Prerequisite/Corequisite: The following courses must be completed previously: LBCL 291; LBCL 292; LBCL 295. If prerequisites are not satisfied, permission of the College is required.
Description: In this multi- disciplinary seminar primary texts from the Enlightenment to the beginning of the 20th century are read and discussed in a chronological sequence. Questions are asked about the value and limitations of reason, the influence of Romanticism, the consequences of technology, the effects of colonialism, different conceptions of beauty, transgression and rebellion, monstrosity, the challenges of modernity, the pressure of social conformity, the role of the artist within society, urbanization and globalization, values and nihilism, and other challenging topics. Historical context as well as contemporary perspectives are brought to novels, poetry, plays and philosophical texts. The class develops confidence in speaking and improve writing skills through the building of original, convincing and informed arguments to support interpretation. Readings may include Kant’s Critique of Judgment, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Goethe’s Faust, Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, Dickinson’s poetry, Melville’s Moby Dick, Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
Component(s): Seminar