APU HUMN541 All Weeks Discussions Latest 2020 December

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 1 Discussion

Introductions & The Russian Court

Part 1: Your introduction should tell us who you are and what you are studying, as well as elucidate your goals and/or expectations for the class. What exactly do you want to achieve this term?  How is study of Great Works and humanities in your MA degree useful to you, and what insights have you gained so far in the program?

Part 2: Artifice, from the ball gowns and the wigs that distort the natural contours of the body to the fictions adopted by courtiers currying favor with the queen, plays an undeniable role in the courts of Elizabeth of Russia and Catherine the Great as they are depicted in this week’s video.

Using a specific quote from the video, analyze one aspect of artifice (from one or both courts) and open up the discussion with the class about its possible implications on leadership, relationships, the sense of self, or any area that strikes your fancy. You are welcome to bring different theoretical perspectives to bear in your posts.

(To post, select “start a new thread.” Do this for all your initial posts on the discussions.)

Catherine the Great, directed by Paul Burgess (Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), 2006), 113:22 mins.

It is on YouTube in four parts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRck0JRl33A (Part I)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up1td2HGYJg (Part II)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufd8QESd8EQ (Part III)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpz_vfih498  (Part IV)

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 2 Discussion

Ekaterina Dashkova

Dashkova is a consummate politician, and she knows how to use her gender, her rank, and her connections to get what she wants.

Using a specific quote with appropriate page citation, identify a point in the text where it seems that she is manipulating us, her readers, to present herself in a positive light, and speculate as to what effect she was trying to achieve on her original audience. Are these efforts effective? If so, why? If not, why not?

 

 

 

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 3 Discussion

Mary Wollstonecraft

Identify what you believe to be Wollstonecraft’s central theme or thesis in her work, and explain how she universalizes the notion of enlightenment and human emancipation. 

How does her argument differ from what we understand of feminism today?

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 4 Discussion

Jane Austen

“He likes to have his own way very well,” replied Colonel Fitzwilliam. “But so we all do. It is only that he has better means of having it than many others, because he is rich, and many others are poor. I speak feelingly. A younger son, you know, must be inured to self-denial and dependence.” And further on in the conversation, the Colonel continues about his own predicament, “-and perhaps I cannot say that I have experienced many hardships of that nature. But in matters of greater weight, I may suffer from the want of money. Younger sons cannot marry where they like.”

While there is a tendency to focus on the female point of view, what do men in this novel want out of marriage? Is their own happiness equally a matter of chance (as Charlotte would say)? How do these ideas apply to life and relationships today?

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 5 Discussion

Final Research Paper Proposal

In this discussion, please present the proposed topic of your final research paper (you should have already begun the brainstorming and research process by now).

Introduce your research topic and the main focus of your paper and why you chose this topic. State the research question you are hoping to answer. In addition, post two peer-reviewed sources that you plan to use as evidence (properly MLA formatted). Have you encountered any obstacles with your research?

Remember: effective topics should be narrow, intellectually challenging, and grounded in evidence. Your paper may be a good choice to include in your final HUMN697 Portfolio Capstone course. As you consider your topic, think about how this topic also meets the Humanities MA Program Objectives, as well as the APUS Institutional Learning Objectives.

 

 

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 6 Discussion

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

In Confessions, Rousseau notes his studies in a way that refuses to highlight his intellectual achievements, but instead draws attention to his emotional response:

“To complete me, I had mingled a little physiology among my other readings: I set about studying anatomy, and considering the multitude, movement, and wonderful construction of the various parts that composed the human machine; my apprehensions were instantly increased, I expected to feel mine deranged twenty times a day, and far from being surprised to find myself dying, was astonished that I yet existed!” (150)

Considering that his Confessions were published after his death, when most readers would have been more familiar with Rousseau as a philosopher, pedagogue, and composer, what does his inclusion of embarrassing and intimate details suggest about the moral, intellectual, or physical attributes of human beings?  How does this idea relate to one’s personal and professional lives today?

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 7 Discussion

Thomas Paine

What does Paine view as the foundation of a good education?  How does his idea of education inform his political theory? Do these ideas apply today–and if so, how?

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 8 Discussion

Lewis and Clark

Looking at a particular group of people from Lewis and Clark’s journal entries, identify how culture is defined. What makes each culture distinct? What is essential to the development of culture?  How do Lewis and Clark inform the general narrative of enlightenment?