Freshman Seminars Fall 2000
SECTOR I: SOCIETY
African Worlds
Sandra Barnes, Professor of Anthropology
This course concentrates on popular culture in sub-Saharan Africa. It
examines the way people reflect on and represent various aspects and
issues in their daily lives, in public media and through a diverse range
of performative and creative outlets. It explores the way cultural traditions
are created, promulgated and perpetuated. It looks at the way popular
culture deals with pleasure and pain; identity, difference and diversity;
wealth and power; modernity and history; gender relations; suppression,
resistance and violence; and local versus global processes. In short,
popular culture will serve as a window through which to observe contemporary
life. (Distribution)
ANTH 018.401 or AFST 018.401, Tuesday, 1:30 - 4:3
lndia: Ancient and Modern
Gregory Possehl, Professor of Anthropology
This course is intended to be an introduction to the anthropological
study of South Asia. It will cover archaeology, physical anthropology,
cultural anthropology and linguistics, along with excursions into geography,
the Indian census and gazetteers. A second focus of the class will be
an investigation of the origins of the caste system. Each student will
be expected to complete a significant research paper related to the
class, along with one class presentation. This is a WATU course and
one of the class meetings each week will be devoted to writing. The
grade for the course will be based upon the instructor's evaluation
of each of these exercises. (Distribution)
ANTH 024.401 or SARS 024.401, Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 10:00-
ll:00
Sex and Gender in Ancient Greek Culture
Sheila Murnaghan, Associate Professor of Classical Studies
An interdisciplinary study of ancient Greek attitudes to gender as reflected
in the legal, social and religious roles of women; conceptions of the
family and its place in the city; biological and evolutionary speculation
about sexual difference; the representation of sexuality and gender
relations in mythology, lyric poetry and drama. (Distribution)
CLST 121.401 or WSTD 120.401, Tuesday Thursday, 10:30- 12:OO
Identity, Intimacy, Maturity
Vivian C. Seltzer, Professor of Human Development and Behavior
Psychological development is ongoing throughout life. Specific age periods
are defined as critical periods of development when psychological identity
is either resolved or remains unfulfilled as a result of premature closure
or identity diffusion. Identity, intimacy and maturity are related concepts,
independent but intertwined. A full identity reinforces psychological
readiness for intimacy (which may or may not be accompanied by physical
intimacy). Possession of identity and the ability it brings to engage
in intimate relations profoundly affects attainment of psychosocial
maturity.
This course examines both the process and content of critical areas
of psychosocial functioning. Both the idiosyncratic nature and the interrelated
dimensions of each of the three periods are examined as are definitions,
positive and/or negative contributing forces, manifestations, irregularities
and so forth.
Readings introduce the theoretical framework that underpins the three
core concepts. Class seminars present their theoretical linkages and
raise further issues; class projects and assignments allow for pragmatic
analyses. (Distribution)
FRSM 104.301, Tuesday, 1:00—4:00
Dilemmas in International Development
Richard Estes, Professor, School of Social Work
Students will be exposed to the interplay of international forces that
inhibit the progress of developing nations and can actually add to their
maldevelopment. Students will undertake an original piece of research
on an international development topic of special interest to them. They
will also be invited to meet with prominent professionals in the international
development community. (Distribution)
FRSM 106.301, Wednesday, 2:00—5:00
Person As Patient
Elsa Ramsden, Associate University Professor
This seminar focuses on the resources an individual brings to the experience
of being a patient; cultural background, belief system, age and life
experience all play important roles. Discussion, readings, case study
analyses and experience-based learning, design characterize the time
spent together. (Distribution)
FRSM 108.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 3:00-4:30
Integrity
Joan Goodman, Professor of Elementary Education and
Howard Lesnick, Professor of Law
The concept of integrity as a moral value has been aptly called both
fundamental and elusive. Drawing on readings from literature, philosophy
and the social sciences, this course will examine the meaning of integrity
and the reasons underlying its centrality and elusiveness. We will also
consider the ways in which it may come to play a defining role in decision-making,
both in our personal lives as students, teachers and citizens and in
the ethics of such professions as business, education, law and medicine.
(Distribution)
FRSM 128.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 10:30-12:00
Terrorism
Stephen Gale, Associate Professor of Political Science
This course is designed to stimulate an interest in the philosophy and
methods of terrorism; to illustrate the varieties of conditions under
which methods of terrorism are used; to outline the institutional conditions
that permit and support the use of terrorism; and to understand the
problems involved in "solving" the terrorism dilemma. (Distribution)
PSCI 009.301, Tuesday, 3:00—6:00
Race and Ethnicity
Jerome Maddox, Assistant Professor of Political Science
The seminar will examine a variety of topics in the study of American
politics through the prism of race and ethnicity. The course will consider
how minority status affects the participation and representation of
various groups in American society. In addition, the course will examine
how considerations of race and ethnicity influence the development and
implementation public policy, including social policy and immigration
policy. An underlying theme is the tension between class and race and
the implications for public policy. (Distribution)
PSCI 009.302, Wednesday 2:00—5:00
Debating the Cuban Revolution
Jono Resende-Santos, Visiting Professor of Political Science
No other single historical event has had as deep an impact on affairs
in the Western Hemisphere as the Cuban Revolution. Indeed, for a tiny
island nation no bigger than the state of Pennsylvania, Cuba and the
Cuban Revolution have had a disproportionate influence on United States
foreign policy, on relations between the U.S. and its Latin American
neighbors, but also on world affairs. It is no exaggeration to say that
the closest human civilization has come to nuclear annihilation was
the October 196Z stand-off between the US and the Soviet Union over
the future of the Cuban Revolution. The 1959 Cuban Revolution proved
deeply divisive both inside and outside Cuba. As the recent unfortunate
custody battle over the six-year-old boy in Miami illustrates, the Revolution
continues today to trigger emotionally charged, heated debates over
its meaning and nature. In this seminar we will examine the debate and
conflicting interpretations regarding the origins, character, policies,
legitimacy and future of the Cuban Revolution. We will do so from a
variety of perspectives—from an academic as well as the personal
standpoint, political as well as economic and sociological. One of the
main goals of the seminar is to sharpen your analytic and writing skills,
and heavy emphasis will be placed on seminar discussions and presentations.
