Enlightenment

This course examines how the idea of "the modern" develops at the end of the 18th century in European philosophy and literature, and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change. Are we still in modernity, or have [...]

When do governments deserve our allegiance, and when should they be denied it? This course explores the main answers that have been given to this question in the modern West. We start with a survey of the major political theories of the Enlightenment: Utilitarianism, Marxism, and the social contract [...]

This course examines how the idea of "the modern" develops at the end of the 18th century in European philosophy and literature, and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change. Are we still in modernity, or have [...]

This course will examine the history of Western art from approximately 1600 to approximately 1800—a period that bridges the gap from the Renaissance to the earliest days of the Modern era.

In this course, we will examine these formative cultural and literary developments chronologically, dividing the syllabus into four (roughly sequential) periods: The Enlightenment and Restoration Literature; The Rise of the Novel; Romanticism; and the Victorian Period.