I. ASCRC General Education Form Group VI Historical and Cultural Studies Dept/Program History Course # History 340 Course Title European Cultural and Intellectual History from 1900 to World War II Prerequisite None Credits 3 II. Endorsement/Approvals Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office Please type / print name Signature Date Instructor Richard Drake 9/08/08 Phone / Email 243-2981 Program Chair Richard Drake Dean Jerry Fetz III. Description and purpose of the course: General Education courses must be introductory and foundational. They must emphasize breadth, context, and connectedness; and relate course content to students future lives: See Preamble: http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/gened/gepreamble_final.htm Cultural and intellectual history was described by Jacob Burckhardt, one of its greatest practitioners, as a method of unique effectiveness in measuring the creativity and real worth of an epoch. To him the great question of history was why some ages more than others possessed the capacity to produce original thought and art of enduring importance. The course takes its conceptual bearings from Burckhardt s insight. We have one fundamental objective in our course: to examine the impact of World War I and the Great Depression on the crisis of Western values that originated in the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century. To accomplish this objective, we will study the major esthetic, ideological, and intellectual movements of European cultural life from 1900 to World War II. IV. Criteria: Briefly explain how this course meets the criteria for the group. See: http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/ascrcx/adocuments/ge_criteria5-1-08.htm In the course, students will have the opportunity to understand the causes and cultural consequences of two watershed events in human history: World War I and the Great Depression. I ask the students to evaluate texts and cultural artifacts from this turbulent historical context. They analyze the impact of these desolating historical events on human behavior, ideas, and institutions. V. Student Learning Goals: Briefly explain how this course will meet the applicable learning goals. See: http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/ascrcx/adocuments/ge_criteria5-1-08.htm
In the course examinations and term paper, students are expected to demonstrate powers of historical analysis at the upper-division level of university work. This means that they must develop the capacity to synthesize ideas and information with the aim of understanding causes and consequences of historical development and events. VII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form. The syllabus should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html Spring 2005 R. Drake Syllabus for European Cultural and Intellectual History from 1900 to World War II (History 340) Objectives of the Course Cultural and intellectual history was described by Jacob Burckhardt, one of its greatest practitioners, as a method of unique effectiveness in measuring the creativity and real worth of an epoch. To him the great question of history was why some ages more than others possessed the capacity to produce original thought and art of enduring importance. The course takes its conceptual bearings from Burckhardt s insight. We have one fundamental objective in our course: to examine the impact of World War I and the Depression on the crisis of Western values that originated in the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century. To accomplish this objective, we will study the major esthetic, ideological, and intellectual movements of European cultural and intellectual life from 1900 to World War II. In the course examinations and term paper, students are expected to demonstrate powers of historical analysis at the upper-division level of university work. Required Reading Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents (Norton) Virginia Woolf, A Room of One s Own (Harcourt) André Malraux, Man s Fate (Knopf) Ernst Jünger, Storm of Steel (Penguin) Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (Harper) Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea (New Directions)
Ignazio Silone, Bread and Wine (Penguin) Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics (S&S) Mandatory Public Lecture Students will be required to attend two events in the President s Lecture Series. On Friday, 11 February, Cynthia Prossinger, an art historian connected with the Fine Arts Museum in Vienna, will speak on The Secessionist Movement in Vienna: A Visual Interpretation as Seen through Gustav Klimt s Beethoven Frieze. She will give her lecture in the Music Recital Hall at 8:00 P.M. On Thursday, 24 February, Kevin Fitzgerald will lecture on The New Genetics: A Visit from Prometheus or Pandora? He teaches in the Department of Oncology and holds the David P. Lauler Chair in Catholic Healthcare Ethics at Georgetown University. He will speak in the University Theatre at 8:00 