(Distribution)
PSCI 009.303, Tuesday 1:30—4:30
Constitution Making
William Harris, Associate Professor of Political Science
This is a seminar in constitutional theory that will focus on the problems
of creating or restructuring a political order by writing and adopting
the design of that order in a set of words contained within a text.
The course will have a large component of political and interpretive
theory, as well as American political thought. There may be some materials
from other constitutional systems besides the United States. However,
the course is primarily a way of looking analytically at the founding
of the American Constitution by considering how a new constitution would
be written, argued for and ratified more than 200 years later—then
questioning the nature of its authority. After more than two centuries
of experience in interpreting the existing constitutional document,
how might a constitution-maker draft a new one to take into account
the problems that we have discovered?
Requirement: Extensive reading and active scholarly discussion; one
short analytical paper, one medium-length paper; and a final essay examination.
This is a General Honors course; however, half of the seats are reserved
for students who are not in the General Honors program. (Distribution
l: Society)
PSCI 187.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 3:00—4:30
Male-Female Communications, East and West
Franklin Southworth, Professor of South Asian Studies
Every individual has a unique way of speaking. Some of our differences
in speech style are individual, while others are affected by our gender,
our upbringing, ethnic group membership, place of origin, socio-economic
class, age or other factors. These differences can enrich, and sometimes
complicate, our verbal Interactions.
This course looks at these differences in a cross-culturally oriented
framework which emphasizes the social context of face-to-face communication,
both verbal and nonverbal. We will be concerned with communication in
male groups, in female groups, and in mixed groups, in our own society
and in others. We will look at aspects of social behavior that correlate
with communicative differences. We will seek explanations of communicative
differences in terms of the socialization process and the different
social roles that we play as men or women, and as members of different
social groupings.
Apart from learning about interactions between language and social life
in our own and other societies, the course is designed to enhance observational
skills and to encourage an analytical approach to the study of verbal
and nonverbal communication. One weekly two-hour session will be devoted
primarily to discussion of the readings (which include writings by linguists,
anthropologists and sociologists, social and educational psychologists,
political scientists and others) with minimal lecturing. A second one-hour
session will be used for observation and practice, including simulated
interactions and films. In all of our discussions, we will attempt to
bridge the cultural experiences of North Americans and those of members
of other societies (particularly South Asians).
The first eight weeks of the course will acquaint students with the
main assumptions made about this subject by works in a number of different
disciplines. The remaining time will be spent on individual research
projects, including discussion of individual readings. The papers and
projects will involve both library research and observational research.
Papers: Four short (2-page) papers on specified subjects and one final
paper on individual work. Regular attendance and participation in discussion
are expected. (General Requirement)
SARS 013.401 or WSTD 013.401, Wednesday, 2:00—5:00
Media in American Society
Diana Crane-Herve, Professor of Sociology
This course will examine the role of television, newspapers, film and
advertising in American society. We will analyze the impact of the media
on social and political institutions and on the American public, factors
affecting the selection and interpretation of news for broadcast and
publication, and the economic and ideological connections between broadcast
and print media and advertising. (Distribution)
SOCI 041.301, Monday & Wednesday, 3:00—4:30
War and Peace: Theories of the Causes and Prevention of War
William Evan, Professor of Sociology
Seven theories of the causes of war will be tested by case analyses
of well-documented wars through history—from the Peloponnesian
Wars to the Yugoslav War. The concluding session of the course deals
with five theories and strategies for the prevention of war. (Distribution)
SOCI 05:2.301, Wednesday, 2:00—5:00
Homelessness and The Urban Crisis
June Averyt, Lecturer in Urban Studies
This seminar in Urban Studies introduces students to many of the major
social issues confronting our nations cities by focusing specifically
on the problem of urban homelessness. The course examines the treatment
of homelessness and extreme impoverishment as social problems historically,
as well as through contemporary debates. Several areas of intensive
study will include: the low-income housing crisis, welfare reform and
income maintenance strategies, health care issues, and urban/suburban
relationships. Particular attention is also paid to the structure of
emergency services for people who have housing emergencies. The course
concludes by examining current policies and advocacy strategies. (Distribution)
URBS 100.301, Wednesday, 5:00—8:00
Sector II: History and Tradition
Jewish Law and Ethics
Barry Eichler, Associate Professor of Assyrian
An introduction to the literary and legal sources of Jewish law within
an historical framework. Emphasis will be placed upon the development
and dynamics of Jewish jurisprudence and the relationship between Jewish
law and social ethics. (Distribution)
AMES 152/401or JWST l52.401, Tuesday & Thursday, 9:00—10:30
Native Peoples and the Environment
Clark Erickson, Associate Professor of Anthropology
The relationship between the activities of native peoples and the environment
is a complex and contentious issue. One perspective argues that native
peoples had little impact on the environments because of their low population
densities, limited technology, and conservation ethic and worldview.
