History 125: Humanities from the Renaissance to the Present

Occidental College Spring 2023

Instructor: Prof. Maryanne Horowitz, History Department

Class Time:  10:05-11:30 a.m. Tues, Thurs.   Break  10:50-11:00 a.m.

CORE Credit as Regional Focus and Pre-1800; History dept. Credit as Europe survey and Pre-1800

Office Hours on Zoom starting Jan. 23 (Mon. 3-4:30 p.m., Thurs. 3:30-5:00 p.m.) 

Signups at  https://www.oxy.edu/academics/faculty/maryanne-horowitz.  Zoom invitation will be sent out at start of the day’s appointments.

Please upload a current profile photo to https://occidental.zoom.us/profile and to the participant list in MOODLE.

Catalogue Description: In this course focused on European cultures, students will consider the Renaissance and Reformation, Science and Baroque Splendor, Enlightenment Reason and Revolution, Romanticism and Individualism, Industrial Revolution and New Social Thought, Modernism in Literature and the Arts, Global Influences, Cultural Pluralism, and Postmodern Culture. Students experience and critically evaluate texts and images from both historical and contemporary points of view.

Required materials:

Lawrence S. Cunningham, John J. Reich, and Lois Fichner-Rathus, Culture & Values: A Survey of the Humanities, vol. 2, 9^th edition, CENGAGE  (Recommend used pb. or ebook. Students who wish may use Mindtap on-line 9^th edition from CENGAGE, but class papers or exams will be essays emailed to horowitz@oxy.edu.  Choice of topics will be posted on MOODLE at least 2 weeks ahead. 1 book on reserve behind circulation desk.

Chance for some collegial camaraderie. Hoping students in this class will enjoy small student-led discussions that will lead to their group’s presentations in a regular class meeting. Group has a shared file on google drive. 

Group 1 on Existentialism) Buy a used copy or use library’s electronic book prepared for our class:  Kaufmann, Existentialism form Dostoevsky to Sartre to focus on secular authors Dostoevsky Nietzsche, Kafka, Ortega and Sartre.

Group 2 on Eyewitnessing) Peter Burke, Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence, Cornell UP (used) Unlimited access to ebook at Occidental College Library. 

Group 3 on Statues) Alex von Tunzelmann, Fallen Idols: Twelve Statues that Made History A few books in bookstore, l on reserve behind library circulation desk. Some chapter pdfs on reserve.

Group 4 on Art Museum) Carol Duncan, Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museum (Unlimited access to ebook and l on reserve behind library circulation desk)

Also, close attention to comparing and contrasting excerpts of texts in Culture & Values. (Assigned ahead to speak up briefly  on short excerpts of literature in the class’s required readings in Culture & Values)

Course Objectives

· To gain familiarity with major cultural movements (artistic, literary, philosophical) in the history of Western Civilizations 

· To experience the process of interpreting major movements and ideas in Renaissance, early modern, modern, and contemporary European and American cultures.

· To learn basic methods of historical investigation, particularly analysis of textual and visual sources.    DOCUMENT ANALYSIS FORM

· To develop skills in historical argument, critical analysis, writing, and oral presentation. 

Course Outcomes:

· Students can describe the major cultural movements of European culture from 1450 to the present by describing and analyzing examples of material cultural objects and texts.

· Students gain a critical awareness of the past as resource for imagining new ways of thinking, creating, acting, organizing society, and forming community.

· Students gain a critical awareness of how the past informs the present, providing an understanding of the conditions that made possible the break with or the persistence of social structures, organizational hierarchies, artistic productions, or patterns of thought.

· Students will make oral presentations on primary sources. (Within discussion group chosen and on excerpts in Culture and Values)

· Students will write a historical essay assessing the relationships among creative works, and properly citing and critically evaluating primary and secondary sources in M.L.A. style.

Expectations for 3 assignments (2 exams, 1 paper) submitted as attachment to horowitz@oxy.edu

· Paper choice is below. Paper requires M.L.A. parenthetical notes and Works Cited divided into Primary and Secondary Sources.  

