Spring 2018 Liberal Studies Course Offerings
The Tragic Sense of Life: Survey of Greek Tragedy
LST 7100 (Foundation/Ancient)
Dr. Brian Satterfield
R 5:20-7:20
Greek Tragedy originated as a genre in a religious festival for Dionysus some 2500 years, but has transcended its particular circumstances and become synonymous with a view of life. In “The Tragic Sense of Life: Survey of Greek Tragedy” we will read major works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, as well as authors who have attempted to work out a theory of tragedy, including Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, and Nietzsche, with a view to better understanding the characteristics of Greek tragedy and the tragic sense of life it engendered.
Paris, City of Order and Anarchy
LST 7203
Dr Alex Varias
T 5:20-7:20
This course focuses on the history and cultural transformation of Paris since the French Revolution. The perspective will be on Paris as a city hovering between the fixation on order and the forces creating volatility and chaos. Creativity and art emerged from both aspects of the metropolis which was caught between tradition and the modern. Among the subjects included in our scrutiny are: Paris in revolutionary times; the rebuilding of the city; Impressionism and the Eiffel Tower as emblems of modernism; literary and philosophical change; the city’s experience during the two World Wars; and the challenges and visions of hope since. Requirements include oral reports, a book review and a research paper. There are no exams.
The Challenge of Peace: Modern American Perspectives
LST 7100 (Foundation/Ancient)
Dr. Brian Satterfield
R 5:20-7:20
Greek Tragedy originated as a genre in a religious festival for Dionysus some 2500 years, but has transcended its particular circumstances and become synonymous with a view of life. In “The Tragic Sense of Life: Survey of Greek Tragedy” we will read major works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, as well as authors who have attempted to work out a theory of tragedy, including Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, and Nietzsche, with a view to better understanding the characteristics of Greek tragedy and the tragic sense of life it engendered.
Paris, City of Order and Anarchy
LST 7203
Dr Alex Varias
T 5:20-7:20
This course focuses on the history and cultural transformation of Paris since the French Revolution. The perspective will be on Paris as a city hovering between the fixation on order and the forces creating volatility and chaos. Creativity and art emerged from both aspects of the metropolis which was caught between tradition and the modern. Among the subjects included in our scrutiny are: Paris in revolutionary times; the rebuilding of the city; Impressionism and the Eiffel Tower as emblems of modernism; literary and philosophical change; the city’s experience during the two World Wars; and the challenges and visions of hope since. Requirements include oral reports, a book review and a research paper. There are no exams.
The Challenge of Peace: Modern American Perspectives
LST 7302 (Peace and Justice Studies)
M 5:20-7:20
Dr. Guy Aiken
This course will trace various antiwar, pacifist, and nonviolent movements and philosophies in the United States from what is often called the birth of the American Empire in the Spanish-American War to its haggard middle age in the present. What challenges have the partisans of peace offered American imperialism and militarism over the past 120 years? What challenges have American pacifists, antiwar advocates, and nonviolent activists faced as they defy the organized violence of the state? To answer these questions and more, our primary readings might include speeches, essays, and books by Mark Twain, William James, Jane Addams, Reinhold Niebuhr, A. J. Muste, Dorothy Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Martin Luther King Jr., among others, as well as various memoirs by young men imprisoned throughout the twentieth century for draft resistance and conscientious objection. Our secondary readings might include Stephen Kinzer's The True Flag (on Twain and Teddy Roosevelt), Michael Kazin's War Against War (on resistance to the Great War), Lynne Olson's Those Angry Days (on FDR and the isolationist Charles Lindbergh), Kip Kosek's Acts of Conscience (on Christian nonviolence), and Guenter Lewy's Peace and Revolution (on American pacifism during the Vietnam War). Finally, Chris Hedges's War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning will frame the course with its unflinching account of the perennial attractions of war, reminding us that the greatest challenge of peace might be overcoming our instinctual fascination with violence.
(THIS COURSE SATISFIES THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE PEACE AND JUSTICE STUDIES CERTIFICATE)
M 5:20-7:20
Dr. Guy Aiken
This course will trace various antiwar, pacifist, and nonviolent movements and philosophies in the United States from what is often called the birth of the American Empire in the Spanish-American War to its haggard middle age in the present. What challenges have the partisans of peace offered American imperialism and militarism over the past 120 years? What challenges have American pacifists, antiwar advocates, and nonviolent activists faced as they defy the organized violence of the state? To answer these questions and more, our primary readings might include speeches, essays, and books by Mark Twain, William James, Jane Addams, Reinhold Niebuhr, A. J. Muste, Dorothy Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Martin Luther King Jr., among others, as well as various memoirs by young men imprisoned throughout the twentieth century for draft resistance and conscientious objection. Our secondary readings might include Stephen Kinzer's The True Flag (on Twain and Teddy Roosevelt), Michael Kazin's War Against War (on resistance to the Great War), Lynne Olson's Those Angry Days (on FDR and the isolationist Charles Lindbergh), Kip Kosek's Acts of Conscience (on Christian nonviolence), and Guenter Lewy's Peace and Revolution (on American pacifism during the Vietnam War). Finally, Chris Hedges's War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning will frame the course with its unflinching account of the perennial attractions of war, reminding us that the greatest challenge of peace might be overcoming our instinctual fascination with violence.
(THIS COURSE SATISFIES THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE PEACE AND JUSTICE STUDIES CERTIFICATE)
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