Humanities 354, CRN 17522 Dr. Jon Bouknight
Cascades Campus--UO partner CSB 248, MW 2-3:40
Studies in Modern Culture
The End of the World
4 credits
There’s nothing like a catastrophe to give people a feeling of connectedness and common purpose.
--James Finn Garner, Apocalypse Wow
We’re all drifting away
On this Loony Balloon.
We’ve got to get somewhere
Or hit something soon.
--Ray Davies, UK Jive
Description:
Humanities 354 is an interdisciplinary survey of modern culture with focus on literature, art and architecture, music, philosophy and social problems. This section deals with the concept of the end of the world. A counterpart to questions of our origin are the predictions of our last days. In fact, theories of a worldwide, human “end time” abound. Readings, class discussions and evaluated expositions will survey the literature on the end of the world.
Required Texts:
Cohn, Norman. Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
Frenkel, James. Bangs and Whimpers: Stories About the End of the World. Los Angeles: Lowell Press, 1999.
McGuire, Bill. A Guide to the End of the World: Everything You Never Wanted to Know. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat’s Cradle. New York: Dell Publishing, 1963.
Optional Text:
The Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Any translation or edition will work as a companion to Cohn’s text.
Office and Hours:
Jefferson 116, MWF 11-12, T 6-7, R 2-3; phone 330-4394. Campus Mail: Humanities Office, 226 Modoc
Assignments:
Class Participation: The class will consist of lecture, discussion and some informal writing exercises. Attending and speaking up regularly will be part of this assignment.
Take-home Midterm and Final: For each exam, anticipate writing two to three pages of short essay responses to questions on topics covered in the class and the readings.
Final Paper Proposal: This is a typed, no-more-than-one-page synopsis of your final paper, describing the research question, expected thesis, and areas to be investigated for support.
Final Paper: A paper researching a particular aspect of the theme “The End of the World.” Possible topics will vary and will be discussed in class during the second class meeting. The paper should be 10 pages in length or greater, typed, double-spaced, and using an appropriate academic style (eg: MLA or APA). Rough drafts of the paper may be turned in for comment on Nov. 20.
Oral Presentation: Make a five to ten minute, audience-friendly presentation of the research question and findings of your final paper.
Late assignments:
Late papers will be penalized by 5% of their grade for every day (not class day) which they are late. Missed oral presentations will be made up if time permits.
Grades:
Assignments are weighted as follows:
Take-home Midterm 50 points
Take-home Final 50
Final Paper 100
Final Paper Proposal 10
Oral Presentation 10
Class Participation 50
Total 270
Calculate the percentage by dividing points earned with points possible on any given assignment or assignments. Letter grades can be determined by the following scale; thus an A+=100-97%, A=96.9-93%, A-92.9-90%, B+ 89.9-87% and so on.
Plagiarism:
Using the ideas and/or words of someone else and presenting them as your own is plagiarism. Any student plagiarising should expect to receive a failing grade on the plagiarized assignment.
On the other hand, responsibly incorporating the ideas of others--by means of attribution and bibliographic citation--is a must for high-quality academic writing.
Calendar
Sep 23: Some Definitions/The Seventh Seal (1956, Bergman)
Sep 25: Cohn, Chap 1: Egyptians
Sep 30: Cohn, Chaps 2 and 3: Mesopotamians, Vedic Indians
Oct 2: Cohn, Chaps 4 and 5: Zoroastrians, From Combat Myth to Apocalyptic Faith
Oct 7: Cohn, Chaps 6 and 7: Ugarit, Yawheh and the Jerusalem Monarchy
Oct 9: Cohn, Chaps 8 and 9: Jewish Apocalypses
Oct 14: Cohn, Chaps 11-13: The Jesus Sect, The Book of Revelation, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians.
Oct 16: Frenkel, “Nine Billion Names of God,” “Lost and Found” (Music and Art--Ziggy Marley, “Fallen is Babylon”; Chartres West Window)
Oct 21: Frenkel, “Finis,” “Manhattan Phone Book, Abridged,” “We Can Get Them for You Wholesale,” “Fire Catcher”; Take home midterm assigned
Oct 23: Class’ Film Choice; Midterm Due
Oct 28: Testament (1983, Littman)
Oct 30: Vonnegut, Chaps 1-40 (Music: Laurie Anderson, “From the Air”)
Nov 4: Vonnegut, Chaps 41-85; final paper proposals due
Nov 6: Vonnegut, Chaps 86-end
Nov 11: (Veteran’s Day)
Nov 13: McGuire, Chap 1: “Short Intro to Earth”; Frenkel, “Year of the Jackpot”
Nov 18: McGuire, Chap 2: “Global Warming--Hot Air?”; Frenkel, “The Wind and the Rain”; (Music: Tool, “Learn to Swim”)
Nov 20: McGuire, Chap 3: “Ice Age Cometh”; Frenkel, “Not With a Bang” (optional rough drafts due)
Nov 25: McGuire, Chap 4: “Enemy Within”; Frenkel, “Fermi and Frost.”
Nov 27: McGuire, Chap 5: “Threat from Space”
Dec 2: Presentations; Take-home Final Assigned
Dec 4: Presentations; Take-home Final Due
Final Exam: Dec. 13, 1-3. Presentations, Final Papers Due (Include SASE for return.)
Index Card Questions
Name
(too personal caveat, ok to leave blank. May share answers with class but not give away identity)
How many credits are you taking?
How many paid hours a week are you working? AND/OR How many family members do you have to take care of?
Proposed degree
What do you like best about Cascades Campus?
What do you like least?
How would you define the phrase, “End of the World”?
Frost poem: fire or ice? (Five vote for Fire, nineteen for Ice, one for both.)
If you could only direct me to one work of art or literature that deals with the End of the World, what would it be?
If you had divine or scientific certainty that the world would suddenly end tomorrow at this time, what would you do for the rest of your time on earth?