The 1700s in European history are sometimes called an “Age of Enlightenment” or “The Age of Reason” and a handful of well-known writers (Montesquieu, Voltaire, Kant etc.) are treated as human embodiments of the period. In this course, we will read those authors but also many others as we think about the varieties of knowledge produced in (and about) the eighteenth century. Remember, this was an era before electric lighting, before wood-pulp paper, and (in most places) before mass literacy. What did writing, reading, and exchanging ideas look like in the eighteenth century and where and when did people do these things? How did writers in Europe know about other parts of the world, what did they know, and to what extent does that “knowledge” continue to shape our lives today? Do readers’ reactions to a piece of writing change with time and place?

Readings will include eighteenth-century materials (primary sources) as well as recent works of interpretation and analysis (secondary sources). No prior study of the time or place is assumed, but all students are expected to work hard and be open to new ideas. Students should be prepared to present their own ideas and engage in constructive conversation. Final grades will be based on class preparation and participation (including reading reports and discussion-board posts), 45%; two papers (4-5 pages), 15% each; and a final project-presentation, 25%. You must submit at least three reading reports (out of 4) and five discussion boards (out of 8) to pass the course.

“Globalization” is not new, but its problematic entwinement with capitalism and democracy is. The past 250 years introduced ever more rapid flows of capital and goods (money and things) across the globe, outpacing any attempts at regulation and control by political powers anchored in the system of nation-states. There is an irresistible tension here: governance is still largely performed at the level of national governments, while commerce conducted almost exclusively by firms that are in no way grounded in or related to national contexts. As these firms focus ever more on emerging markets they seek efficiencies, cutting costs by sourcing labor and materials as cheaply as possible, leading to their de-territorialization.  At the same time, those firms are still chartered, regulated and taxed by nation-states, anchoring them legally at least, in units of political organization their economic activity does not correlate with any longer.

Can these processes of economic integration continue to accelerate without generating a groundswell of nationalist, isolationist, and/or nativist resentment? Are market economics ultimately incompatible with the democratic self-determination of nations? These tensions are especially great in democratic contexts, and in this course, we will attempt to understand how globalization can be more democratic and how democracies can better cope with the fact of globalization. Our readings throughout the semester will be drawn from history, social theory, anthropology, political economy, and religious studies, as well as from business. The course aims both to teach you something about the political and economic, social and cultural, dimensions of globalization today and to help you become more intellectually agile, more able to move quickly between disciplines, formats, and genres.

Sections offered SPRING 2024:

Z 101 : The listener is exposed to diverse types of music through the exploration of European and American classics. After initial units on world music and elements of music, the course flows from the Middle Ages to contemporary times. Students do not need a musical background to be in this class but it is important that you have a love of music.

HON-H 299 discussion section description:

HON-H 299 meets once a week for 50 minutes. Up to three of these meetings were earmarked for student presentations, based on enrollment. On the remaining days, there are weekly written assignments that form the basis of discussion in these meetings. These assignments develop critical listening and historical inquiry skills a bit further than the regular section. For example, one is to make and share their own listening guides modelled on the ones in the textbook, while another explores historical developments in music criticism of the Romantic era, and another explores opera, but with a deeper focus on primary/secondary documents and opera as multimedia.

In addition, on three occasions when there are group discussions planned in the main section of Z101, the HHC students have an additional set of responsibilities as “discussion leaders,” preparing materials in advance to generate and direct dialogue within their group and to submit a synopsis of the group’s discussion for credit.

The equivalent of a semester project, specific to the HHC section, is a 10-15 minute solo presentation on a work in the classical tradition that is not covered in the textbook, incorporating a contextual background and listening-oriented analysis that connects it to the assigned musical works.

Sections offered SPRING 2024:

***THIS IS A SECOND EIGHT WEEKS CLASS** 

Dreaming is at once a universal, biological human experience and a profound example of cross-cultural variation.  This class studies philosophies and theories of dreaming around the world, from Freud to shamanism. We explore what people in different cultures dream about, how they narrate and interpret their dreams, the interplay between dreams and art, and the entanglement between supernatural belief and phenomena such as the Nightmare. The variety of dream experience — and how people use their dreams in art and culture — reveals deep interconnections between culture, psychology and the human capacity to make meaning of symbols.