At the other extreme, biodiversity, and Nature itself, is considered
the product of a long history of human activities. This seminar will
examine the Myth of the Ecologically Noble Savage, the Myth of the Pristine
Environment, the alliance between native peoples and Green Politics,
and the contribution of native peoples to appropriate technology, sustainable
development and conservation of biodiversity. (Distribution)
ANTH 133.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 12:00—1:30
Germany and the Holocaust
Frank Trommler, Professor of German
We know much about the Holocaust. Countless document collections, memoirs
and testimonies have shed light on the worst chapter of 20th century
history. Less is known about how Germans dealt with this cataclysm since
1945. How have writers, politicians and teachers, young and old people,
perpetrators and bystanders, East and West Germans reacted to this event
which is still haunting this country? Every decade seems to bring a
new widely discussed encounter with the past; in the 19905 it is the
debate about a Holocaust memorial to be built in Berlin, the capital
of a newly united Germany. This seminar will illuminate the developments
since 1945 with special emphasis on literature that has been a catalyst
for inquiries into memory and guilt. Readings of Peter Weiss, Jureck
Becker, Max Frisch, Bernhard Schlink and a host of young Jewish writers,
together with discussions of policies and political texts and visual
documentaries, will be the basis for a thorough introduction to an important
chapter of our time. (Distribution)
GRMN 004.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 12:00—1:30
Heresy, Dissent and Inquisition
Paul Mosher, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries
Heresy—at once the horror of the Middle Ages in the West and one
of its shaping movements—has been a preoccupation of thinkers since
Socrates drank his hemlock. In this seminar we will study and discuss
selected original sources in translation which treat the origins and
development of popular heresies in Western Europe, the heretics and
their beliefs, the Inquisition and other efforts to repress them, and
the impact of religious dissent and repression on the evolution of church,
state and modern society. The basis of the course grade will be discussion
and short papers based on source readings. This seminar will be taught
in the private Penn library of Henry Charles Lea, the greatest 19th
century scholar of the Medieval Inquisition. (Distribution)
HIST 101.301, Wednesday, 3:00-6:00
The Year 100: The End of the World
Edward Peters, Professor of History
The course will treat three related historical topics: the history and
significance of the dating system that made such terms as "YZK"
possible—and troublesome; the culture of Europe around the year
1000 and Europeans' solution to what might be called the "YIK"
(or to be precise, what they would have called "YM") problem;
and the ongoing concerns with millennarianism (as the scenario of the
Last Days, the arrival of Antichrist and the Second Coming) through
the later Middle Ages into the reformations of the 16th century. Where
possible we will base our research on original source materials in translation
as well as the best available recent scholarship. One of our concerns
will be to rethink the traditions of millennarianism in the light of
current concerns in many areas of modern culture. The course will range
across historical sources proper as well as materials from literature,
anthropology, art history and religious studies. (Distribution)
HIST 101.302, Tuesday, 1:30 - 4:30
Representing Violence in the Medieval Period
Daniel Baraz, Mellon Fellow in History
Violence was represented in the Middle Ages in many ways. It could be
reported briefly or in all its gory detail, with or without authorial
comment, and with or without emotion. The author's attitude was sometimes
expressed explicitly, sometimes implicitly, and sometimes ambiguously.
The events themselves were at times described factually, while in other
instances the narration is affective or even sentimental.
The stylistic choices related to these variations are not random but
come and go with differences in period, literary genre, and most importantly,
the function of the narration. The course will examine these issues
and the social and political implications of style in the representation
of violence in different types of medieval sources: chronicles, hagiography,
literature and iconographic sources. Reference will be made to relevant
disciplines of the social sciences, such as sociology and social psychology.
(Distribution)
HIST 101.303, Thursday, 1:30- 4:30
Literature of Dissent
Benjamin Nathans, Assistant Professor of History
Can the pen really be mightier than the sword? What kind of people dare
to speak truth to power, and what arguments and values do they employ?
In this seminar we will study some of the classic literature of dissent,
including biblical prophecy, ancient Greek critiques of popular rule,
the Protestant Reformation, the revolutionary Enlightenment and the
dissident movements of our own century in Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union
and contemporary China. Across this spectrum we will be concerned with
the intellectual strategies of resistance to systems of power perceived
as illegitimate or unjust, and the power of the word in political and
public life. By analyzing how the desire for fundamental change has
been articulated in a variety of historical contexts, we will sharpen
our skills in critical reading and group discussion. Students will also
write several short papers on selected primary sources. (Distribution)
HIST 102.301, Tuesday, 2:00-5:00
Human Nature and History
Michael Zuckerman, Professor of History
A consideration of the nature of man, with primary emphasis on the question
of history: Is human nature best understood as constant or contingent,
stable or changeful with time and circumstance? (Distribution)
HIST 104.301, Wednesday, 2:00-5:00
Decade of the Sixties: Watershed or Aberration
Sheldon Hackney, Professor of History
This seminar will examine the history of the i960s with special attention
to the social protest movements and the challenges to the traditional
values that marked the period. For our purpose, the Sixties extend from
the Brown decision in 1954 to Watergate twenty years later. (Distribution)
HIST 104.302, Thursday, 2:00-5:00
Rise and Fall of the British Empire
Lynn Lees, Professor of History
How and why did a small set of islands off the western coast of Europe
come to dominate much of North America, the Caribbean, Africa, and South
and Southeast Asia between 1700 and 1940? Why did Britain's control
of its colonies collapse so fast between 1945 and 1970? What was the
impact of empire on the colonized? The seminar will examine case studies
of and explanations for empire. Films, primary sources and fiction will
be used to analyze attitudes toward empire. Each student will write
a paper on some aspect of decolonization or colonial nationalism in
an area of his or her choice. (Distribution)
HIST 106.301, Wednesday, 2:00-5:00
Unveiling Women's Lives: Women in the Middle East and North Africa
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Assistant Professor of History
This course offers a comparative perspective on the lives of women in
non-Western societies, primarily in Asia and Africa. It combines historical
accounts with select fictional works to study women's social and cultural
milieu under colonialism as well as the evolution of women's roles in
politics and society with the emergence of independent nation-states
in the Middle East and North Africa. By crossing national boundaries,
this course highlights the diversity of women's experiences in the public
and private spheres. (Distribution)
HIST 106.302, Monday, 2:00-5:00
Divided Korea: 1945-Present
Milan Hejtmanek, Assistant Professor of History
This course is designed to illuminate the complex and turbulent histories
of North and South Korea over the past half century. Korea had been
a unified state for over a millennium; yet within a few short years
after being arbitrarily partitioned at the end of World War II it became
embroiled in one of the bloodiest and most violent conflicts of the
20th century, leading to a tense standoff that continues to the present.
