
Old Main 5
This course is an introduction to the religious beliefs and practices of India and China. By reading stories, watching films,
visiting local religious centers, and meditating, this course helps us understand how Asian religions such as Hinduism,
Buddhism, and Taoism raise questions about morality, “nature,” divinity, and the meaning of life and death. As a
comparative overview of select Asian religions, we will consider how the fundamental religious questions found in Indian
cultures are transformed through time and how Chinese religion has developed a different focus as it also raises important
questions about the meaning of life.
From Magamas to Movies: An Introduction to the Literature of the Medieval and Modern Middle East
Section 11
TTh 12:30-2:20
Denkmann B4
Section 13
TTh 2:30-4:20
Denkmann B4
Instructor: C. Zargar
A survey of the major literary forms and authors of the Muslim world, this class explores religious themes in particular.
Beginning with narrative genres that appeared in the 10th century, especially the maqama (a sort of rhymed short story) and
the frame-tale, we will consider ways in which religious theories and controversies shape secular literature. Ranging from
the satirical to the sacred, texts discussed will illustrate functions and shifts in genre and will include authors from Iran,
Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and (Islamic) Spain. The last three weeks of the term will focus on contemporary Arab and
Iranian short stories and films.
From Alexander to Alexandria: The Conqueror and His Legacy
Section 12
TTh 2:30-4:20
Instructor: M. Hooker
Old Main 22
Alexander the Great changed the Western world forever. His conquest of the Persian Empire put Greeks into intimate
contact with ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and inaugurated the Hellenistic world's melting pot and dreams of
universalism, which often coalesced around the new capital of Egypt, Alexandria (founded by the conqueror). This course
will examine the life and legends regarding Alexander; the successors who tried to fill the shoes of his god-like reign; the
cauldron of cultures that ensued, as Greeks, Persians, Babylonians, Egyptians and Jews clamored for a voice; the city of
Alexandria, and its traditions of scholarship, science, multiculturalism, and mob violence; the world, in short, that set the
stage for both the Roman Empire and Christianity.
From Ruins to Runes
Section 14
MWF 2:30-3:45
Instructor: A. Kaul
Old Main 230
This course focuses on human societies in prehistoric America. It combines several fields of study— mythology,
archaeology, and anthropology—to answer some of the following questions. How do Native American peoples understand
their own mythological origins? How did people arrive to the Americas according to the archaeological record? What was
life really like in the Americas before Europeans arrived? How have people misrepresented the past to suit their own modern
purposes, sometimes by perpetrating fraudulent artifacts, and why would they do so?
From Once to Ever After: What Fairy Tales Reveal
Section 15
MWF 11:30-12:45
Instructor: F. Marklevits
Sorenson 270
Cannibalism, rape, dismemberment, serial killings, incest—fairy tales in their first written versions are not the tales you think
you know courtesy of a certain extremely large corporate entity with its theme parks, cable channel, and licensed
merchandise. In fact, in their very beginnings, in various oral traditions, fairy tales weren't meant for children, and, when
early fairy tales were directed to children, they often taught lessons using methods we don't consider best parental practice
now. For example, consider telling a three-year old: "Listen to your mother or you'll end up in the wolf's belly with
Grandma." We'll read several versions of a handful of fairy tales, as well as criticism and commentary on those tales and on
the history and importance of fairy tales. We’ll use what we know and what we learn to explore and debate what these stories
reveal about the fears, beliefs, and values of the past and to think about what they might (or might not) suggest about our
present.
From Satyrs to Spamalot: The Evolution of Comedy through the Ages
Section 16
MWF 11:30-12:45
Instructor: J. Coussens
Blackbox Theater, Bergendoff
This course will examine the evolution of comedy as a performing art from the satyr plays of ancient Greece to the musical
comedies of the contemporary Broadway stage. Through the study of comic plays from various historical periods, the class
will explore the things that make us laugh and how the changing nature of comedy reflects the age in which it is produced.
Special emphasis will be given to the differences and similarities between classical and modern models of the comic art form.
From Manic to Manicured: Images of Women in Theater Across the Centuries
Section 17
MWF 10:00-10:15
Instructor: T. Kalas
Denkmann B3
We will read plays which highlight in interesting ways (both positive and negative) various aspects of female experience and
gender construction, ranging from classical Greece to 20th century America. We will also use 20th century film versions to
supplement readings of some texts and to further enhance our understanding of how images of women have changed across
time.
