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Cultural Heritage—Eight Credits

The dominant culture of the United States has its roots in the history and development of “Western culture” and its interplay with “non-Western” societies. For good or for ill, Western culture is now having an increasingly global impact.

Hope students, whether or not they see the dominant culture of the U.S. as “home turf,” benefit from knowing and critically reflecting upon the cultural heritage of Western civilization.

Whatever path a student chooses in meeting this requirement will provide an introduction to some of the central events, questions and concerns that have shaped Western culture. Students will gain an understanding of historical movements, as well as significant literary and philosophical texts. Through discussion and writing, students are encouraged to develop an informed evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the Western cultural legacy which will contribute greater self-understanding.

The overall idea of the Cultural Heritage requirement is to give you an introduction to three humanities disciplines (literature, history, philosophy) through just two courses, and in a way that includes both the ancient world (CH1) and the modern world (CH2).

The Cultural Heritage requirement may be fulfilled by taking IDS 171 and IDS 172, or by taking one of these interdisciplinary courses in combination with a Cultural Heritage course from English, History, or Philosophy. During fall 2008 there is also one interdisciplinary course that covers two disciplines: IDS 174, a CH2 course that includes only literature and history, can fulfill the requirement along with a CH1 course that includes philosophy (IDS 171, 175, or 177 or Philosophy 230).

Students may also fulfill the requirement with a combination of three single-discipline courses, one each from English, Philosophy, and History, two of which must be 4-credit CH1 and CH2 courses; the third may be a 4- or 2-credit course from the third discipline. For a complete list of options for fulfilling this requirement, see the college catalog under “Degree Program” (pp. 109-110). If you have questions, contact Prof. Curtis Gruenler, Director of Cultural Heritage.

 

COURSES OFFERED FOR SPRING 2009

INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSES COVERING LITERATURE, HISTORY, AND PHILOSOPHY

IDS 171-01: Power, Freedom, and Leadership (CH1)
James Allis
MWF 8:30-9:20


In the middle of a Presidential election, in challenging economic circumstances, in the midst of complex social difficulties and needs, we often hear conversations across the land expressing concerns about "leadership." Bookshelves in various stores are filled with books proclaiming to reveal the secrets and challenges of leadership. But what is leadership? Where does leadership come from? What might be some of the central dimensions of leadership? How might one begin to learn or develop leadership capacities? Such questions arise at the national and international levels; they also arise in the midst of our ordinary, daily lives in our families, our dorms, our churches and schools, our sports teams, our jobs, our volunteer activities, our social organizations. Questions about our freedom and our power, our hopes and our fears, and the need for leadership permeate our lives.

One way to begin to explore such concerns (rather than reading contemporary discussions of leadership, most of which are pretty vacuous, even those on the bestseller lists) is to investigate various works from the Western tradition. A number of the great works of the Western cultural heritage raise basic questions about human life and human struggles to figure out how we humans might try to live our lives. They investigate the possibilities and limitations of human freedom, human power, human responsibility, human justice, and in so doing, they give us some of the most thoughtful and interesting considerations of leadership we have. In this course, we will investigate life in ancient Athens under the leading figure of Pericles, and how Pericles contributes so significantly to the greatness of Athenian civilization. We will also consider the odd figure of Socrates, and how he offers profound challenges to Periclean leadership, challenges so disturbing that the Athenians eventually put Socrates to death. What is a good and flourishing life? How does one begin to live well and help others live well? Who is the true statesman, and what is genuine leadership? We will explore the Roman republic and its decline into civil war, the reigns of Julius and Augustus Caesar, and the model of leadership embodied in the figure of Aeneas in Virgil's Aeneid. How is power to be exercised? What are the duties of human life, and how are we to act when duties conflict with our ever present desires? What might be the roles of suffering in life? What are the demands of leadership? What are the limits of power and responsibility? We will then move to a study of Machiavelli and The Prince, and examine Machiavelli's challenge to classical conceptions of virtue, justice and power. We will then consider Shakespeare's contributions to this conversation about power and leadership through a reading of Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II, and Henry V. Can cruelty be well-used? Does one have to be cruel in order to exercise leadership? What makes for bad leadership? How might one learn to be a better leader? What are the costs of leadership?

In reading and exploring these works from the Western tradition, we will try to relate the material to national and international concerns of today, and perhaps more importantly, to the questions and concerns in each of our particular lives right now. What are your thoughts and feelings, questions and concerns about freedom and responsibility, right and wrong, power and leadership in your life, and how might your questions and concerns relate to the questions and concerns of the people and events we study? What are your specific hopes and fears about where you might wish to exercise leadership in your life and where you might not wish to exercise leadership? What together might we find out about ourselves, our worlds, and the possibilities and limitations in our efforts to figure out how we might live our lives?

