Honors Colloquia - Fall 2015
Course Descriptions
Memory Across the Disciplines
Robert J. White (Classical & Oriental Studies)
Integrating the Irrational
Professor Elizabeth K. Beaujour (Classical & Oriental Studies, Russian)
Plato: History, Philosophy, and Poetry
Professor Gerald Press (Philosophy)
HONS 20130
Tuesdays and Fridays; 12:45-2:00 p.m.
Room 412 West
3 hours, 3 credits
Plato is usually thought of as a philosopher; but from the philological standpoint he was a poet as well. In fact, his dialogues are widely considered the best Attic Greek ever written. Besides the philosophical ideas and arguments in them, the dialogues are stories, comic and tragic dramas of astonishing brilliance in some cases. The dialogues are not history, though they are often taken to be; and Plato is not a historian, though some modern readers - anachronistically - fault him for this. Nevertheless, they can be used, with caution, as sources for the reconstruction of Greek political and cultural history. Moreover, a grasp of the dialogues as poetry or philosophy requires some knowledge of their historical contexts.
In this colloquium, we will read Plato in an interdisciplinary way, from the standpoints of history, literature, and philosophy. This will illustrate an approach that can be fruitfully applied as well to other "great books" and great authors. I hope that students will come to appreciate that what Plato is doing in the dialogues transcends modern disciplinary distinctions.
We will read some of the shorter dialogues, such as Ion, Euthyphro, and Apology, and some of the medium-length dialogues, such as Meno, Protagoras, and Phaedrus. We will note differences between the more richly literary and dramatic, such as Symposium, Protagoras, and Phaedrus, and the more dryly argumentative, such as Parmenides and Republic, of which we will read not only the central books 5 - 7, but also the important books 1 and 10.
We will also look at some attempts to perform the dialogues on stage and in films, and possibly attend a local performance.
Required work and grades
- Each student will be required to write a short (800-1,000 word) paper on a topic reflecting each section of the course. Short papers will constitute 40% of the course grade.
- Students will also be required to write a term paper of 3,000-4,000 words. Term papers may be research papers or non-research interpretative papers. Instructor will provide individual guidance on all phases of term paper writing. Term papers will constitute 40% of the course grade.
20% will reflect student's participation and contribution to in-class on on-line discussions.
Urban Women: New Visions in the Industrial City in Europe and the US
Professor Sarah Chinn (English)
Professor Ida Susser (Anthropology)
HONS 3011B
Mondays and Wednesdays; 4:10-5:25 p.m.
Room C103 North
3 hours, 3 credits
Cities are transformative public spaces where new ideas are sown, exciting movements begin, and people meet one another and embark on new lives. The experience of the city is especially life-changing for women, whose workplaces and urban environments have been shaped by changing ideas about women and the relationship between public and private spheres.
This course will explore both literary and social scientific representations of women's experiences in major cities in Europe and the United States. Beginning with the first major wave of urbanization in England and France in the mid-19th century and then moving to New York and Chicago at the end of the 19th and early decades of the 20th century, we will look at women's relationships to labor movements, financial booms and busts, political activism, and the ongoing pressures of domesticity. We will integrate literary texts that anchor the course with other kinds of materials: manifestos, visual representations of working women, autobiography, sociology, history, and political science, including documents from reform movements.
Requirements:
Participation: Students will participate in an online discussion board, and will be required to contribute at least once every week, as well as participating in class discussion (10%). They will also work in groups on oral presentations based on research about the historical, political, and cultural contexts of the readings for that unit (15%).
Writing:
Each week, two students will pose discussion questions to the class, as part of the writing requirement (10%).
Midterm essay of 6-8 pages; students will have the opportunity to write in drafts and revise (25%).
Final essay of 14-16 pages (40%); students will have the opportunity to write in drafts.