Topics treated will include the cultural divide between the two regions
inherited from the 19th century and the Japanese colonial period; the
impact of the Cold War on Korea; the Korean War and its legacy; the
rule of Kim II Sung in the north and Syngman Rhee, Park Chung Hee, and
Chun Du Hwan in the south; and movement toward unification since the
end of the Cold War. In addition to reading a wide variety of written
primary sources, we will hear from participants in the Korean War and
view television documentaries and feature films treating the North-South
split. (Distribution)
HIST 106.303, Tuesday, 2:00-5:00
Utopian Thought 1800-Present
Michael Ryan, Adjunct Assistant Professor of History
In the wake of the 18th century Enlightenment and the French Revolution,
utopia became an urgent concern of European and American intellectuals,
prophets, clerics and social engineers. If the 19th century was the
high-water mark of utopian programs and projects, the utopian impulse
survived well into the 20th century, despite the horror of two global
wars of unprecedented violence and destruction and of the Holocaust.
Although many cultural observers today lament the passing of the utopian
tradition ("we cannot dream of the best any longer"), it does
survive among small communities, religious sects, sundry intellectuals,
architects and others. The course will consider some of the major figures
in the modern utopian tradition, from the Comte de Saint-Simon, Richard
Godwin, and the Marquis de Sade, through Marx and his socialist competitors
to artists and architects such as William Morris and Le Corbusier, academics
such as B. E Skinner, and cultural nationalists such as Martin Buber.
It is an eclectic but fascinating menagerie of individuals and traditions
linked only by the common thread of "keeping the dream alive."
Freshman General Honors course. Non-honors students need permission.
(Distribution)
HIST 112.301, Wednesday, 2:00-5:00
Bilingualism in History
Gillian Sankoff, Professor of Linguistics
This course takes a historical approach to tracing (and reconstructing)
the nature of language contacts and bilingualism, over the course of
human history. Contacts between groups of people speaking different
languages are documented from earliest records, motivated by trade,
migration, conquest and intermarriage. At the same time, differences
in socio-historical context have created different kinds of linguistic
outcomes. Some languages have been completely lost; new languages have
been created. In still other cases, the nature and structure of language
has been radically altered. We will review the reasons for and nature
of bilingualism in situations ranging from the nomadic or horticultural
societies of the Amazonian region, of southern Africa, or of precolonial
Australia and New Guinea; to the languages of intercommunication along
the great trade routes of antiquity; to the genesis of pidgin and creole
languages in the plantation societies of the 16th-lgth centuries; to
the imposition of new languages by colonial governments; to the assimilation
of immigrants in modern industrial societies.
The course will introduce the basics of linguistic structure through
a discussion of which aspects of language have proved to be relatively
stable, and which are readily altered, under conditions of bilingualism.
Languages may readily borrow words from each other, but do they maintain
their structural integrity? Do bilinguals keep their languages apart?
Are "mixed language" a reality, or simply a way of stigmatizing
the way bilinguals sometimes speak? The first month of the semester
will be devoted to reading and discussing a wide variety of contact
situations. Then students (working individually or with a self-selected
partner) will choose a particular place and time to focus on, writing
one paper on the social aspects of contact and one paper on the influences
the languages have had on each other. (Distribution)
LING 054.301, Tuesday & Thursday,12:00-1:30
Introduction to the Problems of Philosophy
Staff
This seminar is designed for students who are approaching philosophy
for the first time. We will examine central philosophical problems from
topics such as the existence of God, the mind-body problem, free will,
theory of knowledge, ethics and the scientific method. Three alternative
sections are offered. (General Requirement)
PHIL 001.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 9:00-10:30
PHIL 001.302, Tuesday & Thursday, 10:30 - 12:30
PHIL 001.303, Tuesday & Thursday, 1:30-3:00
SECTOR 111: ARTS AND LETTERS
Lords of the Nile
Josef Wegner, Assistant Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
In this course we will examine the ways in which one of the worlds most
ancient and longest lasting civilizations was governed. Egypt is renowned
for the ubiquitous images of its Pharaohs: divine kings who ruled Egypt
under the divine sanction of the gods. The king was only the top of
a vast pyramid of powerful officials that included viziers, treasurers,
military leaders, local governors, town mayors and scribes. The course
aims to investigate the ways in which the rulership of Egypt worked:
from the highest levels of royal power down to the running of towns
and villages. (Distribution)
AMES 066.301, Monday &Wednesday, 3:00-4:30
Journeys in Arabic Narrative
Roger Allen, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
An investigation of journeys, real and metaphorical, as portrayed in
Arabic literary texts. All readings are in English, and no cultural
background is required. (Distribution)
AMES 038.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 3:00-4:30
Medicine, Literature and Culture: Japan
William R .LaFleur, Professor of Japanese Studies
This seminar is in many ways an exercise in comparison—by looking
at how the practice of medicine in Japan differs from that in America.
Japan, where people enjoy good health and live very long lives, not
only combines "Western" with "Eastern" medical practices
but also is a place where questions of medical ethics and biotechnology
are often faced differently than they are in America. The fact that
in modern times many Japanese writers had medical educations makes Japanese
literature, studied here in translation, a rich context for exploring
a wide range of such questions. Film too will be a tool for our studies.
A comparative look at how we might think about the body, the mind, and
healing or dying processes will be the central focus of this seminar.