 

IDS 171-02: The Middle Ages (CH1)
Curtis Gruenler
MWF 9:30-10:20

IDS 171-03: The Middle Ages (CH1)
Curtis Gruenler
MWF 11:00-11:50

During the thousand years between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance, the world as we know it today took shape through changes such as the rise of Christianity and Islam, the invention of romantic love, the formation of modern nations, and the interaction of Christian and classical thought. Yet even though this is such a formative time for our own culture, people saw the world much differently than we do. We will try to imagine medieval life and understand medieval thought through the lenses of history, literature, philosophy, and to a lesser extent theology, music, and art. Transporting ourselves to the past can give us a new perspective on the present and on big questions like what makes a good life, what it is to love, and how people can live together well in communities and nations. This will happen most powerfully through our encounter with great texts from this time such as Virgil's Aeneid, Augustine's Confessions, Boethuis's Consolation of Philosophy, philosophical works by Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas, the Lays of Marie de France, and above all Dante's Divine Comedy, which we will read almost in its entirety. Students will write several short papers, one longer essay, midterm and final exams, and a commonplace book.

 

IDS 171-04: Citizenship and the Good Life (CH1)
John Cox
MWF 11:00-11:50

"Citizenship and the Good Life" surveys history, literature, and philosophy from the ancient Greeks to the early Renaissance with two ideas as the focus: What does it mean to be a citizen? What does it mean to live a good life? Beginning with Greek tragedy, the course includes readings from Herodotus, Thucydides, Aeschylus, Plato, Aristotle, Lucretius, Epictetus, Virgil, Luke's Gospel, Augustine, Aquinas, Dante, and Thomas More.

 

IDS 171-05: Real Life and the Good Life, from Classical Times to Christian (CH1)
Joseph LaPorte
MWF 3:00-3:50

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DS 171-06: Real Life and the Good Life, from Classical Times to Christian (CH1)
Joseph LaPorte
MWF 4:00-4:50

In this course, we will be keeping our eyes on ethical questions, particularly those pertaining to sex and gender, power, and still more broadly, how to live well. The readings for this course are in large part classics, texts that have through the ages been regarded as masterpieces that transcend their own times, and that have something important to say to people of various times and cultures. We will be looking at literature, philosophy, and history as well as some theology and art; we will be covering these disciplines as they apply to classical Greece and Rome, and then as they apply into the middle ages and the Renaissance, where there is special emphasis on Florence. Because the course proceeds chronologically, we can see in a powerful way how later authors build on earlier ones. Something that particularly excites me about the course is the way it illustrates how Christianity, which became the dominant religion in the West, was born in a classical world and how Christians came to incorporate classical learning and culture from ancient Greece and Rome.

 

IDS 171-07: Freedom, Justice, and the Good Life (CH1)
Dianne Portfleet
TR 9:30-10:50

This course will focus on 4 specific time periods in history: 5th-century B.C. Greece, 1st-century Rome, beginnings of Islam and its expansion, and Dante's Florence. In each of the historical, philosophical and literary readings, we will be focusing on the themes of freedom, justice and the good life. The last half of the semester will be spent reading the Dante’s complete Divine Comedy and expanding on all of the ideas introduced in the earlier writings.

 

IDS 171-08: Twin Pillars of Western High Culture (CH1)
Gloria Tseng
TR 3:00-4:20

This course will examine the Western cultural heritage from three angles: examples of the Judeo-Christian religious tradition; examples of the Greco-Roman philosophical and literary traditions; and the historical development of the emergence of a geographical and cultural West. The first half of the semester will focus on the first two angles of the course, with assigned readings of primary texts from the Judeo-Christian and the Greco-Roman tradition. It will also provide a broad historical outline of the history of Mesopotamia, the ancient Greek city-states, and the Roman Republic and Empire. The second half of the semester will focus on the historical developments that went into the making of a geographical and cultural West from the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance. We will examine the twin historical developments of the institution of the Church and the institution of the national monarchy, and the primary texts assigned for this portion of the course will reflect the twin concerns regarding the relationship between the temporal and the spiritual on the one hand and that between the Christian and the pagan on the other.

