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COR 301-06, 07
Historical Perspectives on the Social Order I



Dr. Knippenberg

Phone: 364-8341

Email: jknippenberg@facstaff.oglethorpe.edu

Building upon the work we did in Narratives of the Self and Human Nature and the Social Order, this course will examine the interplay between ideas and institutions, between "culture" and "society," in large part by examining important "moments" in the history of the western world. To make this general statement intelligible, let me explain my terms, starting with "western world." By the western world, I mean the civilization that grew up around the Mediterranean and came to dominate Europe. Its two founts or poles are "Athens" and "Jerusalem," familiar to us through sources as diverse as Homer, Plato, and Aristotle, on the one hand, and the Bible, on the other. As St. Augustine's Confessions and City of God demonstrate, there has been a long-standing and fruitful "creative tension" between these two poles.

Let me take the words "moment" and "history" together. We tend to think of history as a chronology of events that can be established "empirically." We know, for example, what happened in the days surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg, arguably a significant "moment" in the history of the U.S. Civil War. Of course, some of you might have heard the Civil War referred to in other ways ("the War Between the States" or "the War of Northern Aggression"). Historians are narrators, who tell the tales they do in a particular context and with a particular intention. Events and sequences of events become significant in retrospect; every narrative or chronology or chronicle is itself an interpretation. A "moment," then, is not simply a determinate portion of some time continuum, measured in minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, decades, centuries, or millennia. It is a period to which we can ascribe some coherence from the point of view of the particular account we're giving.

Thus one of the principal purposes of this course is to make us aware that historical narratives are always informed by the point of view of the historian, who has a particular intention and/or sensibility. This is not to say that histories are "merely" stories, that there is no difference, for example, between those who affirm or deny the existence of a Nazi genocide. But it is to say that what counts as significant depends upon the purpose of the narrative. Something we may regard as a "fiction" (that is, it didn't literally "happen") may still be an important part of a history, if by history we mean a narrative that tells something important and true about a particular people, place, or time. Indeed, we shall confront this issue in our reading of Thucydides.

By speaking of ideas and institutions, "culture" and "society," I do not mean to indicate or privilege a particular understanding of causation or determination. I do not mean to say, for example, that every person's thought is a "product" of his or her time or, contrarily, that every culture or civilization is necessarily the product of some "strong poet" or "founding father." I take as unarguable, however, that (1) it is possible to identify relatively coherent complexes of ideas, habits, institutions, stories, rituals, and interactions (which we might call a culture or a civilization) and (2) that it is possible to learn something about not only the culture or civilization but also about "the human condition" by studying and reflecting on what thoughtful people say about themselves and their times.

To that end, we will in this course study three moments in Western history, largely by reading what contemporary participants in and observers of these moments had to say about them. The three moments are: the ancient pagan world of Greece and Rome; medieval Christian Europe; and early modernity, as seen through the eyes of northern European humanists and Protestant reformers.

TEXTS:

Please purchase the following books:

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Livy, The Rise of Rome
Gregory of Tours, The History of the Franks
Erasmus, The Praise of Folly
Martin Luther, Three Treatises

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING:

Three 4-5 page papers………………………………………..15% each
Due:
Tuesday, October 9
Tuesday, October 30
Tuesday, December 4
Midterm Examination…………………………………………...15%
Due:
Participation……………………………………………………….…10%
Final Examination……………………………………………… …30%
Due:
Thursday, December 13, 9 A.M. or 1 P.M.

ACADEMIC POLICIES AND REGULATIONS:

In accordance with Oglethorpe's Honor Code, all the work you hand in must be pledged: "I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid in completing this assignment." For the purposes of this course, "unauthorized aid" consists in plagiarism, which (as "The 'O' Boo" states) "includes representing someone else's words, ideas,...or original research as one's own and, in general, failing to footnote or otherwise acknowledge the source of such work." If in completing an assignment you consult secondary sources, be sure to cite them properly. Unless we announce otherwise, you may discuss any assignment with your colleagues, but the work you submit must be your own. You may find the complete text of the Honor Code in "The 'O' Book."

Attendance is mandatory. I reserve the right to give the grade "FA" to students who regularly miss class.

I penalize late papers two points per weekday, up to a total of ten points, after which I will not accept them. We will not reschedule exams without a medical excuse. I will, however, be pleased to help you manage your academic schedules by granting extensions on papers if you request them one week in advance.

If for some reason you have to take an "Incomplete" in this course, you must arrange it with me before the end of the term. We must agree to a contract containing a schedule for the completion of the course requirements. You must then take the initiative in completing the work.

You may find the grading scale, as well as the policy governing the S/U (satisfactory/unsatisfactory) option, on pp. 70-71 of the 2000-02 Oglethorpe University Bulletin.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF READING ASSIGNMENTS:

The Ancient World (9/4 - 10/4)

Thucydides, Books 1, 2, 3.1-90, 5.84-116, 6, 7
Livy, all

Early Christian Europe (10/9 -18)

Gregory, tba

Humanism and Reformation (10/23- 12/6)

Erasmus, The Praise of Folly and The Complaint of Peace
Luther, "To the Christian Nobility" and "The Freedom of a Christian"