APU HUMN541 Full Course 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?

 

 

 

 

 

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 2 Assignment  

Dashkova Short Analytical Essay

Instructions

DISCLAIMER: Originality of attachments will be verified by Turnitin.

Short Analytical Essay

To choose a topic for each short analytical essay, follow your own ideas within the framework of Enlightenment themes and research what scholars in the field are writing. Review the articles you find during the course of your research, and see if one of them strikes a chord with you, and triggers an idea you wish to pursue related to one of these Enlightenment themes in the work of Dashkova:

Pursuit of Truth

Democracy/Government/Absolutism

Rights of Man (and Woman)

Reason

Education

Deism

Tradition

Freedom

Do not use the same topic from the discussion. Your short essay should represent new research into some aspect of the primary text, and should be written to an audience of experts in the field. You should have numerous direct quotes from the primary text to illustrate and prove points, as well as demonstrate that you’ve read and understood the assigned text.

You will need to use two journal articles in addition to the primary source for the short essay. Articles should meet the following criteria:

peer reviewed

recent, published within the last 10 years

directly related to the primary source

not book reviews or editorial introductions

Scan journal articles to see what is currently being published and to help narrow down a topic. Your topic should provide you the opportunity to engage in direct literary analysis of the primary source. Topics should be very specific, in keeping with the shorter format.

Length of Short Analytical Essay: 3-4 pages excluding the Works Cited page.

In your essay, you must have in-text quotes or paraphrase (cited) from each of the articles, but they should play a supporting role to your own ideas. The focus should be on your argument and your ideas. Be sure to use MLA format, which is standard for our department. You will need to be concise and focused, but use proper essay format with introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs, conclusion, and works cited. Don’t forget to contact APUS graduate research librarians to help locate high quality academic articles.

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 4 Assignment  

Austen Short Analytical Essay

Instructions

DISCLAIMER: Originality of attachments will be verified by Turnitin.

Short Analytical Essay

To choose a topic for each short analytical essay, follow your own ideas within the framework of Enlightenment themes and research what scholars in the field are writing. Review the articles you find during the course of your research, and see if one of them strikes a chord with you, and triggers an idea you wish to pursue related to one of these Enlightenment themes in the work of Austen:

Pursuit of Truth

Democracy/Government/Absolutism

Rights of Man (and Woman)

Reason

Education

Deism

Tradition

Freedom

Do not use the same topic from the discussion. Your short essay should represent new research into some aspect of the primary text, and should be written to an audience of experts in the field. You should have numerous direct quotes from the primary text to illustrate and prove points, as well as demonstrate that you’ve read and understood the assigned text.

You will need to use two journal articles in addition to the primary source for the short essay. Articles should meet the following criteria:

peer reviewed

recent, published within the last 10 years

directly related to the primary source

not book reviews or editorial introductions

Scan journal articles to see what is currently being published and to help narrow down a topic. Your topic should provide you the opportunity to engage in direct literary analysis of the primary source. Topics should be very specific, in keeping with the shorter format.

Length of Short Analytical Essay: 3-4 pages excluding the Works Cited page.

In your essay, you must have in-text quotes or paraphrase (cited) from each of the articles, but they should play a supporting role to your own ideas. The focus should be on your argument and your ideas. Be sure to use MLA format, which is standard for our department. You will need to be concise and focused, but use proper essay format with introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs, conclusion, and works cited. Don’t forget to contact APUS graduate research librarians to help locate high quality academic articles.

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 6 Assignment  

Rousseau Short Analytical Essay

Instructions

DISCLAIMER: Originality of attachments will be verified by Turnitin.

Short Analytical Essay

To choose a topic for each short analytical essay, follow your own ideas within the framework of Enlightenment themes and research what scholars in the field are writing. Review the articles you find during the course of your research, and see if one of them strikes a chord with you, and triggers an idea you wish to pursue related to one of these Enlightenment themes in the work of Rousseau:

Pursuit of Truth

Democracy/Government/Absolutism

Rights of Man (and Woman)

Reason

Education

Deism

Tradition

Freedom

Do not use the same topic from the discussion. Your short essay should represent new research into some aspect of the primary text, and should be written to an audience of experts in the field. You should have numerous direct quotes from the primary text to illustrate and prove points, as well as demonstrate that you’ve read and understood the assigned text.

You will need to use two journal articles in addition to the primary source for the short essay. Articles should meet the following criteria:

peer reviewed

recent, published within the last 10 years

directly related to the primary source

not book reviews or editorial introductions

Scan journal articles to see what is currently being published and to help narrow down a topic. Your topic should provide you the opportunity to engage in direct literary analysis of the primary source. Topics should be very specific, in keeping with the shorter format.

Length of Short Analytical Essay: 3-4 pages excluding the Works Cited page.

In your essay, you must have in-text quotes or paraphrase (cited) from each of the articles, but they should play a supporting role to your own ideas. The focus should be on your argument and your ideas. Be sure to use MLA format, which is standard for our department. You will need to be concise and focused, but use proper essay format with introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs, conclusion, and works cited. Don’t forget to contact APUS graduate research librarians to help locate high quality academic articles.

 

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 8 Assignment  

Critical Essay

Instructions

DISCLAIMER: Originality of attachments will be verified by Turnitin.

Critical Essay:

The final essay of the course will be based on one of the course texts. A few tips for selecting a topic:

1. Be open to possible paper topics as you read; questions you have about the text, themes that stand out to you, or connections between works are all fruitful areas to explore for topics. Note down topic ideas as you explore each text.

2. The key to a successful critical essay is a strong thesis, one which you can support with evidence from the text and from secondary sources. Those secondary sources need to be evaluated carefully to ensure that they are scholarly and meet the criteria set for academic research.

You are welcome to expand on the ideas presented in one of your earlier assignments.

Topic: Analysis based on one or more of the course texts

Length: 7-10 pages excluding the Works Cited page

Format: MLA

Secondary Sources: at least 3 quality academic sources required

Please see that attached grading rubric for an explanation of how this assignment will be evaluated.