 

IDS 172-01: From Reformation to Revolution (CH2)
Janis Gibbs
MWF 11:00-11:50

Imagine an age of religious commitment, violent warfare, political change, literary innovation, and philosophical revolution. How would you know what to believe when everywhere the winds of change were blowing? How would new ideas and new technologies affect your life? This course begins in the late fifteenth century, as scholars and thinkers all over Europe challenged old ways of knowing and thinking. We will study works of literature, history and philosophy from the European renaissance, through the religious reformations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, to the intellectual and political revolutions of the eighteenth century. We will talk about great books and great ideas in literature, history and philosophy, and we will think and write about the influence of these books and ideas on the lives of ordinary people. The period between the late fifteenth century and the late eighteenth century is called "early modern," and in it, we find the roots of many of the characteristics of the world we recognize today. We may also find some things that, to our eyes, look decidedly strange. This course concentrates on the European cultural heritage, but since no part of the world exists in isolation from the rest, we will consider Europe in a world context.

IDS 172-02: Revolutions: Inside and Out (CH2)
Jack Mulder
MWF 1:00-1:50

IDS 172-03: Revolutions: Inside and Out (CH2)
Jack Mulder
MWF 2:00-2:50

In this course, we will begin by considering three major revolutions that occurred at the dawn of the modern period. We will consider Galileo and the Scientific Revolution, Luther and the Protestant Reformation, and Descartes and the Modern Philosophical Revolution. This spirit of revolution often brought about a renewed emphasis on the individual, but it also had profound implications for how to understand our place in the world. Consider, as we will, Voltaire's satire of many traditional Christian beliefs, Kant's attempt to derive morality from a non-religious foundation, or the French Revolution's bloody conclusion. What happens to us when our culture "comes of age"?

IDS 172-04: Authority and the Individual (CH2)
Marla Lunderberg
TR 9:30-10:50

IDS 172-05: Authority and the Individual (CH2)
Marla Lunderberg
TR 12:00-1:20

How do you define yourself as an individual? And how do you relate to the many different authorities in your life? When someone (parent, spiritual leader, government authority or dorm resident director) lays down a rule, do you respond positively? Break it as a matter of principle? Toe the line but grumble? Do you react differently to different kinds of authority? When two kinds of authority conflict, how do you respond?

In this course, we will examine how others have seen their relationships to the many authorities in their lives. We’ll cover a great range of time and a great variety of kinds of thinking, from Luther’s distinctions between spiritual and secular authorities, to Shakespeare’s exploring the power held by colonial authorities, to Frederick Douglass deploring the authority of slaveholders. We’ll cover texts from the 16th century to the present, from literature, history, and philosophy. We will consider texts as they relate to their particular moment in history and as they relate to each other.

Perhaps you’ll see yourself in some of these thinkers. Perhaps you won’t. Yet whether you agree or disagree with them, digesting what they have said can allow you to examine closely what you think.

 

INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSES COVERING LITERATURE AND HISTORY

IDS 174-01: Reading and Writing the New World (CH2, CD4)
Jonathan Hagood
MWF 9:30-10:20

IDS 174-02: Reading and Writing the New World (CH2, CD4)
Jonathan Hagood
MWF 9:30-10:20

Narrative story-telling is one of the important modes of writing both literature and history. This course will focus on narratives written about and read within the Iberian Atlantic World – a new world created by the European discovery of the Americas in 1492. We begin with the historical narrative of the Spanish Empire, which from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries discovered, conquered, or ruled large expanses of Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The readings that follow this introduction include: the travel narratives of the Spanish, Portuguese, and other European explorers and conquerors; the sacred narratives written by Jesuit missionaries in sixteenth-century Mexico; and the early natural histories of the New World. In addition, the course concludes by reading Don Quixote, the seventeenth-century Spanish novel that in the narrative of the protagonist embodies one perspective on the rise and decline of the Spanish Empire. Through these readings and related writing assignments, we will examine the components of narrative structures and assess their value as literary and historical texts.

 

IDS 174-03: Indigenous: Native American Literature and History in (What Came to Be Called) North America (CH2, CD4)
Jesus Montano
MW 6:00-7:20

Chronologically our course begins at the height of the Aztec Empire and proceeds through the colonial period, the ages of nation building and manifest destiny, and finally ends in the Now. In order to avoid the pitfalls of a straight linear chronology, however, our route will begin in modern Mexico with the Zapatista and other indigenous movements. We will proceed back into history, going through the nationalism and colonial periods all the way back to the eve of the Conquest in Mexico. At this point we will venture across the Border, and while staying in the past, we will explore Native American creation stories and the various ways in which people made sense of their relationships to each other, to the world, and to the divine. We will continue on this road, traveling from the early period of contact with Europeans toward the US colonial period and then to the era of expansion and Manifest Destiny. Our course will end by examining modern Native American authors who look back toward the past as a way of discussing modern US issues. The goal of our travels is to understand our cultural inheritance, sometimes through the lens of Western European thought and culture but most time in juxtaposition to it, through the disciplines of history and literature. We will look carefully at governmental treaties and historical events, as well as the thoughts and ideas governing both inter-cultural and intra-cultural dialogue.