Progress: Poverty to Prosperity
Section 18
MWF 10:00-11:15
Instructor: T. Bengtson
Olin 109
We often take our material prosperity for granted. We’ll take a look at the role technology plays in our material well-being.
We’ll look at the origins of our wealth by looking closely at some examples from England and America during 1700−1900:
the chemical industry, the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable, and the steam engine, among others. We will look at how ideas
about clean water and disease changed in the 1800s in England.
Not Suitable for Children: Youth and Media Censorship from Montaigne to Monty Python
Section 21
MWF 11:30-12:45
Sorenson 104
Instructor: M. France
In the past twelve months, the Glen Ellyn school board banned the extremely popular YA novel, The Perks of Being a
Wallflower. Chicago schools pulled all copies of the graphic novel Persepolis. Though both decisions were reversed, the fact
that two such critically and commercially successful texts were on the verge of disappearing from libraries and syllabi
suggests that even in this age of digital content where information and art is more accessible than ever, we are still wrestling
with how to limit that access. In this course we will get a feel for the history of censorship, from the Catholic Church’s Index
Librorum Prohibitorum to the protests surrounding the release of the comedy Life of Brian. Thoughtful consideration of the
banned and challenged texts listed above along with a tour through Augustana’s own requirements for student deportment
over the years and musical examples from artists like Prince and Rihanna will give us the expertise to start banning and
defending our own art. You will have the opportunity to mount a written defense of any cultural expression you find under
threat, from a mode of dress to a favorite video game. You will also join with some of your classmates to ban the work of
your choice from Augustana’s art collection.
From Aristotle to Newton: When Science Was Young
Section 22
MWF 10:00-11:15
Instructor: D. Hill
Old Main 5
We think of science as the most potent institution in the advanced world. It wasn’t always so. We will study the
development of science before it achieved this status. We will see it rise in early Greek thought, achieve great things,
diminish at the end of the Roman period, find new life with Islam, and flourish again in the universities of the Middle Ages
and the courts of the Renaissance. Throughout these centuries, science had an on-again-off-again relationship with religion,
sometimes being helped and supported by Islam and Christianity, sometimes being hindered and opposed by influential
religious figures, but always connected with mosque and church in one way or another. Then in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries science takes a new turn and in 150 years makes astonishing progress, solves all the problems it
inherited from prior generations, and separates itself from religious and political authorities. The two thousand years from
Aristotle to Newton served as a gestation period for the most powerful force in human life, contemporary science. Anyone
who wishes to understand science as it is should know something about science as it was. This course aims to provide that
opportunity.
From Massachusetts Bay to Sesame Street: A Survey of American Public Education History
Section 23
MWF 8:30-9:45
Old Main 223
Instructor: V. Johnson
The American public school experience and arguments about it began in the early years of the European settlement of North
America. As early as 1647, citizens of the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed laws requiring all adults in the colony to pay a
penalty if any failed to contribute to the education of their children. Public responsibility for the education of American
children continues today in public supported schools and on public television although arguments about the wisdom of such
public commitment also persist. This course will survey American public school history and examine how this history
reflects and shapes our understanding of American social values.
From Shakespeare to Virginia Woolf: Hunting the Elusive Self
Section 24
MWF 11:30-12:45
Instructor: K. Youngberg
Old Main 22
In this course, we will investigate several historical answers to a complex and persistent question that has troubled Western
culture since the beginning of the modern world: “What is a Self?” The major texts (Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew,
Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, and Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse) will be examined
from the perspective of writers about selfhood from the Christian theologian St. Augustine to the American
philosopher/psychologist George Herbert Mead. We will also be looking for answers to our question in a wide variety of selfportraits painted by artists like Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, and Pablo Picasso.
Latin American Myths: Conquest, Empire, and Revolution
Section 25 (pending approval)
TTh 8:30-10:20
Instructor: M. Cabrera Geserick
Sorenson 104
Approval pending
So close, and so far. Latin America is located just south of the United States, and it occupies the majority of the Americas.
Still, the United States, as the world in general, understands it in a monolithic way full of stereotypes. Latin America is
composed by 20 countries where more than 590 million people live. Each country has its own particular history, culture,
climate, traditions, food, etc. As a region, Latin America has been an active participant on global affairs. The concept of a
globalized world started there. The encounter between Europe and the Americas shook the traditional understanding of the
world, and the constant questioning of assumed knowledge shattered by the existence of the New World promoted the
Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. Latin America has produced a series of ideas, images, and figures that have
marked world history: Juana Inés de la Cruz, Bolívar, San Martín, Santa Anna, Porfirio Díaz, Miguel Hidalgo, José Martí.
The Twentieth century, a period in which Latin America was shaping its place in the world, produced even more dramatic
figures: revolutionaries like Augusto Sandino, Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa; politicians like Evita Perón, artists like
Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Neruda; athletes like Pelé and Maradona. The Cold War period saw the rise of figures like
Fidel Castro and Ché Guevara, but also of Augusto Pinochet and Anastasio Somoza. This course fulfills the structure of an
LSFY 102 class, while studying the myths and realities of Latin American history.
From Gilgamesh to Katrina: Love and Loss in Literature
Section 26
TTh 8:30-10:20
Instructor: E. Bertram
Olin 302
Grief, and how we navigate it, may not initially be an attractive topic of study, but, given its presence in both literature and
life, studying it can help us more fully understand what it means to be driven by desire in a world necessarily bound by
limitation. Using psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief, the four types of love from ancient Greek, and the
three-part elegiac structure as lenses, we’ll read a number of texts (Gilgamesh, King Lear, Written on the Body, and others),
encountering love for a lover and loss due to death, yes, but also other beloveds and types of loss as well. With an eye
toward how each text reflects the culture and era in which it was written, we’ll identify the many ways writers seek to
reconcile love and loss, turning to ritual, science, art, and memory along the way. And, if we decide new ways are needed,
we’ll come up with some of our own.
Heroes: From Glory to Greatness
Section 27
TTh 12:30-2:20
Instructor: R. Bonzon
Science 103
What makes someone a supremely good human being – a hero? Our answer today tends to be based on religion or morality: a
supremely good human being is someone who serves others, no matter the personal cost. Our heroes are the kind, the giving,
the selfless – Mother Teresa and Oskar Schindler. The ancients had a very different idea. They thought a supremely good
human being was one who displayed truly superior personal excellence or virtue in some important realm of human endeavor
– war, government, physical or intellectual activity. Their heroes were generals and Olympic athletes, statesmen and
philosophers – Achilles and Aristotle. This course will investigate the nature of these different conceptions of human
goodness along with their associated views of human worth and happiness, and how they developed from the early Greek
world of Homer to the Golden Age of Athens and on to the present day.
From Confucius to Sima Qian: Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory
Section 29 (pending approval)
TTh 8:30-10:20
Instructor: H. Zhao
Evald 17
What is the best way to live a moral life? How should the government be organized to best encourage proper human
behavior? And what happens if the state comes to be formed as an empire? Questions such as these were at the heart of
classical Chinese philosophical debates. This course will be the study of how the classical Chinese thinkers wrestled with
these questions and what responses they gave. As we will quickly see, the views that arose in China were among the most
powerful and influential in human history. Regardless of whether one agrees with these views or not, they should be studied
and taken seriously by anyone who cares about ethics and politics.
From Ellis Island to Post-9/11
Section 31
TTh 8:30-10:20
Instructor: U. Al-Wazedi
Sorenson 270
In this course we will read novels published as early as 1900 and as recently as 2010 and trace the ways immigrant fiction has
changed over time. This term I would like us to address these questions: What are the differences between immigrants who
settled in the frontier and those who settled in the city? How has the quintessential pioneer woman developed or changed into
an urban workaholic? Although these novels are about immigrants, they can teach us much about both the development and
the durability of the American way of life.
From Brit Po to Am. Po: Reading and Writing about Poetry
Section 32
TTh 12:30-2:20
Instructor: J. Crimmins
Sorenson 270
Marianne Moore writes, “if you demand on the one hand, / the raw material of poetry in / all its rawness / and / that which is
on the other hand / genuine, then you are interested in poetry.” In “From BritPo to AmPo,” we will read poems that don’t
polish away life’s raw delights. The poems span hundreds of years; the cultures that gave birth to them no longer exist. In
writing about the poems, however, we will attempt to discover the fertile minds that conceived them and the living hands that
scratched them out in ink. Doing so, we will come to better understand the poetic conversation that took place across the
Atlantic during those years. Our poets will include many of the majors: John Donne, Robert Herrick, Andrew Marvell, Aphra
Behn, John Milton, William Blake, Lord Byron, John Keats, William Wordsworth, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and
Herman Melville.