· Email as Word.doc or docx attachments to horowitz@oxy.edu. First sentence of email should state your First and Last Name and Due Date of Assignment attached and topics chosen.  Have each essay in a separate Word.doc or docx with your Last name First name in the .doc title (for Prof. Horowitz to download). That ordering helps professor to organize the documents of assignments by your last name.

· Students may discuss the questions of essays or paper with others in the class with the goal of citing other students for an interpretation with which you agree or disagree. Students may consult with Writing Center or History Tutor or Arts & Humanities Librarian Erin Sulla.

Grading: 25% each:

1) Class participation (including group or individual oral presentations), extra credit for intellectual camaraderie as in leading student discussion group outside of class or for positive impact on other students’ thinking and writing (citation of other students welcome.)

2)In-class exam on laptop Thurs. Feb. 23, 2023 (5th week) Limited to items bolded on Outlines to Cultures and Values vol. 2, chs. 13-15, texts mentioned on syllabus, and Horowitz lectures.

3) Polished paper due Thurs. March 30, 8:00 p.m.

8:00 p.m.  Thurs. March 9, 2023 (7^th week) See choice between 3 paper topics below and repeated after class schedule. Typed Proposal for Paper Due with start of Works Cited and Figure List. Easiest if you are already working on your paper.

8:00 p.m. Thurs. March 30 (10th week) Paper Compare/Contrast exercise. The papers requires at least 4 scholarly articles (as from JSTOR) or books in addition to Culture and Values for you to argue with other scholars’ interpretations. Work Cited divided into Primary and Secondary Sources and a Figure List (artist, object, p. in book or website) https://style.mla.org/works-cited/works-cited-a-quick-guide/essay or another guide to M.L.A. style as in Turabian from FYS or CSP courses.

Pick one of the following three “Compare and Contrast” paper topics in Culture and Values:

on 15^th-17^th century 4 Davids (scan from vol. 1, ch. 12, emailed to class and on Moodle)

or 3 paintings of “Susanna and the Elders” (ch. 15) or

or “Women, Art and Power: Ideology, Gender Discourse, and the Female Nude,” 4 19^th-20^th century nudes (ch. 20)

Add 4 books or scholarly articles (downloaded from JSTOR) to your Works Cited. Write a 4-page typed paper (Times Roman, 12 Point, 1 inch margins) with M.L.A. parenthetical notes arguing for your interpretation. After the 4 pages comes your Works Cited and Figure List.

4) In-class exam (bring blank blue book, pens or pencils) Thurs. April 20, 2023 13^2h week   Limited to items bolded on Outlines to Cultures and Values vol. 2, chs. 19-23, texts mentioned on syllabus, and Horowitz lectures. Graded exam mailed to student in final week.

Time for Student evaluations on last day of Tues. May 2.

NO FINAL

At bottom of syllabus link to Occidental College Policies:           On-line learning environment, Principle of Honor, and Student Support Services

Schedule by week.  Lectures will project images from Culture and Values. Students should stud using from MOODLE the chapter outlines on which Prof. Horowitz has bolded images and texts of most importance for this class. The textbook has an over abundance of images for 20^th and 21^st centuries. The items bolded are the items that will be emphasized in exams.

Tuesday-Thursday Schedule for Spring 2022

WEEK 1  Start ch. 13, The High Renaissance and Mannerism in Italy and read p.579 on MLK and Ghandi.

Tuesday, January 24, 2023 Overview of course.  Intro to the Renaissance. See emailed “Ancient Sculpture & Architecture influencing the Renaissance” from volume 1 of Culture & Values. Review Outlines for ch. 13 & ch.14  as you start ch. 13.

Thursday, January 26, 2023 Will ask students to discuss p. 579 on MLK and Gandhi; pp.444, 445 & 448 Magnificio vs. Guilano’s views  on men and women at court according to Castiglione, pp. 448, 449 Venetian courtesans like poet Veronica.

