History 125: Humanities from the Renaissance to the Present

Occidental College Spring 2022

Instructor: Prof. Maryanne Horowitz, History Department

Class Time:  8:30-9:55 Tues, Thurs.   Break  9:10-9:20  Classroom: Johnson 105

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

Office Hours on Zoom starting Jan. 23:   Wed. 3-4:30 p.m. and Fri. 12-1:30 pm.

15 or 30 minute meetings in ZOOM, Reserve appointment 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 DescriptionIn 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, 9th edition, CENGAGE  (Recommend used pb. or ebook. Students who wish may use Mindtap on-line 9th 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.

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) Buy a used copy or use Oasys 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)  Peter Burke, Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence, Cornell UP (used) Unlimited access to ebook at Occidental College Library. 

Individual presentations also available from:

3) Some Pdfs from this book on reserve;  Edgar Knoebel, ed., Classics of Western Thought: The Modern World,  4th edition, Harcourt Brace (used)

4) Close attention to comparing and contrasting excerpts of texts in Culture & Values. (Speak up briefly  on short excerpts of literature in the class’s required readings)

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 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 1500 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)

·       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 submitted as attachment to horowitz@oxy.edu

 

·       Prof. will post choice of questions for paper and for 2 takehome exams two weeks ahead of due date.

·       Takehome essays and Paper require 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 full name in the .doc title (for Prof. Horowitz to download).

·       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 Gus Gruneau


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) 12 noon  Fri. Feb. 25, 2022 (5th week) Takehome exam of 2 essays from a choice of essay topics.  2-3 pages each in separate Word.docx with parenthetical references to artist or author, page in Culture & Values, class lecture, or student comment.

3) 8:00 p.m.  Th March17, 2022 (7th week) See choice between 2 paper topics after class schedule. Typed Proposal for Paper Due with start of Works Cited and Figure List.

8:00 p.m. Thurs. March 31 (90h 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.

4) In-class exam on laptops Tues. April 19 (122h week)  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 use from MOODLE the chapter outlines on which Prof. Horowitz has bolded images and texts of most importance for this class.

Tuesday-Thursday Schedule for Spring 2022

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

Tuesday, January 25,  Overview of course.  Intro to the Renaissance. Review Outlines for ch. 13 & ch.14  as you start ch. 13.

Thursday, January 27, 2021 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.

Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022  Discuss reading 13.1 Da Vinci and 13.2 Michelangelo. Ppt to textbook.

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 Meet in Classroom Johnson 105.  Burckhardtian Renaissance ppt on MOODLE

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WEEK 3 Read Culture & Valuesch.  14 “The High Renaissance in Northern Europe and Spain” and on Vermeer, pp. 520 & selections group leader assigned in Eyewitnessing  or Existentialism (also see Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, and Sartre in pdfs. from Classics)

Tuesday, February 8 Lecture on “Exotic Female (and Male) Continents,” ch. 1 of new ebook Bodies and Maps.  Lecture on ch. 14

 

Thurs. Feb. 10 Meeting in Special Collections, 3rd floor Academic Commons.     Hands-on Visit to a Renaissance library.

Consider choice between paper topics below from Culture & Values. Use Oxy library for building your Works Cited.

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WEEK 4 Start Ch. 15 “The Seventeenth Century”

 

Tuesday, February 15 Students receive choice of takehome exam questions.  Student on Montaigne on Topinamba Amerindians14.6 &14.7; Student on love theme in Elizabeth 14.10, Marlowe 14.12.   Lecture ch 14-start ch. 15

 

Thursday, February 17  Ch. 15 lecture

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WEEK 5   Finish ch. 15.

Tuesday, February 22 Complete ch. 15 on baroque art. Student on Tartuffe 15.4 and Don Quixote 15.5 

 

Thursday, February 24 (This course is omitting chs. 16-18)  Ch. 22 (1914-45) as intro. to Modernist Art to be seen Sunday at LACMA

Eyewitnessing report ch. 3      

 

Noon Fri. Feb 25 Takehome Exam due chs.13-15  (email to horowitz@oxy.edu 2 Essays from group of essays on MOODLE, each 2-3 typed pages Times Roman, 12 Point, Double Space.  Include parenthetical reference to primary sources in our textbook, a lecture, or an agreement or disagreement with what a person has said in class discussion .

