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The Modern and the Postmodern | Coursera

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The Modern and the Postmodern

Michael S. Roth
Thiscourseexamineshowtheideaof"themodern"developsattheend ofthe18thcenturyinEuropeanphilosophyandliterature,andhow beingmodern(orprogressive,orhip)becameoneofthecrucialcriteria forunderstandingandevaluatingculturalchange.Arewestillin modernity,orhavewemovedbeyondthemoderntothepostmodern? Workload:35hours/week

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Sessions: Jul29th2013(14weekslong) Feb4th2013(14weekslong) Futuresessions SignUp SignUp AddtoWatchlist

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About the Course

Inthiscourseweshallexaminehowtheideaof"themodern"developsattheendof the18thcenturyinEuropeanintellectualhistory,andhowbeingmodern(or progressive,orhip)becameoneofthecrucialcriteriaforunderstandingand evaluatingculturalchangeduringthelasttwohundredyearsintheWest.Weshallbe concernedwiththerelationsbetweencultureandhistoricalchange,andour materialsshallbedrawnfromavarietyofareas:philosophy,thenovel,andcritical theory.Finally,weshalltrytodeterminewhatitmeanstobemoderntoday,and whetheritmakessensetogobeyondthemoderntothepostmodern. TheModernandthePostmoderntracestheintertwiningoftheideaofmodernitywith theideaofartorculturefromthelate18thcenturyuntilthepresent.Beginningwith theEnlightenment,Westerncultureshaveinvestedheavilyinthenotionthatthe worldcanbemademoreofahomeforhumanbeingsthroughthedevelopmentof culture(andtechnology).Throughoutthisperiodtherehasalsodevelopedastrong, sophisticatedcountermovementthatseestheEnlightenmenteffortasadisaster destructiveofbothartandoftheworld. TheWesternideaofmodernityislinkedtobutnotthesameastheideaof modernism.Wewillexaminebothinthisclassandthenconsiderpostmodernismin relationbothtothephilosophicalideaofmodernityandtotheaesthetic considerationsofmodernism. Thiscoursecoversalotofground,historically,conceptuallyandaesthetically.There ismuchtoread,andverydifferentkindsofreading:fromphilosophytonovels,from theorytopoetry.Notallstudentswilllikeallthereading,butifyoudigestitall,you shouldhaveaclearersenseoftheculturalhistoryofourpresent. Studentsshoulddevelopahistorical,literaryandphilosophicalunderstandingof someofthekeythemesofmodernityandmodernismintheWest.Theyshouldlearn toreadclassicandcontemporarytextsfortheirarguments,beautyandpertinence. Theyshouldseewhythesetextsaregoodtothinkwith,and,itishoped,theywill developanappetiteforfurtherstudyintheareascoveredbythecourse.

About the Instructor

MichaelS.Roth WesleyanUniversity

Course Syllabus

https://www.coursera.org/course/modernpostmodern?utm_campaign=2013-july-new

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The Modern and the Postmodern | Coursera

WeekI:Whyisphilosophyrelevanttomodernity?Whatareculturaland intellectualhistoryandhowaretheyrelatedtophilosophy? JeanJacquesRousseau,"DiscourseontheArtsandSciences" ImmanuelKant,WhatisEnlightenment? WeekII:WhatisEnlightenment? JeanJacquesRousseau,"DiscourseontheOriginsofInequality" WeekIII:FromEnlightenmenttoRevolution KarlMarx,EstrangedLaborfrom1844Manuscripts KarlMarxandFriedrichEngels,TheCommunistManifestoBeginreadingMadame Bovary WeekIV:ModernismandArtforArtsSake GustaveFlaubert,MadameBovary WeekV:ReImaginingtheWorld CharlesDarwin,StruggleforExistence,NaturalSelectionandSexualSelection fromTheOriginofSpecies(6thedition) Darwin,ConclusionfromTheDescentofMan WeekVI:FromStruggletoIntensity CharlesBaudelaire,ParisSpleenFriedrichNietzsche,GenealogyofMorals,essay2 WeekVII:CatchUpWeekSomelecturesonpainting WeekVIII:IntensityandtheOrdinary:Sex,Death,AggressionandGuilt SigmundFreud,CivilizationanditsDiscontents WeekIX:IntensityandtheOrdinary:Art,Loss,Forgiveness VirginiaWoolf,TotheLighthouse WeekX:ThePostmodernEveryday Emerson,ExperienceorSelfReliance LudwigWittgenstein,SelectionsfromPhilosophicalInvestigations WeekXI:FromCriticalTheorytoPostmodernism HorkheimerandAdorno,TheConceptofEnlightenment MichelFoucault,selectionsfromMadnessandCivilization WhatisEnlightenment?,FoucaultReader WeekXII:CatchUpWeek2Lecturesonvisualarts(readingsoptional) BladeRunner(RidleyScott,1982) AlisonBechdel,FunHome JenniferEganAskMeifICare,TheNewYorker(March8,2010): http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/03/08/100308fi_fiction_egan JenniferEgan,OutofBodyfromAVisitfromtheGoonSquad _____,BlackBox,http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/06/jennifer eganblackbox.html WeekXIII:PostmodernIdentities JudithButler,"Introduction"fromUndoingGender(2004) Slavojiek,YouMay!LondonReviewofBooks,vol.21(March1999) WeekXIV:PostmodernPragmatismsandFinalReview Rorty,PostmodernBourgeoisLiberalismandCornelWest,PropheticPragmatism fromPragmatism:AReader. AnthonyAppiah,CosmopolitanContaminationfromCosmopolitanism:Ethicsina WorldofStrangers(2006),101113. BrunoLatour,WhyHasCritiqueRunoutofSteam?FromMattersofFacttoMatters ofConcern,CriticalInquiry,Vol.30,No.2(Winter,2004),pp.225248.

Recommended Background
Allarewelcome!

Suggested Readings

https://www.coursera.org/course/modernpostmodern?utm_campaign=2013-july-new

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BaudelaireParisSpleen

The Modern and the Postmodern | Coursera

FlaubertMadameBovary FreudCivilization&ItsDiscontents WoolfTotheLighthouse(tradeedition) AlisonBechdelFunHome:AFamilyTragicomic

Course Format
Theclasswillconsistofvideolecturesofabout15minuteseach.Studentsare expectedtokeepupwiththereadingsthatgoalongwiththelectures.Therewillbe quizzesintegratedwiththevideolectures,andstudentswhocompletethecoursewill writeatleastsixshortessaysthatwillbepeergraded.

FAQ
WillIgetacertificateaftercompletingthisclass? Yes.Studentswhosuccessfullycompletetheclasswillreceiveacertificate signedbytheinstructor. WhatresourceswillIneedforthisclass? Forthiscourse,allyouneedisanInternetconnection,copiesofthetexts(most ofwhichcanbeobtainedonline),andthetimetothinkhardaboutsomeofthe importantideasthathavedefinedthemodernandcontemporaryworld. WhatshouldIreallyhopetogetoutofthisclass? Studentsshoulddevelopahistorical,literaryandphilosophicalunderstandingof someofthekeythemesofmodernityandmodernismintheWest.Theyshould learntoreadclassicandcontemporarytextsfortheirarguments,beautyand pertinence.Theyshouldseewhythesetextsaregoodtothinkwith,and,itis hoped,theywilldevelopanappetiteforfurtherstudyintheareascoveredbythe course.

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