Powerpoint on images from ch. 13.
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 WEEK 2  Complete by Thurs. ch.13.The High Renaissance and Mannerism in Italy. (on MOODLE, Burckhardtian Renaissance ppt )

Tuesday, Jan. 31 Discuss reading 13.1 Da Vinci and 13.2 Michelangelo

Thursday, Feb. 2 Hands-on Experience of books in a Renaissance library, as well as group meetings for students to assign chapters for 10 minute presentations in class. To accommodate our large class in Special Collections, 3^rd floor of Academic Commons facing Herrick chapel, let’s divide into 2 timed sessions. Students will have 35 minute organization meeting of presentation group in classroom and 35 minute experience with rare books in Special Collections.

10:05-10:40 a.m. Students on Eyewitnessing in classroom. 10:55-11:30 a.m. in Special Collections

10:05-10:40 a.m. Students on Existentialism, Statues, and Art Museums in Special Collections. 10:55-11:30 a.m. in classroom. Suggest dates to present.

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WEEK 3 Read Culture & Values, ch. 14 “The High Renaissance in Northern Europe and Spain” and on Vermeer, pp. 520 .

Tuesday, February 7 Lecture on “Exotic Female (and Male) Continents,” ch. 1 of new ebook Bodies and Maps (access via Oxy library). Start lecture ch. 14 Last 10 minutes of class, Ch. 1 Eyewitnessing

Thurs. Feb. 9  Consider choice between paper topics below from Culture & Values. Use Oxy library for building your Works Cited. Lecture on ch. 14 Ch. 2 Eyewitnessing

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WEEK 4 Start Ch. 15 “The Seventeenth Century”

Tuesday, February 14 Student analysis of texts of Montaigne on Topinamba Amerindians 14.6 &14.7; Students on love theme in Elizabeth 14.10, Marlowe 14.12.  Lecture finished on ch. 14, chs. 1 -2 of Civilizing Rituals. Alarm shortened class.

Thursday, February 16. Continue chs 1-2 Civilizing Rituals; Ch. 3 & 4 Eyewitnessing.

Start Lecture Ch. 15

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WEEK 5   Finish ch. 15.

Finish lecture ch. 15. Tuesday, February 21 Student on Tartuffe 15.4 and Don Quixote 15.5   Ch. 5 Eyewitnessing

Thursday, February 23  In-class Exam on Laptop. Topics limited to Horowitz lectures and bolded items in MOODLE on Outlines of Cultures & Values, chs. 13-15 and texts singled out on syllabus for student analysis. Times Roman 12 point, Double Space on Word.doc or docx. (install WORD ahead; Horowitz prints your exam in WORD). Fine to argue your interpretation for or against another person’s opinion.

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WEEK 6 Start ch. 19 “The Eighteenth Century”

Tuesday, Feb. 28 On political theory, student on Mary Wollstonecraft 19.5-6 & Rousseau 19.7.  Lecture Ch. 19  (18^th century) Ch. 6 & Ch. 7 Eyewitnessing
Thursday, March 2 Ch. 8 Eyewitnessing

Fri. March 3 noon,  Submit a typed paragraph proposal for the paper due Thurs. March 30. Include a “Works Cited” divided into Primary Sources and Secondary Sources and a Figure List (Artist, the work, p. in specific book or website)

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WEEK 7  Complete Ch. 19

Tuesday, March 7 Lecture ch.19     Students on Fallen Idols & Ch. 9 Eyewitnessing

Thursday, March 9 Ch. 10 Eyewitnessing

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Spring Break.  March 14, March 16 No Classes

Read pp. 560-63 on Mexican nationalism, pp. 591-2 (China today), pp. 595-99 (Japanese arts), pp. 608-615 on slavery and colonialism and African literature.  Chs. 16-18 are not assigned otherwise.  

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WEEK 8 Ch. 20 Read “Europe and America: 1800-1870” and optionally pdf on Locke on “Civil Government” on MOODLE.

