Liberal Studies Summer Courses Announced
LST 7101: Foundation: Modern-- Eros, Time, and Madness
Dr. Alan Pichanick
W 6:15-9:30 p.m.
In this course, we will investigate the nature of human desire and its relation to psychic well-being. We will focus our discussion on Plato’s Phaedrus, Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents, and Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain.
Plato’s Phaedrus recounts a dialogue between Socrates and his eponymous interlocutor discussing three speeches about the nature of love (eros), as well as the effect of rhetoric upon the soul. It is in this work that eros is called a “divine madness”. Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents picks up several themes explored in Plato’s dialogue, probing the nature of desire and selfhood in a pre-civilized era and its subsequent transformation and disease in the development of civilization. Mann’s novel is influenced by both Plato and Freud. It takes place in a sanitarium, in which the protagonist checks in for a three-week visit, only to end up staying for seven years as he and the reader learn much about eros, time, and madness.
All three works invite us to raise questions about the role that desire plays in our psyche. How should we understand this role? In what way is desire separate from love, if at all? How is either satisfied? How and why does desire effect our relationship with time, and how should we understand this relationship? Is desire at odds with, or compatible with, civilization? In what sense does desire bring us closer to an authentic sense of self? Why, finally, do all three works associate desire with madness, and how should we understand the various kinds of madness that desire brings? What finally should we understand about desire in order to achieve psychic well-being?
LST 7102: Victorian Literature and Classical Greece (note: this class can count as an English course)
Dr. Marylu Hill
T 6:15-9:30 p.m.
This course will examine the pervasive influence of Hellenism (the love of classical Greek culture) through the long nineteenth century in Britain. We will pay particular attention to its expression in literature, art, higher education, and popular culture. Readings will range from the beginning of the century with the Romantic poets (Shelley and Byron in particular), to Matthew Arnold, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the Pre-Raphaelites, and ending with Oscar Wilde and Walter Pater. We will also discuss gender and sexuality issues associated with British Hellenism. Finally, art, architecture, and popular culture will be featured as significant topics for the class.
LST 7300: Introduction to American Studies
Dr. Eugene McCarraher
M 6:15-9:30 p.m.
What is "America"? What is an "American"? How have the meanings of these words changed over the last five centuries? In this introductory course to the American Studies concentration, students will seek to answer these questions by reading and discussing a variety of primary and secondary sources. Covering the pre-Columbian era to the 21st century, the course will be interdisciplinary, drawing on materials from history, literature, religion, art, economics, sociology, and other fields. Class discussion, short essays, and a final paper will be required.
Dr. Alan Pichanick
W 6:15-9:30 p.m.
In this course, we will investigate the nature of human desire and its relation to psychic well-being. We will focus our discussion on Plato’s Phaedrus, Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents, and Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain.
Plato’s Phaedrus recounts a dialogue between Socrates and his eponymous interlocutor discussing three speeches about the nature of love (eros), as well as the effect of rhetoric upon the soul. It is in this work that eros is called a “divine madness”. Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents picks up several themes explored in Plato’s dialogue, probing the nature of desire and selfhood in a pre-civilized era and its subsequent transformation and disease in the development of civilization. Mann’s novel is influenced by both Plato and Freud. It takes place in a sanitarium, in which the protagonist checks in for a three-week visit, only to end up staying for seven years as he and the reader learn much about eros, time, and madness.
All three works invite us to raise questions about the role that desire plays in our psyche. How should we understand this role? In what way is desire separate from love, if at all? How is either satisfied? How and why does desire effect our relationship with time, and how should we understand this relationship? Is desire at odds with, or compatible with, civilization? In what sense does desire bring us closer to an authentic sense of self? Why, finally, do all three works associate desire with madness, and how should we understand the various kinds of madness that desire brings? What finally should we understand about desire in order to achieve psychic well-being?
LST 7102: Victorian Literature and Classical Greece (note: this class can count as an English course)
Dr. Marylu Hill
T 6:15-9:30 p.m.
This course will examine the pervasive influence of Hellenism (the love of classical Greek culture) through the long nineteenth century in Britain. We will pay particular attention to its expression in literature, art, higher education, and popular culture. Readings will range from the beginning of the century with the Romantic poets (Shelley and Byron in particular), to Matthew Arnold, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the Pre-Raphaelites, and ending with Oscar Wilde and Walter Pater. We will also discuss gender and sexuality issues associated with British Hellenism. Finally, art, architecture, and popular culture will be featured as significant topics for the class.
LST 7300: Introduction to American Studies
Dr. Eugene McCarraher
M 6:15-9:30 p.m.
What is "America"? What is an "American"? How have the meanings of these words changed over the last five centuries? In this introductory course to the American Studies concentration, students will seek to answer these questions by reading and discussing a variety of primary and secondary sources. Covering the pre-Columbian era to the 21st century, the course will be interdisciplinary, drawing on materials from history, literature, religion, art, economics, sociology, and other fields. Class discussion, short essays, and a final paper will be required.
Registration for summer courses begins mid-March.
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