Humanities 108:
The Roots of Hell

Diablo Valley College
Mark C. Eades, Instructor
"...Abandon all hope, ye who enter here...."


HUMANITIES 108: THE ROOTS OF HELL

Diablo Valley College / Fall 2006

Section 2229, MWF 1:00-1:50 p.m., Rm. H-107

Instructor: Mark Eades, DVC Tel. Ext.: #1515, e-mail: meades@dvc.edu

Office hours: TBA

COURSE DESCRIPTION / SYLLABUS

Introduction

As described in the DVC catalog, Humanities 108 is an introductory course organized historically around the theme of hell: a historical and cross-cultural analysis of how poets, philosophers and artists have dealt with the dark side of human nature and represented life after death, guilt and responsibility, trial and redemption, and personal growth and enlightenment, offering literature, philosophy, art, architecture, sculpture, music and film from international sources.


Required Texts

Flowers from Hell (Nikolas Schreck, ed.). London: Creation Books, 2001.

Inferno, by Dante Alighieri (John Ciardi, tr.). New York: Modern Library, 1996.

No Exit and Three Other Plays, by Jean-Paul Sartre. New York: Vintage, 1998.

Reader for Humanities 108, Section 2299 (Eades).


Course Requirements and Grading Criteria

Requirements for the course include regular attendance and participation in class discussions, completion of assigned readings, the mid-term exam, the final exam, and completion of a semester research project on a topic of the student’s choice related to the material covered in the course. Excessive unexcused absences (i.e., more than three) will result in a loss of grade points, as will non-participation in class discussions. Exams will be based on readings, lectures, and class discussions; and each will include only that material covered since the preceding exam. Exams will offer the student a selection of essay questions from which to choose. The semester project, as stated above, will be a research project on a topic of the student’s choice; and will include a topic proposal as preparatory assignment. Beyond its role in grading for this course, the purpose of the semester project is to help prepare the student for meeting the research and writing requirements of further study at the four-year undergraduate level.

The mid-term exam, final exam, semester project, and attendance and participation will each contribute equally to the student’s final grade, as follows:

Mid-term Exam: 30%

Final Exam: 30%

Semester Project: 30%

Attendance: 10%

For those in need, optional projects for extra credit will be available.


Syllabus (subject to revision)

Week 1: Aug. 18: Introduction to the course.

Readings: Introduction to Flowers from Hell, pp. 7-35.

Week 2: Aug. 21-25: The Ancient World.

Art and the afterlife in ancient Egypt.

Readings: from Inanna’s Journey to Hell in Reader.

Week 3: Aug. 28-Sept. 1: The Ancient World, cont’d.

Art and the Underworld in Ancient Greece and Rome.

Readings: from The Odyssey in Reader.

Week 4: Sept. 4-8: The Ancient World, cont’d (Labor Day holiday, Mon. 9/4: No class).

Art and the Underworld in Ancient Greece and Rome, cont’d.

Readings: Readings: from The Aeneid in Reader.

Week 5: Sept. 11-15: The Middle Ages.

Selections from Medieval religious art.

Readings: Introduction to Inferno, pp. v-xxiv.

Week 6: Sept. 18-22: The Middle Ages, cont’d.

The Gothic cathedral.

Readings: Inferno, Cantos I-VIII.

Week 7: Sept. 25-Sept. 29: The Middle Ages, cont’d.

Hell in art: Hieronymous Bosch.

Readings: Inferno, Cantos IX-XVI.

Week 8: Oct. 2-6: The Middle Ages, cont’d.

Hell in art: Pieter Breughel.

Readings: Inferno, Cantos XVII-XXIV.

Week 9: Oct. 9-13: The Middle Ages, cont’d.

Readings: Inferno, Cantos XXV-XXXII.

Week 10: Oct. 16-20: The Middle Ages, cont’d.

Readings: Inferno, Cantos XXXIII-XXXIV.

Review for mid-term exam.

Mid-term exam: Fri. 10/20 – Semester project proposals due.

Week 11: Oct. 23-27: The Age of the Renaissance and Reformation.

Religious themes in Renaissance art.

Readings: from Christopher Marlowe and John Milton in Flowers from Hell, pp. 43-65.

Week 12: Oct. 30-Nov. 3: The Age of the Renaissance and Reformation, cont’d.

Religious themes in Renaissance art, cont’d.

Readings: from Christopher Marlowe and John Milton in Flowers from Hell, pp. 43-65, cont’d.

Week 13: Nov. 6-10: The Enlightenment and Romanticism (Veteran’s Day, Fri. 11/10: No class).

Gothicism in Romantic art.

Readings: Goethe, Beckford, Lewis, and Maturin in Flowers from Hell, pp. 67-103.

Week 14: Nov. 13-17: The Enlightenment and Romanticism, cont’d.

Music of the Romantic era.

Readings: Irving and Poe in Flowers from Hell, pp. 105-143.

Week 15: Nov. 20-24 The Decadents (Thanksgiving holiday, Thu. 11/23 & Fri. 11/24: No class).

Decadence and Symbolism in art.

Readings: Baudelaire and Huysmans in Flowers from Hell, pp. 149-161.

Week 16: Nov. 27-Dec. 1: The Twentieth Century.

American Faust: Robert Johnson and “The Crossroads.”

Readings: Mark Twain in Flowers from Hell, pp. 163-231.

Week 17: Dec. 4-8: Rome, cont’d.

Readings: Sartre, No Exit; Ginsberg, “Howl” in Reader.

Review for Final Exam.

Week 18: Dec. 11-15

Final Exam: Fri., Dec. 15, 1:00-3:00 p.m.

Semester projects due at final exam.



[back to TEACHING] [Next Course: Humanities 110: Ancient Civilizations]
Mark C. Eades
mce@mceades.com