HIST3400 Modern European Intellectual History: Ideas and Society

This course examines the relationship between ideas and social changes in modern Europe. It will also explore the impact of modern European thoughts on contemporary culture in a cross-cultural perspective.

Teaching Plan for face-to-face and for possible in online classes

My goals for fall semester 2022 are: to create possibilities for student participation and interaction; and to put in place an approach that will smooth any possible transition(s) between on-line and face-to-face teaching.

In order to achieve this, I am hoping to take the following steps:

-There will be a participation element to this course, but that participation will be via an on-line discussion board. During face-to-face teaching, students will be able to supplement their participation grades by contributing to in-class discussions.

Week 1: From Traditional Europe to Enlightenment Europe

Week 2: Europe and slavery

Texts: The Encylopedie entries on Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Negroes [note: do not use the term “negro” when speaking]

Links: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.114

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.667
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/did2222.0000.028/–negroes?rgn=main;view=fulltext;q1=slavery

Week 3: Europe’s Internal Others

Texts: Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women (Selections); Zalkid-Hourwitz, Vindication of the Jews

Links: http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3420/pg3420-images.html – introduction, chapters 1 & 4

https://revolution.chnm.org/exhibits/show/liberty–equality–fraternity/item/573

Week 4: Post-Revolution Europe: proletariats and liberals

Texts: Blake, London, Jerusalem; Mill, On Liberty

Links: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Blake_London.jpg

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54684/jerusalem-and-did-those-feet-in-ancient-time
https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/mill/liberty.pdf – Intro, chapters 2 & 4

Week 5: Darwin and the British Empire

Text: Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle

Link: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/944/944-h/944-h.htm – Preface, Chapters I V, XVIII, XIX

Week 6: Socialism and Communism

Text: Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto; Engels, The Principles of Communism
Links: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm

Week 7: Nietzsche

Texts: Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals, 1:10-13, 16. Link: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52319/52319-h/52319-h.htm 
Beyond Good and Evil, 2:44; 5:202-203; 9:257, 260. Link: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4363/4363-h/4363-h.htm 

Twilight of the Idols, “Maxims and Missiles”. Link: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52263/52263-h/52263-h.htm#MAXIMS_AND_MISSILES 

Week 8: Freud

Text: Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures
Link: https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.273302/2015.273302.Introductory-Lectures_djvu.txt or https://freudianassociation.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Sigmund_Freud_1920_Introductory.pdf
Chapters 7, 11, 16-20

Week 9: Socialist Revolutions

Texts: Lenin and Luxemburg, selections ( The text for Lenin could be seen on Blackboard)
Links:

https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/russian-revolution/ch05.htm

https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/russian-revolution/ch06.htm

https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/russian-revolution/ch08.htm

Week 10: Totalitarianism
Text: Hannah Arendt, On the Nature of Totalitarianism: An Essay in Understanding
Link: http://hs.umt.edu/ghr/documents/152ArendtOnTheNatureofTotalitarianismAnEssayinUnderstanding-Copy.pdf

Week 11: Feminism, Existentialism
Text: Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
Link: https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/ethics/de-beauvoir/2nd-sex/introduction.htm (introduction)

Week 12: Stalinism and Post-Stalinism
Text: Havel, The Power of the Powerless
Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20120107141633/http://www.vaclavhavel.cz/showtrans.php?cat=clanky&val=72_aj_clanky.html&typ=HTML

Week 13: Anticolonialism
Text: Amee Cesaire, Discourse on Colonialism
Link: https://libcom.org/files/zz_aime_cesaire_robin_d.g._kelley_discourse_on_colbook4me.org_.pdf

1. Time : Wednesday 12:30 -13:30 (after each lecture / after add-drop period)

2. On each tutorial, we will read and discuss course reading materials together.

3. No need to form groups. Everything can be done individually.

4. Each student need to choose 1 material and make a 10-minute presentation on that material. After the presentation, write a review on that material no longer than 500 words. (20%)

5. No attendance will be taken. However, students are encouraged to attend as many tutorials as possible. After presentation(s), the remaining time will be discussion. Students are welcome to give comments to presenting student(s) or discuss freely about the topic of each week. (5%)

20% + 5% = 25%

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.

• In the case of group projects, all members of the group should be asked to sign the declaration, each of whom is responsible and liable to disciplinary actions, irrespective of whether he/she has signed the declaration and whether he/she has contributed, directly or indirectly, to the problematic contents.
• For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft copy of the assignment.

Assignments without the properly signed declaration will not be graded by teachers.

Only the final version of the assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.

The submission of a piece of work, or a part of a piece of work, for more than one purpose (e.g. to satisfy the requirements in two different courses) without declaration to this effect shall be regarded as having committed undeclared multiple submissions. It is common and acceptable to reuse a turn of phrase or a sentence or two from one’s own work; but wholesale reuse is problematic. In any case, agreement from the course teacher(s) concerned should be obtained prior to the submission of the piece of work.