(Distribution)
AMES 197.301, Tuesday, 2:00-5:00
Music and Culture
David Samuels, Mellon Fellow in Anthropology
The purpose of this class is to introduce students to some of the major
themes and issues surrounding the relationship between musical expression
and human social life. The course is not designed as a complete introduction
to the world's musics. Instead, we will concentrate on a selection of
musical and expressive styles in order to discuss the socially and culturally
organized life of sound, aesthetics and performance. Among the broad
questions to be addressed during the semester will be: How does music
express social identity, value and difference? Are musics endangered
when people are? Or when environments are? When and how is music-making
affirming and empowering? Can musical expression participate in the
destruction as well as the production of social life?
The class focuses on contemporary questions of musical expression in
a time of massive cultural upheaval, displacement and globalization.
It can be argued, of course, that the human social world has always
been a place of constant change. But today it is changing at a rate
and in ways unprecedented at any time in the past. It would thus be
a disservice to treat this class as an introduction to the unchanged
and unchanging musical "traditions" of the world. While tradition,
and the moral authority of tradition, will be important and recurring
issues in our understanding of readings and class discussions, we will
explore the issue by listening to musics of indigenous peoples, migrants
and immigrants, and by studying music-making in times of social rupture
and loss of place. Such rupture might occur in the face of violent conflict,
corporate expansionism, or transnational migration. Case studies might
include "Pygmy" music in the Central African rainforests,
mbira spirit possession music in Zimbabwe, Kaluli music in the rainforests
of Papua New Guinea, Native American musics, Johannesburg mbaqanga bands,
Balkan women's choral singing, southwest border conjunto, and Native
American or Aboriginal Australian rock and country music, as well as
styles and examples brought up by class members. Class sessions will
include discussion, listening, and video-viewing. (Distribution)
ANTH 086.301, Wednesday, 2:00-5:00
The Look of Architecture
Staff
The "built environment" plays a gigantic role in human experience
and art. This
seminar will examine the making of some of the most important buildings
in history,
with special attention to examples in Philadelphia. (Distribution)
ARTH 100.30, Monday, 2:00-5:00
Styles of Desire: Medieval and Renaissance Courts and Courtly Arts
Rebecca Zorach, Mellon Fellow in the History of Art
Through selected examples in art and literature, this seminar will study
the aesthetic and social ideals that characterized European court societies
in the late medieval and early modern periods. Topics include the courtly
body and its care and grooming; the rise of manners and ideals of civility;
chivalry and its representations; spectacles of power; secret intrigues
and aesthetic silences; games and gardens. Particular attention will
be paid to courtly aesthetics in the visual arts and the development
of the romantic psychology of courtly love. Our case studies are chosen
from several centuries in order to suggest both the continuities of
courtly style and significant historical differences; we will also consider
the continuing influence of courtly ideas on our own notions of gender,
politics and polite society, and time permitting we will screen one
or more contemporary films, such as Shakespeare in Love and The Crying
Game. Readings include works by Christine de Pizan, Baldassare Castiglione,
Torquato Tasso, Jan Huizinga, Norbert Elias, Millard Meiss, Alison Cole,
Michael Camille and Julia Kristeva. (Distribution)
ARTH 100.302, Tuesday, 3:00-6:00
From Plato's Cave to The Matrix: Ideology and Popular Cinema
Professor Jacqui Sadashige, Assistant Professor of Classical Studies
In The Republic, the Greek philosopher Plato argues that censorship
is essential to the creation of an ideal state. Fundamental to his argument
is the idea that the things people see and hear will have a direct influence
on how they behave. Research has not proven that movies cause violence,
but many scholars of popular culture believe that cinema and other forms
of media bear a complex relationship to our collective fears, anxieties,
desires and preoccupations. Throughout the semester, we will be moving
between critical readings from Marxist, feminist and psychoanalytical
theorists and the popular films that will serve as our objects of scrutiny.
By viewing the films from a variety of critical perspectives, we will
probe the ideological underpinnings of popular cinema and likewise,
the collective American psyche. Students can expect 7 to 10 film screenings,
including James Cameron's Titanic, several Disney animated features,
American Beauty, and The Matrix. (Distribution)
CLST 165.401 or FILM 165.401, Tuesday & Thursday, 12:00-1:30
Topics in Literature: The Trial
Paul J. Korshin, Professor of English
Literary depictions of legal trials have occurred for several millennia.
The first famous literary trial is Plato's account of that of Socrates.
We find allusions to legal trials throughout the middle ages and the
European Renaissance. The greatest number of literary works embodying
legal trials date from the last two centuries, and in this course we
will discuss a wide variety of such literature, starting with Plato.
Most literary trials deal with criminal justice, as in Twain's Pudd'nhead
Wilson, Wrights Native Son, Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust, Camus'
The Stranger, Wouk's The Caine Mutiny, Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird,
and Cozzens's The Just and the Unjust. Some deal with civil justice,
like the play of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Inherit the Wind,
and Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action. Finally, some literary trials mock
real justice, as in Kafka's The Trial and Koestlers Darkness at Noon.
This course is intended for students interested in law as well as in
literature. (Distribution)
ENGL (197) 016.301, Wednesday, 2:00-5:00
Topics in Literature: Living Books, Dead Books
Dan Traister, Adjunct, Department of English, and Curator, Rare Book
and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania Libraries
How do we choose the relatively few books we read, whether in school
or on our own, as opposed to the many books we do not read? What are
the differences between them? Can we begin to generalize usefully about
the characteristics of those few books that stay alive or come back
to life after lying unnoticed for a period of time?
We will read a number of works, both "living" and "dead,"
to see if we can define any of the factors that affect a book's fortunes.
We may read an early English work or two, and will certainly read some
American books that have been marginalized because they are by or about
people who are not WASPS or who don't come from important places like
the East or the West Coasts. We'll read a bigoted novel or two, looking
at the differences between their popularity when they were originally
written and their marginal status now (if, in fact, they are marginal).