 

INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSES COVERING LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY

IDS 175-01: Homer's Iliad and Odyssey (CH1)
James Allis
TR 12:00-1:20

With Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, we are presented with two of the great metaphors of life, a battle and a journey. In this class, we will read, in translation, these two epic poems which are sometimes said to have “fed” the Western imagination more than any other works in the last 2700 years.

We will begin the course reading the Iliad. The poem has sometimes been described as the greatest war story of all time. Plutarch tells us that Aristotle's pupil Alexander kept the book "with his dagger under his pillow, declaring that he esteemed it a perfect portable treasure of all military virtue and knowledge." Yet while military commanders throughout history have studied this poem of the Trojan War to avoid Agamemnon's errors and to follow Odysseus' tactics, the poem is vastly more than a "war story." With extraordinary rhythms of language and unparalleled metaphors, Homer vividly gives us a “poem of the human condition.” We will explore Achilles’ shame, rage, and withdrawal from human interactions, a culture of honor and glory, the human confrontation with mortality, the relationships between gods and humans, the meaning of courage, the strength of fate and the possibilities for human freedom, the desire for justice and vengeance, the need to keep fighting in the face of certain defeat, acts of friendship, loyalty, and generosity, the heroism of Hector, the complexity and sorrows of war along with the longings for tranquility and peace, the tragedy of Troy, the sorrow of loss, Achilles’ return to battle, the losing and regaining of humanity.

Then we will turn to the story of Odysseus’ ten year journey home from the Trojan War in the Odyssey. Here, too, we find much more than a “story of a journey,” though part of the excitement of the work is the wonderful presentation of Odysseus’ adventures and trials. We’ll investigate the meaning of home and the longing for home, the importance of hospitality in an often inhospitable world, the temptation to find release in death and the strength to resist that temptation, relations between women and men, husbands and wives, parents and children, again the relations between gods and humans and the role of fate, the significance of truth, lies, and deception in pursuing one’s goals, the reunion of Odysseus and Penelope and Odysseus’ killing of the suitors to regain his home. Throughout the story, we will see Odysseus’ continuing struggles to move ultimately from chaos to order.

All are welcome; no background in Greek language or culture is presupposed. The only prerequisite is a certain willingness to explore how it is that in a language we no longer know exactly how to pronounce, this poet Homer, from a world of which we have but the vaguest ideas, incredibly and wonderfully found a way to give us these stories of our human lives, containing, as one recent commentator has put it, “every secret happiness and every hidden sin."

 

PHILOSOPHY COURSES

Philosophy 230-01: Ancient Philosophy (CH1)
Mark Jensen
TR 12:00-1:20

Philosophy 230-02: Ancient Philosophy (CH1)
Mark Jensen
TR 1:30-2:50

This course is an introduction to philosophy through the eyes of the ancient Greek philosophers—a group of thinkers prior to the 2nd Century B.C. whose work marks the beginning of Western Civilization. These were intensely creative times: the thinkers in question founded the first universities, wrote the first scientific textbooks, and helped establish the first democracies. Their philosophical and scientific work challenged a culture steeped in pantheistic social and religious tradition.

Our investigation will track their work from its earliest beginnings in the pre-Socratics through Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and their legacies in the Academic, Peripatetic, Epicurean, and Stoic schools. Central questions we'll consider include: "What is the fundamental nature of reality?", "What is knowledge and what are its limits?", "What is happiness?", and "What is justice?" Students should expect manageable reading, lots of writing, lively discussion, and a couple of exams.

 

Philosophy 232-01: Modern Philosophy (CH2)
Mark Jensen
TR 9:30-10:50

This course is an introduction to philosophy through eyes of the modern philosophers—a group of European men and women writing in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. These were revolutionary times: old models of the universe, medieval accounts of faith, and traditional justifications for morality were all under attack. While the modern philosophers were among the attackers, they did not aim to destroy. They wanted to preserve the contents of tradition (e.g. belief that God exists) but establish these contents on a secure foundation (e.g., reason instead of authority). It remains an open question whether or not they were successful.