Selected Readings:
Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Projects; David Harvey, Paris: The Capital of Modernity; Christine Stansell, City of Women: Sex and Class in New York, 1789-1860; Ellen Ross, Love and Toil: Motherhood in Outcast London, 1870-1918; Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie; Edith Warton, The House of Mirth; Anzia Yezierska, Salome of the Tenements
The Islamic City
Professor Anna Akasoy (Classical & Oriental Studies)
Professor Nebahat Avcioglu (Art & Art History)
HONS 3011H
Mondays and Thursdays; 9:45-11:00 a.m.
Room 412 West
3 hours, 3 credits
This colloquium proposes a critical thematic and historical overview of architectural, social, political and cultural aspects of cities in the Middle East from the seventh century to the present. Often described as "Islamic" since the 19th century by Orientalists seeking religious authenticity, these cities were either inherited or founded at various times and under different circumstances by Muslims and became powerful cosmopolitan centers. Pointing to the rhetoric surrounding the "Islamic city" in the West, which describes it as a physically haphazard, socially segregated and culturally exotic space (or stagnant, traditional and despotic), we will engage with the challenges of understanding the city in its own terms. While we will focus on some of the traditional centers in the Islamic world (such as Istanbul, Cairo, Isfahan, Damascus and Baghdad), we will also discuss the remaking of Beirut, Abu Dhabi and Mecca as well as engaging in comparative exercises with European and North American cities.
Proceeding in a chronological order and identifying the most important topics in the study of the "Islamic city", we will
- discuss early urban developments under Muslim rule, whether in pre-existing cities or newly established settlements, exploring which cultural, political, social and religious elements shaped them (e.g. preexisting architectural models, building regulations in medieval Islamic law)
- discuss the relationship between architecture, urban structures and social and political realities (e.g., the location of power in the city or segregation based on gender, ethnicity, or religion)- explore the unique urban constellations of material wealth, cosmopolitanism and critical intellectual mass for political, social, material and cultural dynamics in Islamic history
- consider representations of cities in visual images, such as maps and panoramas, and in literature produced in the West and in the Islamic world and explore the reputations of different cities
- Moving into the modern and post-modern periods, explore the impact of colonialism, post-colonialism, literary representations such as Orhan Pamuk's writings about Istanbul and Alaa al-Aswany's novel about Cairo
Requirements: 1 Research paper; 1 presentation; short in-class exercises such as analyzing an image, city plan or building
Select bibliography:
Urban Theory Beyond the West: A World of Cities, eds., Tim Edensor and Mark Jayne, Routledge: 2011.
The City in the Islamic World, eds., Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Renata Holod, Attilio Petruccioli, André Raymond, Brill: 2008.
Cities in the Pre-Modern Islamic World: The urban impact of religion, state and society, eds., Amira K. Benison and Alison Gascoigne, Routledge, 2007.
Stefano Bianca, Urban Form in the Arab World: Past and Present. New York: 2000.
Poverty in the US
Professor Anthony Browne (Africana & Puerto Rican/Latino Studies)
Professor Roseanne Flores (Psychology)
HONS 30148
Tuesdays and Fridays; 11:10-12:25 p.m.
Room 412 West
3 hours, 3 credits
This interdisciplinary course explores how sociology and psychology explain persistent poverty and the attendant effects on individuals, communities and American society. Theories and concepts from both disciplines are utilized to examine the nature and extent of poverty in the U.S., its myriad causes and consequences, as well government programs and policies. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the intersectionality of class, race/ethnicity and gender. Questions to be addressed include: What is poverty? Why is U.S. poverty higher than other industrialized nations? What are the perceptions of the poor by the non-poor? What is the effect of poverty on children and families? What are individual and structural explanations of poverty? And what is the psychological impact of being poor in an affluent society? Emphasis will be placed on urban poverty and the role of the state and civil society its amelioration.
Readings:
- Mark Rank, One Nation Underprivileged - Required
- David Shipler, The Working Poor
Grading for this course is based primarily on a research paper, midterm and final exam, and class participation.
Interdisciplinary Independent Study
HONS 30199
3 hours, 3 credits
Hours to be arranged
Advanced Interdisciplinary Study
HONS 49151
6 hours, 6 credits
Hours to be arranged