A long final section will concentrate on writers from or about Indiana.
We'll always ask what gave, or failed to give, the works we read staying
power. As we go, we'll read a bit of scholarly and popular writing about
the formation and maintenance of literary canons.
This course is for people who like to read. It will also ask for papers
and classroom discussion. The instructor is currently working on the
topic. It relates both to his own recent published work but also to
his job, which is to buy English-language literature for the University's
Library. (Distribution)
ENGL 016.302, Tuesday & Thursday, 3:00-4:30
Representations of the Holocaust in Literature and Film
Millicent Marcus, Professor of Romance Languages and
AI Filreis, Professor of English
This is a seminar about the Holocaust as it has been depicted in books,
film and written or oral testimony by survivors. The Holocaust is aptly
conceived as a locus for studying the most basic and urgent problems
of aesthetics and authority, of metaphorizing memory and pain, of representing
evil, of symbolism and action, of narrative immediacy and political
truth-telling, and of testimony (witness-bearing) as legal and language
forms. Participants in the seminar will approach all these topics through
interactive discussions of a wide variety of films, commentaries, literary
texts, testimonies, and theoretical writings about the Holocaust.
The course is primarily for first-year students. Sophomores may enroll
only by permission of the instructors. Assignments will include frequent
short papers and a final exam. In addition to attending all regular
class meeting times, students will be expected to attend all film screenings
(most Mondays at 4:oo PM). (Distribution)
ENGL 016.401 or JWST 160.401 or FILM 160.401
Tuesday & Thursday 10:30- 12:00, Film Screening Monday 4:00
Food for Thought: Cannibalism and Gastronomy in
Literature and Film
Simon Richter, Associate Professor of German
Simply put, this course offers students an opportunity to reflect on
the cultural meaning of food in human life. A choice selection of works
of literature and film will allow us to explore the cultural, philosophical
and aesthetic issues related to hunger, gastronomy and cannibalism.
Films may include: Parents, Delicatessen, Tampopo, Like Water for Chocolate
and Babettes Feast. Among the authors we will read are: Knut Hamsun,
Isak Dinesen, Sigmund Freud and Laura Esquivel. Needless to say, the
seminar will require the occasional empirical exercise—also known
as eating—in conjunction with the films and literature that concern
us. A perfect opportunity to learn more about the culinary scene in
Philadelphia. A11 readings and class discussions will be in English.
(Distribution)
GRMN 007.301, Monday & Wednesday, 3:00-4:30
My Angel Me Do It
Karl Otto, Professor of German
Angels, angels, angels—they are everywhere these days. You've seen
them on TV (Touched By an Angel) and in films (e.g., Dogma). What are
they really? Do they exist? Who are they? Why do some people think they
have one? Good angels? Bad angels? We will explore angels from artistic,
literary, theological and cultural perspectives. We will read and discuss,
in English, some works of Rilke, Goethe, Milton, Fuentes, Marlowe, Benjamin,
France and others; we'll view and discuss Wings of Desire and other
films. We will consider the Jewish, the Christian and the Moslem perspectives
and views. (Distribution)
GRMN 010.301, Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 11:00-12:00
The Symphony
Lawrence Bernstein, Professor of Music
In this seminar we shall study, in close detail, representative symphonies
by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikowsky
and Mahler. Historical developments will be considered, along with the
effects upon symphonic literature of such major sociological changes
as the emergence of the public concert hall. But the emphasis will be
on the music itself—particularly on the ways we can sharpen our
abilities to engage and comprehend the composers' musical rhetoric.
An attempt will be made to correlate the repertory studied with works
scheduled for performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra, for which discount
or complimentary tickets are generally available. No technical skills
in music are required as a prerequisite for this course. (Distribution)
MUSC 040.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 12:00-1:30
National Style in 19th and 20th Century Music
Alexander Rehding, Mellon Fellow in Music
What are national styles in music? Most of us have a fairly clear idea
of what, say, Hungarian music is supposed to sound like and what makes
it special—just think of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies or Brahms'
Hungarian Dances. But this distinctiveness of national style is by and
large a phenomenon of the 19th century (most people would be hard pressed
to describe what is special about 18th century Hungarian music). From
the 19th century onwards, many composers in Europe and America looked
for material in the folk music of their own nation (sometimes the music
of other nations), and many countries were anxious to foster a national
style. In examining a selection of musical works—from the Russian
composer Michail Glinka (804-1857) to recent Latin-American music on
the charts—and relevant critical texts, this course addresses a
number of questions that are still of relevance in our own age: What
kind of relationship is imagined between a nation and its music? How
were national styles forged? How can music represent a nation? And why
is it considered natural, advantageous, or indeed necessary, to have
a distinct national identity in music? (Distribution)
MUSC 017.301, Wednesday, 2:00-5:00
Philosophy and the Arts
John Zeimloekis, Mellon Fellow in Philosophy
What are the differences between illusions, lies and artistic fictions?
Are beauty and ugliness really in objects or only in the eye of the
beholder? Questions like these will take us from the origins of aesthetics
in ancient and Enlightenment philosophy to current issues in art. We
will examine the ideas of mimesis and appearance, the problems of taste
and aesthetic judgment, and the relation of aesthetic attitudes to other
forms of human thought and action in ancient writers such as Plato and
Aristotle, 8th century authors such as David Hume and Immanuel Kant,
and contemporary philosophers such as Monroe Beardsley, George Dickie
and Kendall Walton. (Distribution)
PHIL 020.301,Wednesday, 3:00-6:00
SECTOR IV: FORMAL REASONING AND ANALYSIS
Introduction to Mathematical Analysis
Charles Epstein, Professor of Mathematics
Introduction to mathematical reasoning by discussion of the basic theorems
encountered in calculus. It is intended for those students who might
like to study more advanced mathematics by giving a more balanced view
of what mathematics is actually like than calculus courses alone can
provide. This is a half-credit course and does not satisfy the General
Requirement. There are two alternative sections of this course.