Our investigation will attempt to track their success (or lack thereof) with respect to two questions: "What do I know?" and "Why should I be moral?" Modern philosophers of special interest include Rene Descartes, John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Reid, John Stuart Mill, and Jane Austen. Students should expect manageable reading, lots of writing, lively discussion, a couple of films, and a couple of exams.

 

HISTORY COURSES

History 130-01: Introduction to Ancient Civilization (CH1)
Albert Bell
MWF 12:00-12:50

History 130-02: Introduction to Ancient Civilization (CH1)
Albert Bell
MWF 2:00-2:50

The course will focus on significant developments in history from its Greek origins through the Renaissance.

 

History 131-01: Introduction to Modern European History (CH2)
Marc Baer
MWF 11:00-11:50

This course will focus on significant developments in modern European history from the Renaissance to our own time.

 

History 131-02: Introduction to Modern European History (CH2)
Fred Johnson
TR 9:30-10:50

This course will focus on significant developments in modern European history from the Renaissance to our own time.

 

History 208-01: World Civilizations II: 1500-Present (CH2, CD4)
Tamba M'bayo
TR 9:30-10:50

History 208-02: World Civilizations II: 1500-Present (CH2, CD4)
Tamba M'bayo
TR 12:00-1:20

This history course will consider the development of civilizations since 1500 in a world context. Geographically, the course will include case studies from Africa, Asia and South America, as well as North America and Europe. Themes may include empires, revolutions, industrialization, nationalism, religion, society, warfare, and the development of political institutions. History education students are particularly encouraged to consider this course, since the State of Michigan encourages preparation in world history. All students are welcome to enroll in this new Cultural Heritage offering.

 

ENGLISH COURSES

English 231-01: Literature of the Western World I (CH1)
Barbara Mezeske, Instructor
TR 8:00-9:20

Do you like to read? Are you interested in the literary works that both shape and reflect the values of Western culture? Do you like classes that are a mix of discussion and lecture? Are you intrigued by the possibility of choosing whether the professor evaluates you by the tests you take, or by the writing you do?

If the answer to ANY of these questions is “yes,” then consider this course. We will look at three broad time periods (the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans, Europe in the Middle Ages, and the European Renaissance), about twenty-five authors (give or take), and a wide range of epic poems, plays, and poetry. Marvel at the evolution of the epic poem from Homer to Dante, grow sad over the inevitable fates of tragic heroes like Oedipus and Roland, laugh at the bawdy tales of Chaucer, ponder the limits of human reason and the limitations of gender. This course is writing-flagged in the core, so you can expect to write about 10 pages of finished prose, or more if you choose the writing options.

 

English 231-02: Literature of the Western World I (CH1)
Kathleen Verduin, Instructor
MWF 9:30-10:20

The standard path of the mythological adventure of the hero is a magnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage: separation—initiation—return: which might be named the nuclear unit of the monomyth. A hero ventures forth from the realm of common day into a region of supernatural wonder; fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won; the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1948)

English 231 is a course in the classics: the texts that form the foundation of western—that is, European—literature from the beginnings of written history to about 1600. From Gilgamesh and Homer (the ancient world) through Dante’s Inferno and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (the Middle Ages) to Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus and the plays of the Mexican nun Sor Juana (the Renaissance), we will trace the development of literary expression, learn to surmount its difficulties, and recognize its continuing presence in the way that even we perceive our world and ourselves. Obviously it’s impossible to cover so many centuries with anything like thoroughness, but we make a valiant effort to investigate works either artistically superior or most representative of the culture that produced them. While the contentious climate of postmodern opinion now challenges the whole concept of “the classics,” most students who give these texts a careful reading come to confirm their value as embodiments and transmitters of all that is best in our tradition. To give a thread of continuity to this wide-ranging foray into the literature of the past, we will follow the recurrent themes of nature versus culture, male versus female, and action versus contemplation, and we will confront in particular the mighty archetype, persistent from Gilgamesh to Superman, of the hero’s journey. What gets these heroes going? What do they seek? How do their journeys lead them into the strangest of all regions, the human mind? And can their journeys tell us something, even at the distance of centuries, about the journeys we ourselves must undertake? These are some of the questions that will concern us this semester.

 

English 232-01: Literature of the Western World II (CH2)
Ernest Cole
TR 1:30-2:50


The objectives of this version of World Lit II are: to read, with care, several of the many important literary texts of the Neoclassical, Romantic, Realist, and Modern eras in the western world; to discover and appreciate aspects of the developing literary art; and to understand how such texts reflect the ideas and values of their eras and likewise have contributed to our own.