Foundations of western culture: the making of the modern world

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

This course comprises a broad survey of texts, literary and philosophical, which trace the development of the modern world from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Intrinsic to this development is the growth of individualism in a world no longer understood to be at the center of the universe. The texts chosen for study exemplify the emergence of a new humanism, at once troubled and dynamic in comparison to the old. The leading theme of this course is thus the question of the difference between the ancient and the modern world. Students who have taken Foundations of Western Culture I will obviously have an advantage in dealing with this question. Classroom discussion approaches this question mainly through consideration of action and characters, voice and form.

In addition to the four papers assigned above (7 pp. each, topics to be discussed in class), every student is required to present a talk in class (12 min.) on an assigned work on its assigned date. The talk should help stimulate a discussion by means of arguments and questions. Papers and talks are conceived as exercises in literary interpretation through close analysis; they should be focused on specific passages from the text under consideration and should balance detail with generalization. The last paper is a careful rewrite of the paper receiving the lowest grade.

The leading theme of this course is the question of the difference between the ancient and the modern world. Students who have taken Foundations of Western Culture I will obviously have an advantage in dealing with this question. Classroom discussion approaches this question mainly through consideration of action and characters, voice and form. What follows is the running argument of the course, as it informs the various works.

Each student is responsible for four required papers (totaling at least 20 pages) and one required oral presentation (12 min.) in class.

There will be no final exam in the class.

Unexcused absence from class will result in a lowering of the final grade.

Plagiarism—use of another's intellectual work without acknowledgement—is a serious offense. It is the policy of the Literature Faculty that students who plagiarize will receive an F in the subject, and that the instructor will forward the case to the Committee on Discipline. Full acknowledgement for all information obtained from sources outside the classroom must be clearly stated in all written work submitted. All ideas, arguments, and direct phrasings taken from someone else's work must be identified and properly footnoted. Quotations from other sources must be clearly marked as distinct from the student's own work. For further guidance on the proper forms of attribution, consult the style guides available at the Writing and Communication Center and the MIT Web site on Plagiarism.

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