MATH 200.301, Tuesday, 1:30—3:00
MATH 200.302, Thursday, 1:30 - 3:00
Introduction to Modern Algebra
Antonella Grassi, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
This course is an introduction to mathematical reasoning. Topics include
the principle of mathematical induction, the notion of an equivalence
relation, and the properties of the ring of integers. It is intended
for students who might like to study more advanced math. It provides
an introduction to the basic 300-level course in algebra. The instructor
acts as the advisor for the students and assists them in choosing the
appropriate 300-level course for the following year.
This is a half-credit course and it does not satisfy the General Requirement.
There are two alternative sections of this course.
MATH 204.301, Tuesday, 12:00—1:30
MATH 204.302, Thursday, 12:00—1:30
SECTOR V: THE LIVING WORLD
Evolution of the Brain
Thomas Schoenemann, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
An introduction to the study of the evolution of the human brain. Comparative
(cross-species) perspectives will be emphasized, along with evolutionary
biological costs of neural tissue. Basic brain structure, function,
and development will be reviewed. The fossil evidence as well as indirect
evidence (archaeological and comparative) will be discussed. Current
controversies and theories about the causes and consequences of hominid
brain evolution will be reviewed, including the possible role of language,
tool use, sociality, dietary shifts and other behavioral adaptations.
(General Requirement)
ANTH 179. 301, Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 11:00-12:00
SECTOR Vl: THE PHYSICAL WORLD
Structural Biology and Genomics Seminar
Ponzy Lu, Professor of Chemistry
Structural biology is the scientific method of describing, predicting,
and changing the properties of living organisms, including humans, based
on complete genome structures and three-dimensional structures of cellular
components. It is a direct outgrowth of the intellectual and technical
revolutions that occurred during the last decade. It has become a most
powerful approach to understanding biology and solving problems in medicine.
We will discuss how macroscopic biological properties, such as reproduction,
locomotion and viral infection are determined by chemical properties
of proteins and nucleic acids. Changes in biological function, such
as those that accompany hereditary diseases like cystic fibrosis or
sickle cell anemia, result from minute changes in individual proteins.
Much larger changes in genome and protein structure, however, are often
tolerated without apparent consequence. This selectivity and tolerance
provides opportunities for the biotechnology industry to alter biological
functions in ways thought to guarantee profits. Topics discussed include
the human genome project, the retrovirus (HIV) that is the causative
agent of AIDS and the molecular basis for brain function. We will also
examine how research results, especially those of structural biology,
are presented to its various audiences. The broad range of medical,
social and political problems associated with these advances will also
be considered. (General Requirement)
CHEM 022.301, Thursday, 1:30-3:00
Freshman Recitation
Evolution of the Physical World
Hermann Pfefferkorn, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science
and Gino Segre, Professor of Physics
This course will explore the Big Bang, and the origin of elements, stars,
Earth, continents, and oceans. Students must register for both the lecture
and a recitation. The
recitation listed below is restricted to freshmen and is led by Professors
Pfefferkorn
and Segre. (General Requirement)
GEOL 003.401 (lecture), Tuesday & Thursday, 1:30-3:00
GEOL 003.402 (recitation), Tuesday, 3:00-4:00
freshman Recitation
Introduction to Geology
Reginald Shagam, Adjunct Professor of Geology
This course is an introduction to the processes and forces that form
the surface and the interior of the Earth. We will discuss changes in
climate and the history of life. We will also discuss Earth resources
and their uses. Students must register for both the lecture and a recitation.
The recitation listed below is restricted to freshmen and is led by
Professor Shagam. (General Requirement)
GEOL 100.001 (lecture), Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 11:00-12:00
GEOL 100.201 (recitation), Monday, 2:00-3:00
Honors Physics I: Mechanics and Wave Motion
Alan T. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Physics
This course parallels and extends the content of the introductory physics
course for
students in engineering and in the physical sciences, at a higher mathematical
level.
It is the first semester of a small-section two-semester sequence recommended
for
well-prepared students, and particularly for those planning to major
in physics.
Classical laws of motion: interaction between particles, conservation
laws and symmetry principles, rigid body motion, noninertial reference
frames, oscillations.
Prerequisites: MATH 140 and 141. Students must register for the lecture
and the lab.
Non-honors students need permission. (General Requirement)
PHYS 170.301 (lecture), Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:00-11:00
Monday 2:00-3:00
Tuesday 11:00-12:00
PHYS 170.302 (laboratory) Wednesday, 1:00-3:00
SECTOR VII: SCIENCE STUDIES
Science and Social Problems
Henrika Kuklick, Professor of History and Sociology of Science
When knowledge leads to power, how is society as a whole affected? Case
studies of
the role of science in contemporary decision-making in public and business
affairs.
(General Requirement)
HSSC 165.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 12:00-1:30
Human Nature: Classical and Modern Perspectives
Justin Aronfreed, Professor of Psychology
This seminar presents an historically ordered series of readings from
original sources, coupled with active weekly discussions. We will emphasize
the essence and boundaries of mankind's natural heritage-enduring timeless
dispositions of mind and action that transcend individual selves or
social institutions. Perspectives from within Western civilization will
be used to exemplify sweeping conceptions of the human condition. These
will begin with earlier mythological, religious and philosophical sources,
and progress toward modern scientific paradigms of making inquiry into
nature.
The seminar will draw its exemplars from antiquity, the later Greco-Roman
period, the medieval and Renaissance eras, the Enlightenment, the mid-19th
century, the early 20th century, and the present time. Two weeks will
be given to each perspective. All seminar members will read the same
basic sources (approximately 1oo pages each week) and will be expected
to show intellectual initiative in all weekly discussions. Formal requirements
consist primarily of a biweekly paper on each perspective.