P.M. For students with work or family responsibilities in the evening, films of these two lectures will be made available on the Reserve Shelf in the Mansfield Library. Quizzes, Examinations, and the Term Paper I will give at least three unannounced quizzes during the semester. Students will write a midterm examination and a final examination. Both examinations will have mainly an essay format, with some short-answer questions. A ten-page term paper, the content of which will be determined by each student in consultation with me, will be due on Monday, 18 April, at 5:00 P.M. Graduate students who are taking the course for graduate credit must write a twenty-page paper in place of the ten-page undergraduate paper. The term paper assignment gives students the opportunity to learn more about the subject matter of the course and to improve their writing and researching skills. As we progress in the course, students should identify the individuals, books, works of art and music, and theories that most interest them. Once these lists have been narrowed down to three or four topics, students should see me about making their final choices. At that time we can discuss bibliographical matters and other research strategies. Grading Policy The scores on the three quizzes will count for 10 percent of the grade. The midterm examination will count for 20 percent, the term paper for 30 percent, and the final examination for 40 percent. I grade students in accordance with their mastery of the course readings and lectures. Late term papers are discounted at the rate of one-third of a grade per day. Lectures and Reading Assignments Week 1 M 24 January Introduction W 26 January Europe in 1900
Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 F 28 January The Avant-Garde: Paris (Slide Lecture on Henri Rousseau with musical accompaniment by Erik Satie) M 31 January The Avant-Garde: Vienna (In conjunction with this lecture, students will attend the presentation on the Secessionist Movement by Cynthia Prossinger, in the President s Lecture Series on Friday, 11 February, in the Music Recital Hall at 8:00 P.M.). W 2 February World War I F 4 February Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents M 7 February World War I and the Lost Generation in England W 9 February British Memoir Literature of the War F 11 February Virginia Woolf, A Room of One s Own M 14 February World War I and the Lost Generation in France W 16 February The Dada Movement (Slide Lecture) F 18 February André Malraux, Man s Fate M 21 February Holiday W 23 February World War I and the Lost Generation in Italy F 25 February Fascism and Culture (In conjunction with this lecture, students will view the film of Luigi Pirandello s Six Characters in Search of an Author on Thursday, 24 February, in Liberal Arts 308 at 3:40 P.M.. A second showing of this film has been scheduled for Friday, 25 February, in Liberal Arts 308 at 3:00 P.M.).
M 28 February World War I and the Lost Generation in Germany W 2 March Käthe Kollwitz (Slide Lecture) F 4 March Ernst Jünger, Storm of Steel Week 7 M 7 March Review W 9 March Midterm Examination F 11 March The Depression Week 8 M 14 March The Marxist Alternative to Capitalism W 16 March The Russian Revolution and the Intellectuals F 18 March Stalin and the Intellectuals Week 9 21-25 March Spring Vacation Week 10 Week 11 M 28 March England in the 1930s W 30 March The Crisis of the Liberal Faith in Science (In conjunction with this lecture, we will discuss the presentation by Professor Kevin Fitzgerald in the President s Lecture Series The New Genetics: A Visit from Prometheus or Pandora? in the University Theatre on Thursday, 24 February, at 8:00 P.M.). F 1 April Aldous Huxley, Brave New World M 4 April France in the 1930s (In conjunction with this lecture, Jean Renoir s Grand Illusion will be shown on Tuesday, 5 April, at 7:00 P.M. in LA 308. A second showing of this film has been scheduled for Wednesday, 6 April, at 3:00 P.M. in LA 308).
Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 W 6 April French Catholic Thought: Jacques Maritain F 8 April Simone Weil s Search for God M 11 April Existentialism: Religious and Secular W 13 April Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea F 15 April Albert Camus and the Myth of Sisyphus M 18 April Italy in the 1930s: The Years of Consensus W 20 April Fascist Culture in the 1930s F 22 April Ignazio Silone, Bread and Wine M 25 April Germany in the 1930s (In conjunction with this lecture, Leni Riefenstahl s The Triumph of the Will will be shown on Tuesday, 26 April, at 3:40. P.M. in LA 308. A second showing of this film has been scheduled for Wednesday, 27 April, at 3:00 P.M. in LA 308). W 27 April Nazism and the Intellectuals: Martin Heidegger F 29 April Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics M 5 May The German Catastrophe W 7 May Conclusions F 9 May Review Final Examination: 10:10 A.M.-12:10 P.M., Friday, 13 May. Last Day to Drop Classes without Penalty: Monday, 11 February.
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