Tuesday, March 21 Lecture ch. 20. Eyewitnessing, ch. 11 (last chapter)

Thursday, March 23   Civilizing, ch. 5 on Modern Art Museum

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WEEK 9     Read ch. 21 “Toward the Modern Era 1870-1914”

Tuesday, March 28   Students on Existentialists Dostoevsky and Nietzsche Lecture on ch. 21

Thursday, March 30  Lecture on Ch. 21

8 p.m, Thurs. March 30  Email paper to horowitz@oxy.edu.  See Specific choice of assignment below. Add 4 scholars to consider (from either books or articles found from JStor) in your Works Cited. Write a 4-page typed paper on your scholarly interpretation (Times Roman, 12 Point, 1 inch margins) with M.L.A. parenthetical notes, plus Works Cited divided into Primary and Secondary Sources, and a Figure List.

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WEEK 10    Ch. 22 “The World at War: 1914-1945” and start ch. 23 “The Contemporary Contour” Read on existentialism influencing literature and art in Culture & Values, pp. 820, 822- 823, 857-858 Registration week.

Tuesday, April 4 Students on Existentialists Beauvoir and Sartre. Then a writing-workshop: each student to read and comment on 1-2 student papers on topic on which student didn’t write. Encouraging dialogue with and learning from other students. Exchange paper with student author and email comments only to the student author. These dialogues may benefit oral presentations on April 25 & 27.

Thursday, April 6  Lecture ch. 22.

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WEEK 11   Complete Ch. 23 “The Contemporary Contour”

Pay attention to feminist texts 22.3, 23.10, .11, .12, .13.

Tuesday, April 11 Students on Fallen Idols Lecture ch. 23

.

Thursday, April 13 Preparing for exam Thurs. April 20. Student comments on emailed exam study sheet of April 11. Powerpoint on “Visual Order to Organizing

Collections” in New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (6 red volumes in Reference CB9.N49)

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WEEK 12   Complete reading of ch. 23 “The Contemporary Contour”  and prepare from study sheet.

Tuesday, April 18   Founders Day

Thursday April 20 Bring blank blue book and pens or pencils. In-Class Exam. Put your name and Oxy mailbox number on blue cover. Questions are limited to Study Sheet. Study Horowitz lectures and bolded items in MOODLE on Outlines of Cultures & Values, chs. 19-23 and Culture & Values texts mentioned on syllabus. Fine to argue your interpretation for or against another person’s opinion.

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WEEK 13  Opportunity to expand skills developed in paper assignment, especially how to consider alternative interpretations.

Tue. April 25 Presentations of how your utilized or responded to a scholar’s article or book you cited in your paper.

Thursday, April 27 Presentations may continue. Challenges of assembling a team to study an interdisciplinary global topic as in NDHI and Bodies and Maps and sequel in process “Controversial Monuments”

Week 14

Tues. May 2 Last Class Discussion of Oxy performance of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Discussion of students’ experiences in museums or in travel sites. Student Evaluations

Final Week. No final. Prof. grading last exam, returning to your mailbox.

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Paper Assignment is a Compare/Contrast exercise. Topics limited to Culture & Value Vol. II: “Vision and Difference: Three Paintings entitled Susanna and the Elders,” pp. 518 -519; “Women, Art, and Power: Ideology, Gender Discourse, and the Female Nude,” pp. 674-75, or from Vol. I and on our MOODLE: “The Davids of Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, and Bernini.” The paper requires at least 4 scholarly articles (as from JSTOR) or books in addition to Culture and Values for you to argue with other scholars’ interpretations. You are encouraged to cite and argue with other students’ interpretations as well. Work Cited divided into Primary and Secondary Sources and ( https://style.mla.org/works-cited/works-cited-a-quick-guide/essay) and a Figure List. Use Turabian from First Year Seminar. For Figure List, list artist, object, p. in book or website. You may include images in an Appendix if you wish. The assignment conforms to a thesis-driven expository essay as in Occidental College’s First Stage Writing Proficiency Portfolio.