In this class, students will:

*Gain a greater understanding of the complexity of human experience around the world, in both its universality and diversity, by learning about how people dream, narrate dreams, and interpret dreams around the world
*Learn to understand how symbols work in different cultural contexts
*Interpret varieties of emotional and aesthetic expression through the rich variety of global dream narrative conventions
*Analyze texts from world folklore, mythology and fiction that have been inspired by the culture of dreaming
*Create a significant work of art inspired by their own dreaming experiences
*Critically analyze scholarship of dreaming from both Western and non-Western perspectives, including philosophical, religious, psychoanalytic and mythical approaches to the dream
*Keep a dream journal
*Contribute to a collective dream database

Sections offered SPRING 2024:

***THIS IS A SECOND EIGHT WEEKS CLASS** 

Dreaming is at once a universal, biological human experience and a profound example of cross-cultural variation.  This class studies philosophies and theories of dreaming around the world, from Freud to shamanism. We explore what people in different cultures dream about, how they narrate and interpret their dreams, the interplay between dreams and art, and the entanglement between supernatural belief and phenomena such as the Nightmare. The variety of dream experience — and how people use their dreams in art and culture — reveals deep interconnections between culture, psychology and the human capacity to make meaning of symbols.

In this class, students will:

*Gain a greater understanding of the complexity of human experience around the world, in both its universality and diversity, by learning about how people dream, narrate dreams, and interpret dreams around the world
*Learn to understand how symbols work in different cultural contexts
*Interpret varieties of emotional and aesthetic expression through the rich variety of global dream narrative conventions
*Analyze texts from world folklore, mythology and fiction that have been inspired by the culture of dreaming
*Create a significant work of art inspired by their own dreaming experiences
*Critically analyze scholarship of dreaming from both Western and non-Western perspectives, including philosophical, religious, psychoanalytic and mythical approaches to the dream
*Keep a dream journal
*Contribute to a collective dream database

Sections offered SPRING 2024:

The Hutton Honors section will cover the same basic material as the others, but will be led by me. The section will include additional opportunities to discuss the materials presented in lecture and readings in more depth. There will be a number of simulations, short videos, and hands-on teaching aids (e.g., casts of early human fossils) that help further illustrate the concepts and information covered in lectures and readings. There will also be a number of small group exercises that will allow for greater exploration of the implications of taking an evolutionary perspective on the human condition.

Sections offered SPRING 2024:

Public oral communication is one of the great foundational courses in a liberal arts education. Grounded on the relationship between public performance and critical reflection, the course will cultivate the liberal competencies of speaking and listening in public venues. This course does not resemble the simple skills-only versions of “basic public speaking” that you may be familiar with. Although you will be rigorously trained in all the formal skills and techniques, we will focus on developing an attunement to language in the constitution of community, and aim to highlight the critical role public speech plays in the formation of civic and cultural identity.

Sections offered SPRING 2024:

 The fluid space of the Indian Ocean and the adjoining regions of Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia define the Indian Ocean World. Since ancient times, a rich linguistic, literary, cultural, and imaginative interconnectedness has existed in this World. During colonial period in the region, the force of capital “oceanized” the World deploying the nexus of knowledge, power and imagination; but, renewed interest in the Indian Ocean region in the era of new geopolitical struggles has shown that the Indian Ocean and is surrounding countries comprised one of the most active mobility network, shaping not only the socio-economic structures of the region but also of the western world. In this course, we will explore the ramifications of interconnections in the Indian Ocean world through the lens of the novel. As we read the littoral fictions, we will attempt to shed more light on what has conventionally been termed as “encounters” among the various countries and continents. We will also aim to interpret and evaluate these texts by applying yardsticks that are not limited to the Western literary tradition.

Besides the critical materials that I will provide you on Canvas, we will read the following novels:

• Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, The Dragonfly Sea
• Lindsey Collen, Mutiny
• Romesh Gunesekera, The Prison of Paradise
• Abdulrazak Gurnah, Gravel Heart
• Michael Ondaatje, The Cat’s Table

Sections offered SPRING 2024:

***IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ENROLL DIRECTLY IN THIS CLASS; TO ENROLL, PLEASE SEE HON-BM 299, CLASS NUMBER 13715***