 

Book on 2-hour reserve on exhibit: Envisioning modernism : the Janice and Henri Lazarof collection     

Sun Feb. 27 SPECIAL EVENT. Class trip to LACMA to examine art works of the Modernist period (as in Culture and Values, chs. 21 & 22.) Bring a device or paper/pencil for recording info. on 2-4 works that particularly interest you.  2 students pick up lunches at 9:15 at JSC load-dock (backside of the Marketplace/Johnson Student Center at 9:15am. The bus will meet students at the front of campus by Rush Gym (Alumni Ave & Campus Rd) at 9:30 am. All students bring Oxy photo ID and proof of Vaccination. Prof. Horowitz will meet you at entrance path from 6th St.  with museum tickets for 10 a.m. opening.. Lunch break outside. At 2:00 p.m. we load bus to return to Oxy 

 

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WEEK 6 Start ch. 19 “The Eighteenth Century”

Tuesday, March 1

Existentialism Group presentation on19th century: Dostoevsky and Nietzsche

 

Continuing on political theory, student on Mary Wollstonecraft 19.5-6& Rousseau 19.7.  Lecture Ch. 19

 

Thursday, March 3 Eyewitnessing report ch. 5 & 6

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Spring Break.  March 8, March 10 No Class

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.  _____________________________________________________________

WEEK 7  Complete Ch. 19

 

Tuesday, March 15   Discussion of global readings    Lecture ch.19        

Thursday, March 17   

 

8:00 p.m. Thurs. March 17  Submit a typed paragraph proposal for the paper due Thurs. March 31. 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 8 Ch. 20 Read “Europe and America: 1800-1870” and pdf on Locke on “Civil Government” on MOODLE.

 

Tuesday, March 22 Students on Existentialism of early 20th Century:

  Kafka and Ortega

 

 

Thursday, March 24   Eyewitnessing, ch. 7 & 8

 

 


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

Tuesday, March 29   Students on Existentialism of later 20th Century:

Sartre and Camus

 

Thursday, March 31  Lecture on Ch. 21

 

8 p.m, Thurs. March 31  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 optionally a Figure List.

 

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WEEK 10    Start Ch. 22 “The World at War: 1914-1945”     Registration week.

 

Sat April 2 Posting at top section of MOODLE topics to consider for in-class essay exam April 19

 

Tuesday, April 5 Students on Existentialism of 20th Century. Group concludes.  Study sheet passed out for exam Tues April 19.

 

Thursday, April 7  Focus on “Some Trends in Contemporary Literature” ch. 23, pp. 857-863.   Student analysis texts 23.1, .2, .5, .6,.7, .8, .9     Eyewitnessing, chs. 9 &10

 

 

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 WEEK 11   Start to read Ch. 23 “The Contemporary Contour”

Have Oral student analysis on works.

 

Tuesday, April 12 Student analysis of texts 23.10, .11, .12, .13

.

Thursday, April 14

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WEEK 12   Read ch. 23 “The Contemporary Contour   

Tuesday, April 19   In-Class Exam on your laptop. Chapters 19-22, a few selections of ch. 23.

 

Thursday, April 21   Discussion of nudes, followed by a discussion of equestrians, with student insights from their papers. Discussion of spoofs

of earlier art works (as in those of Mona Lisa).

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WEEK 13 Finish ch. 23.

 

Tue. April 26 Lecture on ch. 23 with student analysis of works

 

Thursday, April 28. Student Evaluations

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Paper Topics:   Compare and Contrast assignment in Culture & Values

Ch. 19 pp. 640-1 Equestrian (perhaps add a controversy on an equestrian statue such Theodore Roosevelt statue moving from American Museum of Natural History, or of a Confederate General (standing or removed), or of rare female equestrian statue such as Joan of Arc.

or

Ch. 21 pp. 730-31  Female Body, Male Gaze  (Ok to focus on 2 of the 4 images or to add other images or to add female gaze)

Paper Assignment is a Compare/Contrast exercise. 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.

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:  Senior Gus Gruneau   Mon. 6-8 p.m. and Wed. 10-12  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 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 2021-22: