General Studies (GNST) 500 A-03 Lecture 88227
Heritage II- Integration
Fall 2008/Winter 2009 - Weekend University

Saturdays 13.00-17.00.

 

Instructor:	Mr. Andrei Zlatescu, M.A., Ph.D.
Office Location:	Instructors' Office: SS 209
Office Phone:	TBA
E-Mail:	anz@ucalgary.ca
Web Page:	http://blackboard.ucalgary.ca/webapps/login
Office Hours:	Saturdays: 12.15-12.50 - upon appointment

Course Description

This class draws upon the notions taught in General Studies 300 Heritage-I, and, within a detailed study of the last 200 years, offers the student a relevant perspective of Western Civilization as a whole. Our historical and philosophical narrative starts with the Copernican revolution and ends with the speculative epistemology of the twenty-first century. After 1789, technical and liberal intellectuals formulated the rational assignments of modernity, which had in common not only the spell of emancipation, but also an untold fear concerning the solitude of human condition in an infinite, incomprehensible Universe.

Enlightenment did away with the tolerance of sixteenth-century Humanism, and chose instead to combine the search for scientific certainty with ethical rigor. The enlightened mastery of physical laws inferred the civilizing despotism of the state over the dark side of man, making, in exchange, the modern subject more and more dependent on political protection and access to technological commodities. If the struggle between superstition and reason crystallized in the equivocal notion of progress, eventually this triumph of man's disenchanted liberty from the laws of nature was adjudicated at a great price. The Western world opted for a cultural endeavor that has brought contemporary man discretionary power over nature and irrecoverable disappointments on ethical grounds. No doubt, the alleged disenchantment of the world was a tormenting experience for the modern subject. Rational Idealism granted the state the leading role in the formation of the individual and searched for a political structure that could prepare the advent of the spiritual order; the conjunctions of transcendental and empirical subjectivity proper to nineteenth- century Idealism were at the origin of major collapses of utopian hope and ideological norm - which equally justified reformist fervor and counter- reformist authoritarianism.

Against the Western assertive tradition of knowledge, Nietzsche inaugurated a radical relativism that, in absolving man of religious and cultural confinement, opened new psychological dimensions to modern subjectivity. In the decline of metaphysics, Dialectical Materialism took a deterministic approach toward the idea of civilization, ascribing all possible subjectivity to the allegedly universal moral goals to be attained through the anti-bourgeois revolution, yet denying any metaphysical legitimacy to the quest for the absolute. A sense of dismay about human condition persisted throughout the positivist and evolutionist mid- nineteenth century, and culminated in the cardinal forms of cynicism specific of the modern world, from the bravado of disillusioned intellectual avant-garde to the claims of diversely-colored totalitarianisms.

Psychology after Freud diagnosed the modern behavioral flaw and acknowledged its origins in estrangement from nature, yet failed to propose effective remedies for the growing specter of neuroses characteristic of our alienating life in industrial agglomerations. Modern art revealed the senselessness of existence, at times unmasking the very absurdity of the bourgeois ideals, at times proposing redemptive symbols. While direful events in the twentieth century, such as the two World Wars, the Holocaust and Hiroshima, have separated the notion of history from its traditional ethical foundations, Quantum Physics and the Theory of Relativity destroyed the last positive hopes concerning the meaning of time, turning the very idea of reality into a poorly contoured illusion on the verge of nothingness. The irresoluteness of our moral and epistemological perspectives has been only amplified by the boom of the new media, which has brought forth perplexities specific to our postmodern anxiety, beyond new communication rituals.

If we are to learn something from the convoluted history of the last two centuries, it becomes imperative to take into account our human status in an economy of knowledge that has nearly destroyed our own moral expectations from the future. During this year, we will reflect on some of the unsettled philosophical questions of our age, in an attempt to formulate our genuine responses, or, at least, in order to better articulate the subject matters at hand.

Objectives of the Course

In the spirit of interdisciplinarity cultivated in our GNST 500 class, students will be expected to complete the course with a provable understanding of the following:

-social and political outcomes in Western society of the 19th and 20th centuries;

- theoretical frameworks of political, economic and aesthetic structures studied;

- the specific influence of scientific and technological achievements on each cultural epoch;

- the channels of symbolic interchange between Western and Non-Western cultures;

- the major confluences between society, science, beliefs, cultural movements and popular culture;

- Knowledge of major issues at stake regarding our contemporary society.

As this course is designed to train students in critical thinking, students will effectively participate in class by researching, questioning and networking in workshops. Discussions will be encouraged within the spirit of respect for all possible difference of opinion. Intellectual debates are always formative moments in a student's intellectual life, as they can provide each of us with moral epiphanies regarding the inexhaustible richness of our ethical universe. When diversely motivated individuals gather to achieve a better understanding of cultural variety, a high regard for difference in thought is a must. Tolerance and humor are values that help us overcome the inherent inconveniences of the human condition, and can only bring us closer to each other in a community of learners.

By the end of this course, you should be able to locate the concepts and authors studied within their historical & cultural milieu. This implies that the student will be able to articulate a comprehensive description of the following:

-cultural periods and their subsequent currents of thought

-the literary works studied and the specific theoretical notions involved

-short literary biographies of the key-figures studied

You should be also able to correctly identify the major influence on each of the cultural periods studied, as well as the specific traits of each style (e.g. Romanticism, Neoclassicism, Modernism, Postmodernism).

You are expected to have finished the assigned readings from the books listed above. You will find the lectures easier to follow if you have completed the readings in advance. For each new class you will be expected to have a general comprehension of the cultural era discussed and a fresh re-reading of the texts assigned in the calendar.

Handouts reviewing the key-terms and notions taught will be periodically distributed to each student. (Please, make sure you file them in the right order!)

Textbooks and Readings:

Lawrence S. Cunningham, John J. Reich; Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities - Alternate Edition, 2002

Classics of Western Thought : Edgar F. Knoebel, The Modern World, Vol. III

Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

Note: Some of the required readings will be posted on Blackboard / Course Documents.

Assignments and Evaluation

It is the student's responsibility to keep a copy of each submitted assignment.

First term: Class participation: 5%

Individual project proposal (2 page) and bibliography (3 titles) 5 % - second week of October

1st. individual assignment: paper (7-8 pages) 10% - last week of November

Midterm exam - 30% - December -last week of classes

Second term: Class participation: 5%

2nd Essay Proposal and bibliography- 1 page, 4 titles - 5% - second week of January

Individual Assignment - 15 minutes class presentation (associate in research groups) - 10% - throughout second term (presentation dates to be scheduled)

- Final exam 30 % -

Attendance: Please, note that, although in our class we don't keep an attendance sheet, participation in class discussions and discussion boards is required.

Exam questions: Exam questions will be based on the assigned readings and will take into account your comprehension of the key-notions taught in class.

Essay submission: Essay Proposals and Written Assignments will be submitted electronically via Blackboard. Also, a printed copy of each assignment is required.

Please return assignments directly to the instructor if possible. If it is not possible to do so, a daytime drop box is available in SS110; a date stamp is provided for your use. A night drop box is also available for after-hours submission. Assignments will be removed the following morning, stamped with the previous day's date, and placed in the instructor's mailbox.

Registrar-scheduled Final Examination: NO 

Please note: If your class is held in the evening, the Registrar's Office will make every attempt to schedule the final exam during the evening; however, there is NO guarantee that the exam will NOT be scheduled during the day.

Policy for Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline may be penalized with the loss of a grade (e.g.: A- to B+) for each day late. 

Writing Skills Statement

Faculty policy directs that all written assignments (including, although to a lesser extent, written exam responses) will be assessed at least partly on writing skills. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Writing skills include not only surface correctness (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc) but also general clarity and organization. Research papers must be properly documented.

If you wish help with your writing at any stage, including drafts, you are invited to contact the Writing Centre, SS110, 220-7255. 

Grading System

The following grading system is used in the Faculty of Communication and Culture:

(Revised, effective September 2008)

 

	Grading Scale
A+	96-100
A	90-95.99
A -	85-89.99
B+	80-84.99
B	75-79.99
B-	70-74.99
C+	65-69.99
C	60-64.99
C-	55-59.99
D+	53-54.99
D	50-52.99
F	0-49

 

Where a grade on a particular assignment is expressed as a letter grade, it will normally be converted to a number using the midpoint of the scale.  That is, A- would be converted to 87.5 for calculation purposes.  F will be converted to zero.

Plagiarism

Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Consequences include failure on the assignment, failure in the course and possibly suspension or expulsion from the university.

You must document not only direct quotations but also paraphrases and ideas where they appear in your text. A reference list at the end is insufficient by itself. Readers must be able to tell exactly where your words and ideas end and other people's words and ideas begin. This includes assignments submitted in non-traditional formats such as Web pages or visual media, and material taken from such sources.

Please consult your instructor or the Writing Centre (SS110) if you have any questions regarding how to document sources.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, it is your responsibility to register with the Disability Resource Centre (220-8237) and discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of the course.

Students' Union

For details about the current Students' Union contacts for the Faculty of Communication and Culture see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info

"SAFEWALK" Program -- 220-5333

Campus Security will escort individuals day or night -- call 220-5333 for assistance. Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot booths.

Schedule of Lectures and Readings

To be handed out in class. Please, keep an eye on your Blackboard intra-web module for detailed information on this course.