Modern European Cultural History

Course Outline

I. Introduction:  What is Cultural History?
   [Western Humanities, xvii-xxi; xxii-xxxi]

II. The Early Renaissance, 1400-1494.
   [Western Humanities, Chapter 11]

A. The Historical Context:  Italy in the Fifteenth Century.
  [Western Humanities, 297-302]

B. Early Renaissance Thought.
  [Western Humanities, 302-306]

Petrarch (1304-1374), On Classical Literature.
Leonardi Bruni (1374-1444), A Humanistic Educational Program.
Petrus Paulus Vergerius (1370-1444), On Liberal Studies.
Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494), Oration on the Dignity of Man.
C. Early Renaissance Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 306-321]
III. The High Renaissance and Early Mannerism, 1494-1564.
      [Western Humanities, Chapter 12]
A. The Historical Context:  Europe in the Sixteenth Century.
     [Western Humanities, 322-328]

B. The High Renaissance and Early Mannerism: Literature.
     [Western Humanities, 328-332]

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), The Prince.
Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529), The Book of the Courtier.
C. The High Renaissance and Early Mannerism: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 332-351]
IV. Northern Humanism to Late Mannerism, 1500-1603.
      [Western Humanities, Chapter 13]
A. Humanism in the North.
     [Western Humanities, 352-356]

B. The Northern Renaissance: Literature and Painting.
     [Western Humanities, 356-364]

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), An Apology for Raymond Sebond.
C. The Protestant and Catholic Reformations.
     [Western Humanities, 364-371]
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536), In Praise of Folly.
Martin Luther (1483-1546), Address to the Christian Nobility, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and The Freedom of the Christian.
D. Late Mannerism: Painting, Literature, and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 371-379]
V. The Age of the Baroque, 1600-1715.
     [Western Humanities, Chapter 14]
A. The Historical Context.
     [Western Humanities, 382-389]

B. The Florid [Counter-Reformation] Baroque.
     [Western Humanities, 389-396]

C. The Classical [Aristocratic] Baroque.
     [Western Humanities, 396-397]

Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet (1672-1704), Politics Drawn from the Very Worlds of Holy Scripture.
D. The Restrained [Bourgeois] Baroque.
     [Western Humanities, 398-404]

 E. Baroque Literature and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 404-409]

VI. The Baroque: Revolutions in Scientific and Political Thought, 1600-1715.
      [Western Humanities, Chapter 15]
A. The Scientific Revolution and its Impact on Philosophy.
      [Western Humanities, 412-423]
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina” and Dialogue.
René Descartes (1596-1650), Discourse on Method.
B. The Revolution in Political Thought.
     [Western Humanities, 423-427]
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), Leviathan.
John Locke (1632-1704), Second Treatise on Government.
C. European Exploration and Expansion.
     [Western Humanities, 427-428]

 D. Responses to the Revolutions in Thought.
     [Western Humanities, 428-433]

VII. The Age of Reason, 1700-1789.
        [Western Humanities, Chapter 16]
A. The Enlightenment.
     [Western Humanities, 434-440]
Denis Diderot (1713-1784), The Encyclopedia.
B. The Great Powers during the Age of Reason.
     [Western Humanities, 440-443]

C. Eighteen-century Cultural Trends: From Rococo to Neo-Classicism.
     [Western Humanities, 443-453]

D. Political Philosophy, Literature, and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 453-461]

Voltaire (1694-1778), Candide.
VIII. Revolution, Reaction, and Cultural Response, 1760-1830.
        [Western Humanities, Chapter 17]
A. The Historical Context: The Industrial Revolution, Political Revolutions, and Reaction.
     [Western Humanities, 464-473]
Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Reflections on the Revolution in France.
Klemens von Metterich (1773-1859), Memorandum to Tsar Alexander I, December 15, 1820.
B. From Neo-Classicism to Romanticism.
     [Western Humanities, 473-478]

C. The Romantic Movement in Literature, Painting, Thought, and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 478-492.]

William Wordsworth (1770-1850), Tintern Abbey.
IX. The Triumph of the Bourgeoisie, 1830-1871.
       [Western Humanities, Chapter 18]
A. The Historical Context: Liberalism and Nationalism.
     [Western Humanities, 494-503]

B. Philosophy, Religion, and Science in the Nineteenth Century.
     [Western Humanities, 503-506]

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), On Liberty.
Karl Marx (1818-1883), The Communist Manifesto.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882), On the Origin of Species.
C. From Romanticism to Realism in Literature, Art and Architecture, Photography, and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 507-523]
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), Dover Beach.
Honoré Balzac (1799-1850), Le Père Goriot.
X. The Age of Early Modernism, 1871-1914.
     [Western Humanities, Chapter 19]
A. The Historical Context: The Second Industrial Revolution, Imperialism.
  [Western Humanities, 526-536]

B. Early Modernism: Philosophy and Psychology, Literature, Science, Art, and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 536-559]

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), The Will to Power, The Antichrist, and The Gay Science.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), “The Unconscious,” “Psychoanalysis,” and Civilization and its Discontents.
XI. The Age of the Masses and the Zenith of Modernism, 1914-1945.
       [Western Humanities, Chapter 20]
A. The Historical Context: World Wars I, the Depression, and World War II.
     [Western Humanities, 560-568]
Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970), All Quiet on the Western Front.
B. The Zenith of Modernism: Literature and, Philosophy, and Science.
     [Western Humanities, 568-576]
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965), “The Hollow Men”.
C. The Zenith of Modernism: Art, Architecture, Film, and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 576-591]
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944), Manifesto of Futurism.
Tristan Tzara (1896-1945), “Dada”.
André Breton (1896-1966), Manifestoes of Surrealism.
XII. The Age of Anxiety and Beyond, 1945-Present.
        [Western Humanities, Chapter 21]
A. The Historical Context: From a European to a World Civilization.
     [Western Humanities, 594-603]

B. From Modernism to Post-Modernism: Thought and Literature.
     [Western Humanities, 604-613]

C. From Modernism to Post-Modernism: The Arts and Music.
     [Western Humanities, 613-637]

XIII. Conclusion.

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Approximate Test Dates.

Test I: 16 February 2004
Test II:  26 March 2004
Final Examination: 04 May 2004@11:00am.


This Page is Maintained by Robert W. Brown

Last Update: 08.I.2004

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