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YESHIVA UNIVERSITY – YESHIVA COLLEGE FRESHMAN HONORS SEMINAR HISTORY 1932H -- THE EXPERIENCE OF MODERNITY Professor Ellen Schrecker Spring Semester, 2001 Syllabus Course Description: This course is designed to introduce students to the dominant characteristics, tensions and problems of our revolutionary modern age. Its theme is change and how individuals and societies respond to change. Its purpose is to provide students with an intellectual compass for navigating the rapidly changing globalizing world around them. The course will follow a seminar format and will have a heavy emphasis on writing. Class participation is, therefore, of paramount importance. Office Hours: Professor Ellen Schrecker Yeshiva, Furst 326, ext. 320, Thurs. 3-3:45 PM or by appointment. Home phone (212) 316-4072, e-mail: schreckr@ymail.yu.edu Required Texts (available in the bookstore) Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart Marshall Berman, Everything that Is Solid Melts into Air Natalie Z. Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity Xeroxed selections will be distributed from time to time and additional readings may be added. Course Requirements It is important to attend class regularly, participate in the discussions, and keep up with the readings. Students who have more than three unexcused absences will have their final grades reduced by one-third of a grade (e.g. from a B to a B-.) There will be five 5-page papers, several of which will be revised, and a longer research paper. NOTICE ON PLAGIARISM: Plagiarism is the cardinal sin of academic life. It will not be tolerated in this class. It is expected that all the work you submit will be your own. Thanks to the internet, it has become easy for an instructor to detect plagiarism and students who hand in plagiarized papers will get an "F" on that assignment and may get an "F" in the course. In addition, students who plagiarize risk disciplinary action.
Students may not get up and go out of the room during class. Any student who does so will not be allowed back in class. Modernity 2. Class Schedule Please complete the readings before the class to which they are assigned. _______________________________________________________________ TOPIC I TRADITIONAL SOCIETY This section focuses on life experience in pre-modern or traditional society. Our aim is to get a feeling for the nature of pre-industrial village life. We shall focus on changing gender relations and the problem of individual identity. Jan. 23: Introduction: The Experience of Modernity: What is it? Jan. 25 – Feb. 1: A Traditional Society Reading: Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre Feb. 6 - 8: Gender and Change in Traditional Society Reading: Stone, The Family, Sex, and Marriage in England, xerox PAPER 1: Five page paper due Feb. 6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOPIC II: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: ECONOMIC CHANGE AND A NEW IDENTITY The economic transformation that coincided with the political revolutions of the late 18th century ushered in a new social system and a new identity. We will look at these changes and at the way, contemporaries responded to them. Feb. 13 – 15: The Industrial Revolution Reading: Berman, All That Is Solid, introduction, Parts I-II Readings on the industrial revolution, xerox
Feb. 20 - 27: A Response to the Industrial Revolution Reading: Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto, xerox PAPER 2: Five page paper due Feb. 22 ________________________________________________________________________ TOPIC III: TECHNOLOGY AND THE STATE This section examines the nature of modern science, the impact of technological change upon society, and the role of the state in encouraging and using science and technology for its own ends. We shall explore these issues by looking at the development of the atomic bomb. Mar. 1 - 13: Scientific Revolution? Reading: Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolution Note: No class March 8 Mar. 15 – 20: The Making of the Atomic Bomb Reading: to be assigned PAPER 3: Five page paper due Mar. 13 ______________________________________________________________________ TOPIC IV: MODERNITY AND THE THIRD WORLD This section explores the destabilizing impact of modernity on the traditional societies of the Third World. Mar. 22 - 27: The West and the Third World Reading: Selections on imperialism, xerox Mar. 29 – April 3: The Colonialized Respond Reading: Achebe, Things Fall Apart Note: Class on April 3 follows Thursday schedule PAPER 4: Five page paper due April 3:
Note: April 5- 16, Pesach Recess _________________________________________________________ TOPIC V: POSTMODERNISM IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD Today the world seems to be changing more rapidly than ever before. We will look at what those changes are and what kinds of responses they elicit. Apr. 17 – May 1: Globalization and its Discontents Reading: Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity Note: Class on April 24 follows Thursday schedule, no Class on April 26 PAPER 5: Five -page paper due April 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 3 – 8: Research reports 10-15-page research paper due May 23 |
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