4 page paper in Word.doc, paginated, including M.L.A. parenthetical notes , plus Works Cited divided into the Primary and Secondary Sources utilized. List word count before Works Cited.

Include after Works Cited a Figure List (artist, title, date, book and page or website) Format: Times Roman, 12 point, 1 inch margins, paginated in Word.doc or .docx. 

The criteria for evaluating the paper are as follows:

●       Provides thesis and logical structure of paper

●       Considers alternate historical interpretations, the secondary sources (with M.L.A parenthetical notes to scholars or students in the class)

●       Argues for thesis via detailed analysis of primary sources and differences between them

●       Writes in proper sentences and paragraphs (each with one topical sentence)

●       Provides parenthetical notes for quotations and summaries, leading reader to author and page.

●    Works cited divided into Primary Sources and Secondary Sources M.L.A. Style (See Turabian from First Year Seminar) https://style.mla.org/works-cited/works-cited-a-quick-guide/essay) 

Grading:   Prof. Horowitz she seeks to work with you so that the final grades range only from B- to A.  Final course grades in this class have the following meaning: (Prof. Horowitz is aiming to assign only grades B-, B, B+, A-, A)

A  Outstanding performance. You have demonstrated very thorough knowledge and understanding of all the material, truly superior critical thinking, and expressed insightful and original thoughts clearly. You have completed all required assignments, and they have been among the best in the class.

B  Good performance. You have demonstrated solid knowledge and understanding of the material and good critical thinking. You have also shown the ability to express your ideas clearly. You have completed all required assignments, and they have been of good quality.

C  Satisfactory performance. You have demonstrated basic knowledge and understanding of the major concepts taught in the class and some critical thinking. You have completed all or most of the required assignments, and they have routinely been free of significant problems.

D  Deficient performance. You have only acquired a limited understanding of the class material. You have failed to complete all the required assignments, and they have routinely had serious problems.

F Failure. You have failed to learn a sufficient proportion of the basic concepts and ideas taught in the class. You have failed to complete many required assignments, and they have routinely had serious problems.

Resources in Academic Commons:

History Tutor:  Drop-in Ground Floor, Tutoring Nook.

●       The Writing Center offers opportunities to work on all forms of writing for any class or other writing tasks such as personal statements, senior comprehensives, etc. We offer peer-to-peer consultations with knowledgeable Writing Advisers and sessions with Faculty Writing Specialists. See the Writing Center website for more information about our fall hours and how students can sign up for appointments. Please contact the Writing Programs-Center Director, Julie Prebel (jprebel@oxy.edu) for more information on how the Center can work with you.

●       The college offers library research consultations and discipline-specific peer tutoring for coursework

●       Attendance Policy and Participation Definition.  Quotations come from official Occidental College fall 2021 policy suggestions:

“Participation is expected as the work that we do in class is critical to your understanding of the material and you will be giving feedback to your peers on many occasions.  However, if there is a medical issue or family emergency please let me know; I recognize that other life issues can sometimes arise unexpectedly. If you must miss class due to an official Oxy event, or due to reasons of faith or conscience, please let me know as early in the semester as possible.”

“We are still in a public health emergency, and students may have difficulties beyond their control that prevent their attendance on a given day (e.g., symptoms that are consistent with COVID-19, or a positive COVID-19 test). Your health and well-being, and that of our community, are essential. If you are feeling any symptoms of illness, even if they are slight, please refrain from attending class until explicitly cleared by Emmons. Similarly, if you have a known exposure to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please do not return to class until Emmons confirms that you are cleared to participate in your usual activities.”

●       Late Assignment Policy. Please inform Prof. Horowitz well ahead if you are not able to meet the deadline for a paper assignment or an exam.  She will try to accommodate your re-scheduling.   Meanwhile, please utilize the many Resources offered by Occidental College Student Affairs https://www.oxy.edu/student-life/student-affairs/resources-

Link to Occidental College Policies 2022-23:

https://sites.oxy.edu/horowitz/courses/CollegePolicies2022-2023.htm