This seminar is well suited to students who show the following: (I)
articulate ease of intellectual expression in both spoken and written
English; (z) a desire for some serious investment in ideas and the life
of the mind; (3) a warm willingness to engage the natural science component
of a liberal education. Special consideration will be given to honors
students. (General Requirement)
PSYC (050.301, Thursday, 3:00-6:00
GENERAL HONORS
Great Books of Judaism
David Stern, Professor on Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
This course will be devoted to four classic works of Jewish literature:
The Talmud, Biblical Commentary, the Passover Haggadah and the Siddur
or prayerbook. The course will introduce the student to these books
through selected readings in order to show how they are to be read and
appreciated, and through studying the history of their development and
their place in Jewish tradition. We will also deal with the history
of these classics as books and as material objects. All readings are
in translation and no previous background is required. (General Requirement
Ill: Arts and Letters)
AMES 151.401 or JWST 151.401 or RELS 027.401
Tuesday & Thursday, 10:30-12:00
The American Legal System
Samuel Diamond, Visiting Lecturer in General Honors
This course will examine how American civil law responds to economic,
social, technological and political change. This course will trace selected
areas of law which illustrate laws dynamic. Some of the areas of special
current legal interest include the law as arbiter of scientific truth;
issues of life and death (who decides on the giving or withholding of
medical treatment of those who can—and those who cannot—decide
for themselves); the changing ground rules of sexual harassment in the
workplace; rights of the disabled and the fine line between administering
pain relief and medical intervention resulting in death; and the increasing
expansion of legislation to speed "corrections" in the common
law. (Distribution l: Society)
GLAW 064.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 1:30-3:00
Utopian Thought 1800-Present
Michael Ryan, Adjunct Assistant Professor of History
In the wake of the 18th century Enlightenment and the French Revolution,
utopia became an urgent concern of European and American intellectuals,
prophets, clerics and social engineers. If the 19th century was the
high water-mark of utopian programs and projects, the utopian impulse
survived well into the 20th century, in spite of the horror of two global
wars of unprecedented violence and destruction and of the Holocaust.
Although many cultural observers today lament the passing of the utopian
tradition ("we cannot dream of the best any longer"), it does
survive among small communities, religious sects, and sundry intellectuals,
architects and others. The course will consider some of the major figures
in the modern utopian tradition, from the Comte de Saint-Simon, Richard
Godwin and the Marquis de Sade through Marx and his socialist competitors
to artists and architects such as William Morris and Le Corbusier, academics
such as B. F. Skinner and cultural nationalists such Martin Buber. It
is an eclectic but fascinating menagerie of individuals and traditions
linked only by the common thread of "keeping the dream alive."
Freshman General Honors course. Non-honors students need permission.
(Distribution II: History and Tradition)
HIST 112.301, Wednesday, 2:00-5:00
Who Owns the Past
Henrika Kuklick, Professor of History and Sociology of Science
The recent controversies over the Enola Gay exhibit and the teaching
of U.S. history to school children have made exceptionally visible the
degree to which history may be used to define national identity. Scientific
achievements may play central roles in partisan accounts—both as
testimonials to national virtue and as the means to resolve various
sorts of disputes. This course will discuss the uses of history in contemporary
and past situations, drawing examples from the U.S., Europe, the Middle
East and Africa. (Distribution II: History and Tradition)
HSSC 438.301, Thursday, 2:00-5:00
Induction to Law and Legal Process
Eric Orts, Associate Professor of Legal Studies
The first part of this course will inquire into the nature of law and
the legal process, the second part will introduce the law of contracts,
and the last will cover some of the basic principles of international
law.
GST 101.301, Tuesday &Thursday, 10:30 -12:00
Honors Physics 1.
Mechanics and Wave Motion
TBA, Professor of Physics
This course parallels and extends the content of the introductory physics
course for students in engineering and in the physical sciences, at
a higher mathematical level. It is the first semester of a small-section
two-semester sequence recommended for well-prepared students, and particularly
for those planning to major in physics. Classical laws of motion: interaction
between particles, conservation laws and symmetry principles, rigid
body motion, noninertial reference frames, oscillations. Prerequisites:
MATH 140 and 141. Students must register for the lecture and the lab.
Non-honors students need permission. (General Requirement VI: Physical
World)
PHYS 170.301 (lecture)
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 10:00-11:00
Monday, 2:00-3:00
Tuesday, 11:00-12:00
PHYS 170.302 (laboratory), Wednesday, 1:00-3:00
Constitution Making
William Harris, Associate Professor of Political Science
This is a seminar in constitutional theory that will focus on the problems
of creating or restructuring a political order by writing and adopting
the design of that order in a set of words contained within a text.
The course will have a large component of political and interpretive
theory, as well as American political thought. There may be some materials
from other constitutional systems besides the United States. However,
the course is primarily a way of looking analytically at the founding
of the American Constitution by considering how a new constitution would
be written, argued for and ratified more than 200 years later—then
questioning the nature of its authority. After more than two centuries
of experience in interpreting the existing constitutional document,
how might a constitution-maker draft a new one to take into account
the problems that we have discovered?
Requirement: Extensive reading and active scholarly discussion; one
short analytical paper, one medium-length paper; and a final essay examination.
This is a General Honors course; however, half of the seats are reserved
for students who are not in the General Honors program. (Distribution
l: Society)
PSCI 187.301, Tuesday & Thursday, 3:00-4:30
Human Rights
Henry Teune, Professor of Political Science
Global, cross-cultural, and developmental perspectives on the politics
of human
rights including their justification, institutionalization, and role
in international and
national affairs. (Distribution l: Society)
PSCI 258.301, Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 11:00-12:00