Cultural Encounters I Fall 2018 Reader
HUM 101 Course Policy Course format: Two lectures each week, Monday and Wednesday at 09:00 Two class sections each week, as scheduled Lectures: Attendance of lectures is MANDATORY. Attendance is taken in lectures. Section classes: Attendance of section classes is MANDATORY. Go to the class section in which you are registered. Be on time and bring your course book. Attendance is a fundamental requirement of the course. If you miss more than 4 section class hours for any reason, you will receive a section grade of zero. No excuses. Medical problems are still counted as absences. In all cases, you are responsible for knowing the material and instructions presented in class and lecture. If you miss a quiz or writing assignment because you are absent from class, you will receive a zero for that quiz or assignment. Grading: Your final grade for the semester will be calculated according to the following: class section 30% (participation and attendance 15%, quizzes 15%) mid-term examination 30%
final examination 40% To qualify for taking the Final Exam you must have taken the midterm exam and received a minimum score of 40 points out of 100. If you miss more than 6 section classes for any reason, you will not be allowed to take the Final Exam. Your cumulative average for the course must be 50 points or above out of 100 in order to pass this course. Plagiarism and cheating: Any student suspected of plagiarism or cheating will be immediately referred to the disciplinary committee. No exceptions. Course Description An interdisciplinary humanities survey, designed to introduce students to cultures east and west, ancient and modern which have, over time, impacted and interacted with their own culture, and thus to encourage critical reflection on this wider cultural heritage with emphasis on philosophy, literature, arts, political thought, science and religion. Readings in primary and secondary materials to analyze, compare and contrast ideas, paradigms, world views in ancient, classical and medieval civilizations.
HUM 101: CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS I Syllabus Fall 2018 Week Date Topic/lecture Reading 1 September 24 Introduction (Antiquity and Modernity), Fragments Rainer Maria Rilke, Archaic Torso of Apollo, Sappho, If Not, Winter, Fragments September 26 An Introduction to the Ancient Mesopotamia; Fragments cntd; Laws and Transgression The Epic of Gilgamesh, pp. 61-85 2 October 1 The Epic Hero, Transgression and Boundaries The Epic of Gilgamesh, pp. 85-107; 118-119 October 3 Creation and the Birth of Knowledge; Transgression The Book of Genesis, ch. 1-3 3 October 8 The Hellenic World Hesiod, Works and Days October 10 The Epic Homer, The Odyssey, Introduction, Book 8 4 October 15 The Epic II Homer, The Odyssey, Book 9
October 17 Greek Historiography Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I and Pericles Funeral Oration (Book II) 5 October 22 Greek Philosophy I: The Presocratics and Sophists Selections from Parmenides of Elea, Heraclitus of Ephesus and the Sophists October 24 Greek Philosophy II Plato, The Apology 6 October 29 NO CLASS REPUBLIC DAY-- HOLIDAY October 31 Greek Philosophy III Aristotle, Politics 7 November 5 Greek Philosophy IV Aristotle, Politics November 7 Tragedy I Euripides, The Bacchae 8 November 12 Tragedy II Euripides, The Bacchae November 14 Epicurean philosophy: Allegory and Poetics Lucretius, On the Nature of Things 9 November 19 From Greece to Rome: Founding Myths Virgil, Georgics
and Legitimation November 21 Roman Pseudo-Epic Ovid, Metamorphoses: Invocation, Apollo and Daphne; Diana and Actaeon 10 November 26 Early Christian Thought Augustine, City of God November 28 Byzantium: The City, Architecture and Power Paulus Silentiarius, The Construction of St. Sophia: A Semi-Legendary Account 11 December 3 Mysticism and Philosophy in Medieval Islamic World Al-Ghazali, Deliverance from Error December 5 Mysticism and Philosophy in the Medieval Islamic World cntd. Ibn Tufayl, Hayy bin Yaqzan 12 December 10 Mysticism and Philosophy in the Medieval Islamic World cntd. Ibn Tufayl, Hayy bin Yaqzan December 12 Medieval Women Writers Christine de Pisan, Book of the City of Ladies 13 December 17 Medieval Christian Humanism Dante, The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Canto I, Canto IV, Canto V December 19 Medieval Christian Humanism II Dante, The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Canto XXVI, Canto XXXIV