Lit 3: Foucault
Dr. Les WRIGHT Office Tel: 617 928 7314 Mount Ida College
Office: ATC 240 Email: lwright@mountida.edu Spring 2004
HT 300: BLS Colloquium
Foucault for Beginners and “Others”
Course Description
This focused interdisciplinary course is designed to facilitate student understanding of the goals and objectives of the multidisciplinary Liberal Studies major. Texts and topics requiring more than one frame of reference to be adequately understood are explored form a variety of perspectives—literary, historical, psycho-social, scientific. Students thus develop a feel for the inter-connectedness of all learning.
Required of and restricted to BLS Juniors.
Required Texts
| Foucault for Beginners | Angels in America [+ film] | Zami [+ film] |
| Kaspar Hauser [film] | Crucible [+ film] | Lorde poetry |
| Antigone [+ film] | Maus I & II [+ film] | Marat/Sade + film] |
Course Reader materials on the topics of social construction of difference (“the other”); application of fundamental concepts of Foucault to the institutions he studied; relationship between “texts” of literature, autobiography, film, and philosophy; in group/out group formation and the sociology of literature, among others.
Teaching Procedures
Class sessions will include lectures, video screenings, in-class discussion of texts. Discussions and written work will require the student have a thorough familiarity with the assigned readings and screenings. Tests and Papers are designed as part of the teaching process: the student will be required to synthesize material in new ways through her or his written work.
Instructional Objectives
To introduce the student to the historical development of cultural standards, critical thought, and social values which have significantly contributed to creating the society we live in today. To increase the student’s ability to communicate clearly and effectively, to access relevant information, to work independently and in a group, and to instill leadership skills, such as initiative, risk-taking, and independent decision-making, through involvement with the course. To bring the student to infer, deduce, extrapolate, and draw complex connections between the student’s world, contemporary society, the broader cultural and historical context, and the realm of humanities scholarship.
Grading and Attendance
Student grades will be based on the following: one critical paper (10-12 pages in length, i.e., 3,000-3,500 words) (25%), weekly take-home tests (6 x 10%=60%), and regular attendance and active participation in class (15%). A total of two absences are permitted. A total of two absences are permitted A total of six absences, for any reason, will result without exception in a final grade of F for the course. Failure to hand in the critical paper will also result in an automatic F for the course.
There are numerous support facilities at Mount Ida, including a tutoring program and student-initiated meetings with the instructor. When all avenue shave been exhausted, students unable to maintain minimum academic performance will be encouraged to withdraw from the course.
Dr. Les WRIGHT Office Tel: 617 928 7314 Mount Ida College
Office: ATC 240 Email: lwright@mountida.edu Spring 2004
HT 300: BLS Colloquium
SYLLABUS OVERVIEW
| WEEK | TITLE | AUTHOR / DIRECTOR | ASSIGNMENTS /
WEEK |
| 01/21
01/26 01/28 |
Foucault for Beginners
Foucault for Beginners Foucault for Beginners |
Fillingham | 1 / 2 |
| 02/02
02/04 |
Kaspar Hauser
Kaspar Hauser |
Wenders | 3 |
| 02/09
02/11 |
Kaspar Hauser
no class |
4
Test 1 handed out read: Crucible |
|
| 02/16
02/18 |
no class (Presidents Day)
no class |
5 | |
| 02/23
02/25 |
Crucible
Crucible |
A. Miller | 6
Test 1 due |
| 03/01
03/03 |
Crucible
Crucible |
7 | |
| 03/08
03/10 |
Antigone
Antigone |
Sophocles | 8
Test 2 handed out |
| 03/22
03/24 |
Zami, Cancer Journals
Zami, Cancer Journals |
Lorde | 9
Test 2 due |
| 03/29
03/31 |
Maus I & II
Maus I & II |
Spiegelman | 10 |
| 04/05
04/07 |
Maus I & II
Maus I & II |
11
Test 3 handed out |
|
| 04/12
04/14 |
Angels in America
Angels in America |
Kushner | 12 |
| 04/19
04/21 |
no class (Patriots Day)
Angels in America |
13
Test 3 due |
|
| 04/26
04/28 |
Angels in America
Marat/Sade |
Weiss | 14 |
| 05/03
05/05 |
Marat/Sade
Marat/Sade |
15
Test 4 handed out |
|
| 05/10
05/14 |
Marat/Sade
RESEARCH PAPER |
DUE May 14 |
